Healthy Reality Check for Many Colorado Buffs Football Fans

It’s Sun Devil week.

The Buffs are on the road for another night game in Tempe (Boulderdevil's old stomping grounds) to take on Arizona State. Attending this game was a top priority but last minute travel elsewhere called it off. It happens.

It is interesting reading all the comments on blogs and news stories that so many CU fans are downright angry that the Buffs lost to Oregon after playing them to a 17-17 score for the first half. Some even claimed we should never lose a game at home that is tied at the half.

Some Buff fans have either been kicked in the head or do not understand college football at all. The Ducks won 13 games last year and played for the National Championship, while Colorado won two games. The chances of the Buffs winning were slim, but they showed their heart and made it a game into the 4th quarter.

Have Buff fans forgotten the last three years the Buffs played Oregon? In 2012, they were down 56-0 at halftime, in 2013 it was 43-16, and in 2014 it was 30-3.
Being tied at halftime is a massive improvement. Why don't so many of the CU faithful realize that? It’s very sad and disheartening for the team.

Oregon had a horrible game against Utah. Everything that could have gone wrong did and every little thing went Utah's way. The result: The Ducks suffered a humiliating beat down. It happens.

One game does not make a season. 

Remember 2001 when CU thrashed Nebraska 62-36? It’s the same year that Texas smoked Colorado 41-7 during the regular season. But Colorado persevered and beat the Longhorns in the Big 12 championship 39-37. And what about the Fuskers? They went on to play for the National Championship. One beatdown does not define a season.

MacIntyre has been preaching all along that you have to play ‘em one at a time and forget the last game as soon as it is over. A good game this week does not mean a good game the following week. Likewise, a bad game does not necessarily only lead to another bad game. Amen.

Now everyone is talking about ASU like they are the greatest thing since sliced bread based on one game against UCLA. That's not true by any means. Has everyone forgotten that the Sun Devils were absolutely destroyed by USC the prior week and that Texas A&M thrashed them in the opening week. Even their other wins this season have been less than spectacular. ASU went from a preseason top 15 team to being out of the Top 25. Even their big win over the Bruins was not enough to get them back into the Top 25.

For those Buff fans who think that Arizona State is an offensive machine, the reality is that the numbers aren’t nearly as impressive for ASU as they might think. Oregon is 7th in the nation in total offense, and ASU is 36th. Colorado is 30th. As far as rushing goes, Oregon is 4th, Colorado is 17th and ASU is 57th. Yet many Buff fans are convinced that the Sun Devils will run it down Colorado's throat. It could happen, for sure. But things could just as easily go the other way.

There is a reason they play the games. Sometimes the ball bounces funny and the breaks just don’t go your way. Based on all the upsets that happen every year (notice how many top 10 teams lost last week), fans should hesitate before writing off any game.

Will ASU play like they did against UCLA, or stink it up like the games against USC and Texas A&M? Or maybe the Devils will just go through the motions like they did against Cal Poly and New Mexico. We will see. More importantly: Will Colorado come out inspired and tough like the first half against Oregon? Or will they shoot themselves in the foot like the game against Hawaii? We will see.

Turnovers are the key. When Colorado wins the turnover battle, the Buffs win. When they protect their quarterback, they win. When they don’t do those things, the Buffs lose.

But the Buff players need our support instead of being written off by fair weather fans.

Go BUFFS! Beat them Devils!