Football returns home for Saturday showdown
The No. 15 ranked Kansas Jayhawks will take on the Buffs Saturday, looking for their first victory in Boulder since 1995. That’s also the last year KU was ranked higher than 15.
The Buffs, on the other hand, are looking to bounce back from a 47-20 loss to Kansas State.
A win against Kansas would be the Buffs second against a Top 25 team this season. CU senior cornerback Terrence Wheatley said KU’s status is not a bad thing for the Buffs.
“For some reason we kind of play really well in the underdog roll,” Wheatley said.
The Jayhawks lead the Big 12 in scoring offense, scoring defense, total defense, kickoff returns, opponent first downs and turnover margin, just to name a few.
Fullback Jake Behrens said KU’s talent is part of the fun.
“They are undefeated, and that’s what we look forward to,” Behrens said. “We like a challenge and something that we can work for, to beat them.”
As far as the Kansas offense goes, Wheatley said they are a very solid team.
“You know, if you look at them offensively, they don’t have like one main receiver,” Wheatley said. “They have about the same number of catches, about the same number of yards, about the same number of touchdowns.
“They have two running backs that have pretty much the same number of carries. So you really can’t key on one guy.”
Unlike CU’s defensive strategy, and typical defenses, Cody Hawkins said the Kansas defense is very “proactive.”
“They’ve really kind of regulated what the offense has done, just because they move around so much, and they play very hard. . So I think offensively, it’s a big challenge to dictate the tempo of the game, rather than let Kansas control it,” Hawkins(cq) said.
As of the Oct. 13 loss to K-State, the Buffs fell out of the lead in the Big 12 North. They now are 4-3, 2-1 in the Big 12. With games against No. 15 ranked Missouri and No. 22 ranked Texas Tech remaining, a win against Kansas, or a loss, will have huge implications on the rest of their season.
“This game could make or break our season right here,” Hawkins said. “We don’t plan on getting our season broken, so I think we are going to come out and play hard and keep working really hard this season, because we know we are going to have a dogfight on Saturday. We have got to get up to the challenge.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Margot Schneider at margot.schneider@thecampuspress.com
