Why Should We Continue To Care?

Many of you read and commented on my Essay for the Northern Colorado, entitled “It’s All Relative“.

While the gist of the article was to discuss how CU’s lackluster 35-7 win over Northern Colorado had to be kept in perspective, it was also a play on words, as that game was also – at least for me – all about my relatives.

I brought in my whole family – 15 of us in all, including seven grandchildren – to Boulder for the Labor Day weekend. My purpose was to bring my school my children and grandchildren, most of whom had never been to Boulder. I wanted them to see what the Folsom Field experience was all about. I wanted them to understand why grandpa got on a plane four or five times every fall, heading to Colorado to watch football games … games which could be watched much more easily from the comfort of my home in Bozeman.

After watching the beat down the Buffs took against Minnesota, falling 30-0 at home in a game which wasn’t even that close, I have to ask the question myself:

Why do I keep doing this … only to be continuously disappointed?

Why do I continue to put in hours each day into the website, and thousands of dollars each year into the coffers of United Airlines, if this is the product I am supporting?

Why do I – Why do we – continue to care?

Right now, if I am being perfectly honest – I don’t have an answer to that question.

The CU effort, at least on the offensive side of the ball, was pathetic. The first play of scrimmage? A mishandled snap and a ten yard loss, and it only went downhill from there. CU’s first half drive chart:

  • three plays, minus-15 yards, punt
  • three plays, minus-3 yards, punt
  • three plays, eight yards, punt
  • five plays, minus-one yard, punt
  • five plays, six yards, punt
  • five plays, two yards, turnover on downs

Six possessions, three first downs, seven yards of total offense (minus-three total counting a holding penalty on the first possession). Only a good effort by the CU defense, strong punts from Josh Watts, and a wayward Minnesota kicker kept the game at a respectable 13-0.

Was there hope for the second half? After Minnesota put together a good drive to start the third quarter, only to miss another field goal attempt, there seemed like there was still a path to a Colorado victory.

Except there wasn’t.

The Buff offense was just as anemic in the second half. Brendon Lewis was hesitant, lost, ineffective, poorly coached … pick your adjective … with no perceivable halftime adjustments being made. Two second half turnovers by the Buffs were turned into ten more Gopher points, helping Minnesota to head home with a laugher of a 30-0 rout.

The 63 total yards of offense? Third lowest by a CU offense at home in school history.

The shutout? The first by a non-conference opponent in Folsom since LSU pulled it off against the Buffs … in 1979.

The Buffs were not just bad on offense, they were historically bad.

And we had to sit in the sun, baking, to watch it.

It didn’t help that there were a smattering of Minnesota fans in our area. They were quiet and polite until the score hit 20-0, when a combination of confidence, beer and sunshine morphed some of them into obnoxious assholes.

And we had to sit there and take it. What could we say? Our offense couldn’t put two consecutive first downs together. Six total first downs for the game?

Our team was a disgrace and we knew it.

“Offensively, we’re struggling in a number of areas”, understated head coach Karl Dorrell. “It’s not just the quarterback. It’s protection, it’s run game, it’s receivers, it’s backs, it’s everything. It’s one of those things where we’re going to have to wipe the slate clean and start all over and try to figure out how to do some semblance of offense and how to get some things back going.”

Just guessing here … wiping the slate clean and starting over isn’t usually the game plan as you are are about to start conference play.

We all understood that there would growing pains with a freshman quarterback.

What we can’t understand – or what is baffling at least to me – is how Colorado has failed to build its offense around what Brendon Lewis can do. It’s painfully obvious that a deep ball is not in his repertoire. Lewis was, however, rated as the No. 12 dual threat quarterback in the nation as a recruit, with over 3,400 yards rushing in high school. Where are the run-pass option plays? There were aborted attempts at quarterback draws, but the (few) successful runs Lewis had against Texas A&M were non-existent against Minnesota.

