Same story, different day. The Colorado Buffaloes lose to the Missouri Tigers 36 - 17 after falling behind 33 - 0 in the first half. The Buffs won't win many games falling behind 33 - 0, gaining only 176 yards on offense, going 3 - 13 on third down, rushing for -14 yards (Andre Simmons was the Buffs leading rusher 1 for 15 yards. Simmons now has 2 touches for 59 yards this year), turning the ball over four times, take a safety and finish 0 - 3 on fourth down.
The Buffs defense played well in the second half, only giving up three points and 94 total yards but in the first half, the defensive scheme failed to dictate the Missouri offense and never pressured the gimpy Missouri QB Blaine Gabbert. The Tigers went on to score 33 points and gain 306 total yards in one half. The 33 first half points continued a dubious success streak that the Tigers have had on the Buffs the last three years. Colorado, before they kicked a field goal, had given up 136 consecutive points to Missouri since 2007. That is dominance.
In a game that was supposed to be one of revenge for the Buffs after being embarrassed the last two years, Colorado came out like they did a week ago against Kansas State; lethargic and soft. A major concern for many Buff fans has to be the coaching staff's inability to properly get these players to motivated to play. Two weeks in a row, Colorado had a winnable game that could have got them right in the middle of the Big 12 North race and once again, they failed to respond. Why is this team not ready to play and other teams, like Kansas State and Missouri, are?
The Buffs' offense failed to show any consistency and once again, the opposing defensive line destroyed the Buffs' o-line. Tyler Hansen was sacked numerous times and Colorado never got a running game going, something that has plagued the team all season. It was once again obvious that the Buffs have no ability to stretch the field on the opposition and make a big play. This offense is stagnant and uneventful.
The loss drops the Buffs to 2 - 6 making Dan Hawkins the first coach in Colorado history to not have a winning season in his first four years. Missouri Tigers moves to 5 - 3 with a good chance at getting back into the Big 12 North race. Nebraska won today 20 - 10 against Baylor. The 1 - 3 conference start puts Colorado in the basement of the North. They will have to win all four of their remaining games just to have a chance at a bowl game but that seems unlikely as Dan Hawkins has not won four games in a row at Colorado and has only won twice on the road since 2006.
I assume you will hear from Dan Hawkins and the coaching staff that they are proud of the way the players responded at halftime but once again, why do the players always have to respond, why can't they make other teams respond? Why can't the Buffs dictate what the other team does? Why can't Colorado play a full game? Missouri is younger than the Buffs and they came on the road and embarrassed Dan Hawkins' team at Folsom in front of many visiting recruits. Why do the Buffs come out flat to begin halves? Why is energy always an issue? Why can't this team get motivated to play for you?
What is the excuse this week?