In his 2005 best-selling book, The World is Flat, author Thomas Friedman put forth the idea that the convergence of technology has allowed the explosion of wealth in the middle class, effectively “flattening” the playing field between the haves and have nots, in turn putting pressure on the haves to run faster, just to stay in the same place. While Friedman was talking about the burgeoning middle classes of China and India and how their emergence puts pressure on the United States to remain a global power, he might as well have been talking about the College Football landscape.
Last Saturday afternoon, around the same time our Colorado Buffaloes coach was trying to explain away why the Buffs remain winless on the season and how they explicitly lost by 31 to Air Force, a coach on the other side of the country, was explaining how his team effectively harnessed the use of technology to close the performance gap between his team and their opponent. The Marshall Thundering Herd (cool name) despite being a 21-point underdog, had just beaten #8 Notre Dame, a team literally not even in the thier same class (FCS vs FBS).
“When we hit the transfer portal this offseason, we were getting some guys that played considerable snaps in places,” Huff said. “We weren’t just getting a guy that went to some SEC school and never played. We were getting and recruiting guys that were either rotational guys or starters and had lost their jobs or whatever it was. “We put the roster together, and you’re like, ‘Guys, we’ve got a Power 5 roster if we just count the starters.'” Marshal effectively used the transfer portal to close the gap between them and their opponents.
As I sat rained soaked watching CU lose ground to Air Force (pictures attached), I pondered in part how can we be so below average for so long, while other schools seemingly have figured it out? A few hours later, as I read about Marshall win over Notre Dame, it became obvious, it’s not our coach (in total), it’s not the QB play (in total), it’s the Transfer Portal stupid. CU needs to do a better job of getting talent. Players that can play at a high enough level to beat top ten programs on any given Saturday should be coming to CU, not Marshall (no disrespect). Power 5 conference, Boulder setting, attractive schedule, Folsom field. This should be enough to bring and keep the talent. The CU coaching staff, and the CU administration need to do a better job of selling the CU story and make player transfer accommodations. No one likes to sit in the rain and watch their team lose by 31. Players make plays. Players win games. Right now, we don’t really have either.
Sir Isaac Newton’s third law of motion states that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Perhaps Newton should have written a fourth law of motion stating that the refusal to act will often result in an exponential and opposite reaction. We are told that when we are on our deathbed, it’s not the things we have done in life which we will regret, but the things we didn’t do. Our kids are taught to be “upstanders” not “bystanders” when they see wrong. In baseball you can’t steal second by keeping your foot on first.
Last Friday night, on a stage which was filled with electricity of both the literal (45-minute lightning delay) and figurative kind (amped up Buff Nation crowd – first photo), it was not the action taken by the Buffs which has drawn the ire of a frustrated and impatient Buff Nation, but the failure to take action which caused those watching to scratch their heads and leave in frustration (second photo).
On a night when Buff Nation was willing to allow bygones to be bygones (it’s been a long drought), Coach Karl Dorrell and the Colorado Buffaloes failed to act. After a relatively strong first half, the “upgraded” Buff coaching staff got out coached in every phase of the game by a TCU team, which many would argue is a bottom half Big Twelve program and certainly a tertiary Texas football team.
Refusing to start QB JT Shrout in the second half, failing to go for a fourth and five on the TCU 45 with the game slipping away, and failing to make any meaningful adjustments over the course of two quarter of play feels to me like someone is asleep at the wheel or perhaps quite comfortable being a middling team.
The good news is we are early in the season. The Buff faithful need to hold strong for their team (no one else is going to do it). Tomorrow the Buffs travel down I-25 to Colorado Springs to take on a particularly good Air Force team. No way Coach KD doesn’t start JT Shrout. The Buffs need to play with reckless abandon and JT is the type of gunslinger QB capable of leading the Buffs to victory. If that is not enough, well at least we struck out swinging and didn’t fail because we violated Newton’s fourth law of motion.
Winning is the currency of football. CU has had its fair share of success, but as we know, the last several years have been a disaster. When the transfer portal, NIL (Name Image Likeness) and invitations to conference realignments came around, our proud Buffaloes were caught on the outside looking in. To the victors, go the spoils, and we just did not have enough currency to compete.