Slant passes? End arounds? Bubble screens? I’m not a football coach, and am not pretending to be, but it seems clear that Lewis is not comfortable pulling the trigger on the passes which are being called.

The CU coaching staff has known since early August, when J.T. Shrout was injured and lost for the season, that Lewis would be their guy. Yes, it’s important, considering the dearth of options in the quarterbacks room, to keep Lewis healthy, but to what end?

Let Lewis be Lewis, or take your chances with Drew Carter … or just forfeit the rest of the season.

It literally cannot get any worse.

As it stands, there is little reason to believe Colorado will have a winning season in 2021. The Buffs might be favored to win their home games against Arizona and Oregon State and … that’s about it.

Another crappy season.

It’s not as if we haven’t endured crappy seasons before. Depending on your age, there were the Chuck Fairbanks years, the early Bill McCartney years, the Dan Hawkins debacle, followed by the Jon Embree disaster and the Mike MacIntyre slow descent into obscurity.

I’ve lived through the losses to Drake and the humbling routs by Nebraska and Oklahoma in the early 80’s. I endured the loss to Montana State. I was in Toledo for the meltdown in the Glass Bowl, and was witness to every mind-numbing loss during the Jon Embree era (to that point: The titles for the 2011 and 2012 seasons in the CU at the Game Archives are entitled, “I Feel Bad that I Don’t Feel Worse” and “Five Stages of Grief“, respectively).

Yet, somehow, this feels even worse.

In the early 80’s, I didn’t know any better (CU went 1-10 my freshman year in 1980. So I was used to seeing CU lose. We didn’t know there were other options). In 2006, when Dan Hawkins opened with a 2-10 season, we still relied upon his 50 wins in five seasons in Boise as a beacon of hope for future success. Even in Jon Embree’s two years, we were resigned to the experiment, hoping against hope that Embree and Bieniemy, who understood what it took to win in Boulder, would find a way to make it work.

And now?

What do we hang our hat on?

In a decent defense, one which will keep the Buffs in some of its games?

In Karl Dorrell, who exceeded expectations in 2020, only to have his team take a significant step back this fall?

I’m not sure I’m up for it.

I have been writing game-by-game reviews for CU games for 25 years now (I spent my off-seasons in the late 90’s doing write-ups for the 1980-95 games). That’s a lot of games, with most of them losses. The Buffs have won exactly one conference title in that span, and that was 20 years ago.

And yet I keep coming. Keep incurring the expense because Folsom Field is a like a shrine for me. I get chills coming over the hill on the Turnpike, seeing Boulder for the first time on my trip. Going through the tunnel to our seats in Section 218? A pilgrimage to my second home.

I don’t get those chills watching games at home. I don’t have 47,000 fellow Buffs (okay, more like 40,000 fellow Buffs) to make me feel like I am part of a big family. The Buff Nation is my Nation .. and I need to be in Boulder to get that high.

I wanted to try and instill that emotion in my family when I brought them to Boulder. I wanted them to see why Boulder, and CU, and Folsom Field, is so special.

But it took just two weeks and one more home game to begin to wonder if I was the one who didn’t get it.

If Colorado is going to just go down the rat hole once again, with Buff fans left to hope against hope that maybe, just maybe, the Buffs can finish … in fifth place in the South division?

Why should I put in all this time on a lost cause?

Why should any of us?

Why should we continue to care?

—–

37 Replies to “Why Should We Continue to Care?”

  1. SAID IT ONCE.

    When you have a STABLE full of talented RB’s and a QB who has good feet, why not run some deception and options ?

    ALSO. Why were the Gophers able to slant in front of our DB’s leaving their front sides open to receive a pass ? AND why were the Gophers DB’s – for the most part – able to stay in front of our WR’s to DEFEND a thrown pass ?

    ‘Cmon CHEV…….you were a damn good receiver !

    ‘NUFF SAID.

