It’s All Relative

“It was bad football”.

Of course, no one could agree more with CU head coach Karl Dorrell, after his team struggled to put away a Northern Colorado team which was picked to finish near the bottom of the Big Sky Conference. It was a 35-7 final score, but the Buffs were flagged for 12 penalties for 117 yards, and couldn’t find any consistency on offense. The score was only 14-0 at halftime, and wasn’t a sure victory until well into the second half.

A 28-point win, but it was, indeed, “bad football”.

The only thing is … that’s not a Karl Dorrell quote.

The quote is from Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards, whose Sun Devils struggled to put away another Big Sky Conference team, Southern Utah. ASU had seven penalties in the first quarter alone against the Thunderbirds, and looked bad for much of the game. The Sun Devils did recover, though, to post a 41-14 victory.

Well, how about this quote? “I stopped writing down (the number of mistakes), there were so many. Right now, based on tonight, we’re not good enough, so we have to get better.”

The thing is … that’s not a Karl Dorrell quote, either.

Expecting the unexpected v. UNC: “We need to focus on our job” … Buffs ready to take the field – Nate Landman: “I love this team” … Scouting Report: UNC Players to Watch … Ticket sales for UNC game inching up … Captains for UNC game named … Neill Woelk posts Fast Five Keys to UNC Game …

Cautionary Tales? Utah; Arizona State struggle against Big Sky teams early before pulling away … Game Three Opponent Minnesota gives No 4 Ohio State a Scare; Ibrahim Injured … Wilner picks: Pac-12 to go 12-0 this weekend (including UCLA over LSU) … Kliavkoff looking to improve Pac-12 Networks distribution: “I like the NFL model” …

CU has won five straight openers … Buffs are 29-2 in last 31 openers when scoring first … A whopping 75% of the CU roster (90-out-of-119) are underclassmen … CU QB room has no career starts (for the second year in a row) … CU’s first-ever Friday home opener … Four Pac-12 teams are underdogs this weekend …

The last time CU played Northern Colorado (2017), the score was 28-21 in the third quarter (before the Buffs pulled away for a 41-21 win) … Can the Bears, who have had TWO YEARS to prepare for this game, pull of an upset? Or will the Buffs take it to the Bears early, and post a dominating win? …

Can the McCaffreys find a way to upset the Buffs in Folsom? … CU hasn’t been able to game plan against a team which hasn’t played in two years, but will it make a difference? … Plus: CU and “The Alliance” and our predictions for how the Pac-12 standings should look in December …