The Colorado Buffaloes came into the 2016 knowing full well that they had only won only five conference games in five years in the Pac-12. Two of those came in 2011, their first in the conference. That season was followed by two years with only one Pac-12 victory apiece. 2014 had zero conference wins for the Buffs, and 2015 had a single conference win.
With their only conference victories over Arizona, Utah, Washington State, California and Oregon State, the Buffaloes were also well aware that there were SIX teams in the conference that they had never defeated since joining the Pac-12.
Oregon, Stanford, Washington, USC, Arizona State and UCLA had yet to lose to Colorado as a Pac-12 foe. The Trojans and the Sun Devils have never lost to Colorado in their histories. And the Buffs only have winning records (all-time) against three of their conference brethren (Arizona, Utah, and Washington State).
The Buffaloes came into the season with a stated goal of winning the Pac-12 championship. Given their conference history, it was a bold goal to say publicly. And they knew that the only way it was going to happen is if they got some wins against teams that they had never defeated since joining the conference.
The first team on the schedule that met that criteria was the Oregon Ducks. Although Oregon was 16 games from playing for the national championship, the Buffs went into Eugene and defeated them 41-38.
Oregon State came to Boulder last week and became the first team in the Pac-12 to lose to the Buffaloes twice, and also became the first team with a multi-game losing streak to Colorado. And it wasn't even close. The Buffaloes won handily 47-6, in their largest conference victory in more than two decades.
The next two teams the Buffs play are ones that they have never defeated in their history. The Buffs are 0-10 against the USC Trojans going back to 1927, and 0-7 against the Arizona State Sun Devils going back to 2006.
For the Buffs to achieve their stated goal of winning (or playing in the Pac-12 title game), they must first get by the two teams they have never beaten over the next two weeks. A loss to either team would put a serious damper on their ability to win the South, and losses to both would likely eliminate them from the race.
First up, tomorrow, is USC at the Coliseum (a place with marvelous history and a horrible place to watch football games). The Buffs are the better team so far this year, but the Trojans are trying to salvage their reputations after a dismal start to the season.
Some point to their dominating win over ASU last week as evidence that the Trojans have turned things around, but the reality is that before the ASU game, USC had lost all three games they played against FBS opponents. Alabama crushed them 52-6, and conference foes Utah and Stanford also took them down.
The losses to the Cardinal Trees and the Utes looked better before both teams lost last weekend. Stanford was shellacked by Washington 44-6 and Utah lost to an unranked Cal.
The only team the Colorado has lost to this year was in Ann Arbor to a Michigan team that is ranked #4 in the country. On top of that, the Buffs were beating the Wolverines until their punting team fell apart (leading to 28 points for Michigan) and were still in the game until losing their starting QB Sefo Liufau.
More importantly, the Buffs showed at Oregon that they could come back late in a game after two turnovers gave the Ducks the lead. And the game was sealed by a defensive stop in the end zone.
The Buffs have been battle tested and have been hardened. They showed that to be true by their big win over the Beavers last week.
The Trojans lost the only close game they played, and they have been beaten badly once (by 46) and handily once (by 17) in their three losses. A bad ASU defense offered little to test USC and the game was out of hand quickly.
What we will find out tomorrow is whether the Buffs are as good as they have looked so far. Can they win another game on the road against a traditionally top program? Can they get over their history emotionally to play the Trojans strong?
We will see. The first quarter will likely be the telling period. If the Buffs are ahead or close after the first quarter, things bode well. If the Buffs can avoid turnovers and special teams mistakes, things also bode well.
If their defense plays as strong as they have for the entire year, the Buffs should win this game. If the offense plays as strongly as they have the entire season (minus the interceptions at Oregon), the Buffaloes should win handily.
If the Buffaloes don't win, chances are they will be able to look in the mirror and know why.
No comments:
Post a Comment