Buff Nation –
Week Four Review
CU 34, Arizona State 31 (Buff 3-1)
To put CU’s road victory over (then) #24 Arizona State last Saturday night into perspective, one must go all the way back to 2002. If a program is bad for long enough (like CU), ugly records begin to pile up on each other. When CU is on the rebound (like CU is), those records begin to be dug up for analysis (yours truly) to experience a bit of vindication.
Since CU’s 2002 victory over UCLA, the Buffs have gone 0-36 against ranked teams on the road. That streak ended last Saturday. Since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, CU has a road record of 7-30 against Pac-12 teams. Three of those wins came in the anomaly 2016 season. While past performance isn’t indicative of future results (let’s pray that’s true), statistics would say CU had a 14% (7/30) chance of winning on the road and a 3% (1/37) chance if that team was ranked. NOW, add in CU playing without its top Offensive weapon (Laviska Shenault went down early) and Mustafa Johnson, one of their top defensive players and the odds of winning continue to plummet.
Yet, CU continued to fight (shoulder to shoulder). Series after series, the offense found a way to score. QB1 Montez played out of his mind and his all white jersey stayed that way (offensive line also played out of its mind – against the #2 ranked defense in the country nonetheless)., and when they had to the Defense got the stop they needed and special teams made the kick they needed. I would like to think it’s because in my last update where I asked for four quarters of play and use the Air Force defeat as a launching pad into Pac-12 play to turn this program around. Coach Tucker did not call me and tell me he hears me, but perhaps he was busy. Either way, done and done.
CU looks different, they play different, they are different under Coach Tucker. One “pump the brakes” comment I would make though is that the Buff defense isn’t very good. The Buffs are giving up an average of 31 points a game. For things to stay the same (i.e. turning this program around), things are going to have to change (defense needs to improve). That said, I like our chances and it’s going to be an awesome season.
Week Five Preview
CU has a bye this week. While a bye can prove to be a momentum killer, this bye comes at a perfect time for CU to get healthy and begin to turn its sites on Arizona (Folsom Field, 10/5, 2:30 PM kickoff). This game should be a sellout. CU Football is legit, Family weekend and a Fall Saturday in Boulder. A combination of Family weekend, CU football being legit and a perfect Fall afternoon at Folsom will make for the perfect combination. October 5th can’t come soon enough. More on the Arizona game in next Friday’s update. Two words Kahlil Tate.
Go Buffs!
Doug