Buff Nation –
Week Two Review
CU 7, #5 Texas A&M 10
It felt like an away game in our home state. Texas A&M fans vastly outnumbered buff fans last Saturday at Mile High. Given it was #5 vs #53, the odds were stacked against us. I don’t do well in hostile crowds when my team is losing, and when the crowd started swaying to the Aggie War Hymn, I could feel my blood pressure rise as it dawned on me that I could be in for a long day if CU didn’t hold their own. Thankfully, the Buffs Defense showed up and single handedly kept the Texas A&M fans at bay for 57 of the 60 minutes of play.
The Buffs were able to take an early lead, but failed to build on it, and ultimately couldn’t hold on to it. It was a scene right out of Seinfeld, anyone can take the lead, but holding on to the lead is the most important part of the lead.
CU does not yet know how to win. It will come, hopefully this season, but right now, CU is a middling college football team that is trying to find its way out of a scene from Glengarry Glen Ross. Texas A&M, while probably overrated, and outplayed for 97% of the game, knows how to close. You don’t get to be ranked #5, by settling for the steak knives on any given Saturday.
So, onward, and upward. The Buffs showed promise. If the Buffs defense, led by Nate Landman continues playing like they did, we are going to be in every single game the rest of this season, so we have that going for us. If Offensive Coordinator Darin Chiaverini and the offense can figure out how to play big boy football, we may be on to something.
Week Three Preview
#51 CU (1-1) vs. #63 Minnesota Gophers (1-1) – Saturday, 11:00 AM Folsom Field
Kudos to CU for scheduling two non-conference Big 5 Teams (a member of the SEC, ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 Pac-12 conferences). Most Big 5 teams don’t do that because it lowers the odds of having a winning record heading into conference play.
Tomorrow the Minnesota Gophers come into town. An average Big Ten team, Minnesota is a lot like CU. They have a strong running game; they’ve played an easy opponent and won (Miami OH) and played a ranked opponent (#9 Ohio State) and barely lost.
Like CU, it’s hard to tell how good MN really is. The winner of this game will be the team that establishes the run and makes the fewest mistakes. While the bookmakers have CU as a slim 2.5-point favorite (basically accounting for home field advantage), I see CU winning this game by more than a touchdown. CU needs to close this one out going into Pac-12 play. No more steak knives please.
Go Buffs!
Doug