The Colorado Buffaloes failed on the road again. They did exactly what they couldn't do. The Buffs turned the ball over four times, played horribly on special teams, flip flopped quarterbacks with no benefit and were frankly out coached by Bill Snyder. Once again the Colorado Buffaloes failed in a chance to excel and take charge of the Big 12 North. Kansas State is not a great football team but they know who they are. They don't turn the ball over, they run the ball and they capitalize on other team's mistakes, not make them.
As for playing on the road:
Said Rodney Stewart: "Our players, I don't think they like playing on the road as much. It's something with the fans, and we just don't get as much energy on the sidelines. There's a lot of things (going wrong) playing on the road, and we need to fix it."
How?
"I don't know."
But it is our fault for getting our hopes up, it was a last ditch effort to get excited after the Buffs beat a highly overrated Kansas team. The rest of the Big 12 North is horrible. Nebraska loses at home today to another first year coach in Paul Rhoads at Iowa State. The first time that has happened in some 32 years. Paul Rhoads at Iowa State now has tied Dan Hawkins for road games in his Big 12 tenure with two. Dan Hawkins has done it in 44 games, Rhoads in eight. Missouri will probably lose tonight against Texas and Oklahoma beat up the Kansas Jayhawks. Now Kansas State, under first year coach Bill Snyder, looks like they have the inside track to win the division while other first year coach Paul Rhodes is probably kicking himself as they should be 3 - 0 in the conference.
We should have known better. Colorado has only won consecutive games twice in Dan Hawkins' tenure and only twice on the road in 20 tries. Yes, 20 road games, two wins. We have a 10% chance on the road. The number gets increasingly embarrassing and is a real sign that the Colorado Buffaloes football program has not progressed in four years. They are still losing winnable games on the road against teams that are more prepared.
The Buffs failed to respond and we are left with the famous Dan Hawkins quote:
"We just weren't making a lot of plays," Hawkins said. "It was a combination of a lot of little things."
It's always a combination of a lot of LITTLE things, but never a concrete quote by Dan Hawkins. Why can't we get the little things fixed? When Bill Snyder, a coach who was victorious going 5 - 3 this year and one win away from being bowl eligible, was asked a question about his offense he said this:
"Bad," Snyder said. "Stinks."
That is a quote in a winning effort.
Yes, Kansas State stinks but they are pretty well coached and don't make a ton of mistakes. The Buffs are horrible, shame on me for drinking the kool-aid after the Kansas game. I shouldn't say that. The Buffs defense once again came to play. They held Kansas State's offense to 284 yards and 2 - 11 on third down. They played some bend but don't brake defense and were really only accountable for 10 points.
The Colorado Buffaloes average starting position today was on their own 17 yard line. Turnovers, penalties, poor special teams play, the inability to flip the field on offense all can be attributed to the Buffs' loss. It all was a problem today but four turnovers given up for ten Kansas State points and having to drive 83 yards for a touchdown every time will kill good teams, even more so for teams like the University of Colorado. Kansas State started on the 44 yard line on average. That is a huge difference between starting positions.
On special teams, Colorado missed a field goal and muffed a punt that led to a Kansas State touchdown. Give the special teams a minus -8 today. The special teams unit also had a punt fake that was stopped well short of the first down in Buff territory. Just another bad effort that is a main reason why the Buffs struggle on the road: a failure to execute the LITTLE things.
On offense, Tyler Hansen was responsible for a fumble which led to three points for Kansas State. The Buffs also had two Cody Hawkins interceptions, one in the endzone, that did not help Colorado's cause. I still have not rationalized bringing in Cody Hawkins in any situation of the game. That will be a focus. The Buffs once again lacked playmakers, the wide receivers couldn't get open, the offense went away from the running game early, the offensive line was dominated up front when Colorado tried to run the ball and overall, the Buffs were outclassed by a mediocre Kansas State team. No disrespect to Kansas State, they will agree they are not a great football team but they did what they had to do.
One week after a win, some perspective has settled in again. I can't get this quote out of my head.
It's so funny, you go from your season is a disaster to holy smokes you're going to win the north. There is a lot of football to be played; there are a lot of games left to play. You have to play it out, you have to bury yourself down and get into that week-to-week grind and focus that way and let it all play out," Dan Hawkins said.
It's not funny. 10 wins, no excuses!