It is said that the most important shot in golf is the next one. For the Buffs, tonight’s game under the Friday night lights of Folsom field, represents that next shot. Come 8PM, when our Golden Buffaloes (is that still part of the nomenclature?) line up against the TCU Horned Frogs on ESPN, it doesn’t matter that the over under on wins this year is 3.5 (vomit), nor that the pundits have made CU a two-touchdown underdog at home (shameful). It doesn’t matter that no one outside Boulder County really considers the Buffs a factor in D1 football. It doesn’t matter that Midnight Mel left CU (still bitter) for the money and has since been justified (ugh). It doesn’t matter that past actions have provided seemingly zero momentum for this CU Football program. What does matter is currency. A frenzied home field, black-out crowd, looped up from an extended Friday pre-labor day season kickoff evening tailgate, will create the atmosphere necessary for the players to believe in themselves and to take matters into their own hands. Come just before the strike of midnight tonight, Colorado will have either given Buff Nation a reason to feel the love, or confirm our greatest fear, that the park is closed for yet another season.
The Buffs finish out their 2021 season tomorrow, in a rare Friday appearance. While many will be taking advantage of Black Friday shopping sales, the Buffs will be facing a strong, consistent, and proud Utah team that represents everything the Buffs would like to represent. While Colorado and Utah entered the Pac-12 together (2011), Utah has navigated it’s way to the top with greater speed and success than the Buffs. Tomorrow, CU will be facing a Utah team ranked #16 in the country, and hitting on all cylinders. While CU loses this game in a blow out, perhaps this game will serve as motivation for the Buffs to see up close and personal what the Buff program will look like in the future.
On this Thanksgiving Day, here are ten things Buff Nation can be thankful for:
10)Jack Lamb – 88 yardfumble rumble touchdown against Washington last Saturday. The game goes a different direction without that play. Watching that herd of buffaloes lead the way was nothing short of inspiring.
9)Nate Landman – The quintessential football player. An inspiration to any boy watching who wants to play tackle football.
8)Nebraska – We are not Nebraska.
7) 1990 National Champions – This program has been there before and won’t be satisfied until it returns. It’s going to happen.
6) Ralphie – Well, maybe not so much this season given she (all raphies tend to be female) needs to grow, but hands down the best mascot in college sports.
5)J.T. Shrout – Buffs will have significant QB competition going into next season.
4)Youth movement – Only five seniors on this squad, the Buffs will be returning most of their players.
3) Folsom Field – One the best venues to watch college football
Folsom Field
2)Boulder – The best place to live in the world. Period.
1) Buff Nation – Friends and family on a Fall Day in Boulder when the Buffs are in town. As close to Heaven as one gets on this earth. Who’s got it better than us? Nobody!
In a span of three hours last Saturday night, Buff Nation lived through a Charles Dickens novel. Playing on the road against a heavily favored UCLA Bruins squad, the Buff came out guns blazing and took a commanding 20-7 lead just before half-time. CU was back, and we were keeping our dream of bowl eligibility alive. It was the best of times.
Unfortunately, football is made up of two separate halves, and the winner is not declared until the end of the second half. While not new information for most, it may have been enlightening to the Buff coaching staff. UCLA made all the necessary adjustments, while the Buffs made none. UCLA scored thirty-seven straight points, yup thirty-seven, and throttled the Buffs 44-20. It was the worst of times.
So, with that debacle in our rear-view mirror, we turn our sights to tomorrow, the Buffs final home game of the season. One final time to honor CU greats Nate Landman and Mustafa Johnson who played their hearts out for Buff Nation for so many years. One final chance for CU to give their fans a W (certainly not going to happen next week on the road at Utah), and one final reason to have Great Expectations for 2021 (can you say J.T. Shrout?).
So, here is to beating the Washington Huskies, who have had an equally disastrous season (they fired their head coach earlier this week) and finish out this season strong. While a victory wouldn’t necessarily be field rushing worthy, a victory would be a blessed way to end another season at Folsom field, and a fine start to the holiday season.