  2. Well the line is ASU -14, still going to back the Buffs. I do think that Dorell will force some changes that will keep it within 14. If they lay the same egg, well then, something more drastic will have to happen.

  3. Yo Stuart,
    I share your pain as well. I’ve been doing this since 1984. I’ve been there for the ups and downs.

    The incredible highs in the stands include watching Salaam go over 2000 yards, the magic of Hagan, the fire and heart of Scooter Bieniemy, and being in Miami for the Orange Bowl and Tempe for the Fiesta Bowl.

    I also remember the incredible lows. Standing outside of Macky with thousands of others while Sal Aunese was eulogized by Bill McCartney and others inside the auditorium. I remember seething in anger at the beatdown at the hands of USC in 2002, when I absolutely refused to leave the stadium until the debacle was over.

    But life went on. Boulder was and is still beautiful. The University of Colorado is still my alma mater, and our family school. My daughters and wife all graduated there as well. The flatirons still loom majestically above campus, and I still marvel at the beauty of this location every single day.

    Keep the faith Stuart. Not that the Buffs will be championship level every year… they won’t. Most of our players are from more than 500 miles away. Football here is not a religion (thank the gods). And we don’t have a long and storied history of lying, cheating and paying our players. And most of the people who live around the Denver metro area did not go to CU. And no matter how good the team is on the field, the Buffs will always be second fiddle to the Denver Broncos.

    After the game, however, we still find ourselves with our hearts and souls having been blessed to have spent time in Boulder and Folsom. Some of us came and never left again. And no matter where we are in the world, our hearts still beat to the echoes off the flatirons and the joy of watching Ralphie lead our team onto the field in the most beautiful setting in all of college football.

    Hey, Alabama has a great football team, but when all is said and done, they still live in Alabama. 40 hours a YEAR, it’s a great place to be. But Boulder wins, hands down, for the other 523,200 minutes each and every year.

    Go Buffs!

    Mark / Boulderdevil

  4. Dear Buff Nation,

    In 40 years of being a Buff fan, I have NEVER seen a worse performance from the Buffs. Even in the 1-10 year of 1984, we showed up to the games.

    I had the feeling yesterday that none of our OL had ever played football before; that they were given a video to watch before the game and someone told them to “go try and do that.” Lewis did not look like he had any idea what to do. And why the F did we not just run to set up the pass instead of trying to do it the other way around.

    This game was devoid of hope. Of any sense that we would ever recover. I have literally never felt like that before with the Buffs…

    What does anyone do now to fix this? The coaches and the players can talk all day long about, “this is just one game” and we “just have to get it together next week and do better,” “we have to step up and take responsibility,” blah, blah, blah. Don’t placate me. I saw what happened.

    Tell me what the plan is for recovering from that. Really, how are the players going to convince themselves they can do better???? Because you can’t do worse?????? That’s not the reasoning of champions. That’s not the reasoning of winners. That’s the reasoning of the hopeless.

    It was a pathetic display of incompetence in almost every regard. And it’s absolutely clear to me that convincing those players they are much better (really) and that the game plan will work is going to take the most heroic, amazing display of leadership the Buff Nation has ever seen!

  5. Chev is a favorite Buff of mine.
    Glad he came to CU
    As a receiver coach and recruiter he did damn good
    As a motivator of the fans he is amazing
    When he became OC I had tremendous hope for his success
    He struggled through the co-coordinator with those two Macnettes.
    When he got his own deal I expected even more
    2019 Ok first stand alone year. Weaknesses showed
    2020 Peter principle began to show
    2021 Peter principle is here.

    For some reason he just can get past his own ego. Stubborn.

    Time for HCKD to step up like he did with the DC
    Make a change after the 3rd game? Absolutely. The facts and the stats are right dang there

    Note; Yup the young qb is having his problems. Some is his inexperience. Most is the lack of quality coaching, and schemes, and play design, and play calling and lack of adjustments. They gave him nothing to play to his strength.

