Schedule, youth a tough combination for beleaguered Buffs
It was one of coach Dan Hawkins’ worst losses in his career. After the Missouri Tigers steamrolled over the Buffs on Saturday 55-10, Colorado stood at 5-5 on the season and still one game shy of bowl eligibility.
It was embarrassing. The Buffs dominated Texas Tech’s high-powered offense just a week before their breakdown at home to Mizzou’s Chase Daniel and his many offensive weapons.
Hawkins was so upset about the loss that he felt the need to apologize about the game in his blog Monday.
But in all honesty, Missouri is the best team the Buffs have faced all year. On Sunday, safety D.J. Dykes said the Tigers had the best offense and defense CU has seen. Coach Hawkins said Tuesday at his weekly press conference that Mizzou is a “national championship-type team.”
The way the Tigers are playing right now, they could beat the Denver Broncos at Mile High. But that’s probably not saying much.
“Ultimately, we got our fannies whipped, and that’s my fault,” Hawkins said when asked about Saturday’s game. “The other side of it is that we’re playing some pretty good teams.”
CU has played some pretty good teams. The combined record of the five teams Colorado has lost to this season is 36-9.
That’s unreal.
Colorado has one of the toughest schedules in the country, so it’s no wonder that the Buffs struggle on a weekly basis. It’s a young team that has a bright future, but Hawkins and the Buffs are still growing and learning how to win.
“When you have a club that’s in transition in a sense like ours, both physically and culturally and the whole thing, you’ve got to play a little cleaner and it’s never perfect,” Hawkins said Tuesday.
With some of the success the Buffs have had this season – a win against Oklahoma and some promise on the recruiting front – many students and fans forget that Colorado is still in transition.
It was only last season that CU was 1-9 after the first 10 games.
The turnovers on offense throughout the season and the blown coverage in the Missouri game are mistakes of a young football team playing a tough schedule.
But the good news is that CU is approaching the best part of its schedule with Iowa State and Nebraska left. Both the Cornhuskers and the Cyclones are stuck in the cellar of the Big 12 north, so Colorado has a good shot at going to a bowl game, which would be a major accomplishment for this program.
And with Iowa State on the horizon, the Buffs need to throw out everything, both the good moments and the bad ones of the season, and focus on getting win number six.
“Right now, it’s the biggest game of our season, so we’re going to be ready,” Dykes said about the Buffs match-up against Iowa State Saturday. “We’re going to be prepared after this loss.”
Contact Campus Press Editor Kyle McDaniel at kyle.mcdaniel@thecampuspress.com.