    Note 1: ASU will be tough. Play him and give him the damn tools to do it.

    Note 2: Some weren’t happy with the HCKD hire. They are already in give him a little time mode. Sad. Especially after they gave wacmac 5 years and still believe he should be here

  6. I was at the UNC game and could tell from there that this offense was not okay. My friends said KD was disguising things for future games and that I shouldn’t be concerned. Not so much.

    At that UNC game I saw Brendon Lewis miss a few open receivers, yes, but clearly, for the most part, I saw receivers running routes too far down field and who we’re completely covered. BL had nobody to throw to most of the time, so he ran for his life (and yardage in that game) as the receivers did very little to come back toward him and somehow get open.

    Where were the short passes? Slants? Crossing patterns? Simple play-action fakes to someone five yards down field? Nothing elaborate… just simple draw it up in the dirt football and beat the guy in front of you with the element of surprise. Not so much.

    UNC’s coaches did much better at this all night–throwing short passes that turned into solid gains–than did CU. Why? Because Chev is obviously thinking way too hard about this stuff. And after you throw a bunch of short stuff (assuming BL can throw the ball 5-7 yards), Chev, you catch the other team off guard and keep them honest by throwing it down field deeper 3-5 times per game. We can do this!

    1. Whenever the telecast afforded a wider view of the field I saw nothing but crappy vanilla well covered routes as well. Many of the same called over and over again. I can imagine how Chev would play rock, paper scissors.
      Lewis threw for over 8,000 yards in high school at a high level in Texas and Chev came from TTech where running the football only happened when the QB went rogue. Is a curse here the only explanation for things so bassackward? Looking Chev’s history here, which seems to be getting worse I think his deer in the headlights act is worse than Lewis’s and probably one factor for Lewis’s.
      And what the hell has Langsdorf done to help prevent this situation? Supposedly he has a good rep. Then again it has to be a nuclear meltdown for any coach to bad mouth another.
      How many people are going to put money on chev keeping his job? If he does and things keep on he way they are…..since chev has been here….I hope Lewis transfers to a place where he can play loose and succeed.

      1. Ep,
        So I actually disagree. The announcer on the TV is watching live, but Chev’s offense is designed to have the ball out at 3 seconds. To understand his route combinations you actually have to count to 3 after the snap and pause the dvr. Over and over you will see recievers open, the problem was that Lewis is not even winding up. This does not excuse for Chev or Dorrell. It was clear by the third series that Lewis could/would not make the throw. They should have been prepared for that. They should have had a plan and they did not. And when they did not have a plan they should have went to the back up qb. So they still have a problem, and a big one. But it is not as dark as you might think. Here is some proof:
        Series 1: 3rd and 16 – at 3 seconds the far wr is 1 yard past the sticks 5 yards from the nearest defender. The pocket is collapsing but that ball should already be in the air.
        Series 2: 1st and 10 – at 2 seconds Brady settles down in the gap in the zone at 8 yards (this is the exact same route as the first play against A&M) Lewis has a clear throwing lane. The nearest defender is 4 yards away and focused on the under route. He is actually a 1/2 second slow but he pumps instead of throwing it as brady turns. Becuase he was a 1/2 second slow it might have been batted down but he also could have slid about a half step and made the throw right after the guy jumped. Instead he starts running.
        2nd series: 3rd and 7 at 3 seconds the out route on the left may come open but it will be tight and it would be a tough throw. The crossing route in the middle is going to be wide open however and given a zone this should be his first read instead of the out. The ball should be out to the crossing route at 3 seconds instead he holds it and gets pressure and is sacked as he tries to climb the pocket.

        So recievers are getting open, Lewis is just not pulling the trigger. I suspect Carter will start next week. Not sure that is the right answer but Lewis has completely lost his feel for the game and his confidence to throw to a spot.

  7. For me, the answer is in our fight song … shoulder to shoulder. Losing stinks but I’m pretty sure that these young men expend more physical effort on an “off day” than my best day in the gym … ever. For that, they earn my ongoing support and respect. Better days ahead fellow Buffs.

  8. Well Stuart here we are again, playing the chaser position in the latest version of the 82-42 debacle. I was furious at what happened yesterday but then after some time to marginally settle down thought that we are where I thought we would be at this point before the start of the season. The difference is that I assumed A&M would beat us around 30-0 and MN might eke out a very close win. So here we are.

    What keeps me here is the shoulder-to-shoulder commitment that we sing about. I think about Nate Landman leaving his soul on the field and Wells playing his heart out. And I think about endless work you have put into this thing we call fandom and I think we stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” because that is what we do.

  9. Keep the faith Stuart and Buff Nation. Very disappointing to be sure, but football teams,
    as in life, never stay the same. Think of the successful years CU football has enjoyed,
    along with championship seasons in Buff sports. Stand firm in resolving to press on
    in making this team the best they can be. They need our encouragement and support.
    Go Buffs!

  10. Nothing will change until DiStphano is gone. Inept manager and terrible leader. He is the reason Mel left. Get a chancellor in who understands the value of football and what CU is, and we’ll be back. Until then, like you, I just simply don’t care—too much of a toll on my emotions. Have better things to do than go through another Embree. Was a freshman when we won it all. Senior with the miracle in Michigan. Was at the Nebraska demolition. Married on campus with wedding pics at the stadium. I’m done.

  11. Hey. At least we’re not Arizona.

    CU is some decent playcalling and some tolerable QB play away from 3-0. It’s honestly not that bad.

  12. This is hilarious. From Coug center. This guy pj is funny:
    Good morning! First, a question: Who do we think is the current leader in the quest for the Pac-12 South title? I’ve got BYU with a slight edge over Fresno State, then San Diego State in third. It’s gonna be an entertaining race!

    I piped over there and corn nation to see if their dejection outshines mine. It almost always does.

    Go Buffs

  13. The sky isn’t falling. If we had beaten A&M last week and had this same result against Minnesota the reaction would be even worse. Fact is we have a really young college QB not named Mahomes who is in over his head presently. Doesn’t mean he can’t be a good QB at this level but it might take a couple years and possibly a different offense for his skills. Dorrell needs to demote Chev back to receivers coach, take over the O.C. duties/play-calling for the rest of the season and I’d play Drew Carter NOW (as in starting QB) and I think we’d be pleasantly surprised. Nothing like sink or swim to make someone grow up. We cannot continually cycle through coaches and build a program, we need to stick with this guy but he needs to find a really talented young O.C. who can develop QB talent. We haven’t had a great QB (Sefo and Montez had their moments) in decades. That needs to change to change the program’s fortunes.

  14. Why continue to care? It’s football. It’s not life. It’s a pastime. It’s fun. Even when our Buffs suck. I still watch. And hope. Maybe the McCartney curse is real? Nah.

    My friends and I were there in those glory years. 88-93/94 when I split time between school and skiing Mary Jane and berthoud pass were hugely formative in my life. Saturday’s at Folsom were a big part of that. As were fac and all the other food times there.

    So, to this season, team and staff. I wasn’t a fan of the dorrell hire. But we got the guy that wanted us. And my concern was that it was lance’s hire. I am not throwing in the towel on them. This was one game. One very terrible, awful, no good football game.

    If the season follows that script? I still may not call for Karl’s head. I am not a fan of the never ending search for the next genius coach.

    I, like many, do wonder how it got this bad. Ep, the Berliner and others may disagree, but my concerns around our qb seem to have been valid. The counter point then? If dude is not a good passer, why force the issue? Move to the part of the playbook that plays to his strengths. But can that be done in a matter of weeks, when you’ve spent a year installing and practicing what you want to run? Seems unlikely, but I don’t coach football.

    Now, if drew starts against asu. Reads, reacts and throws accurately and moves the offense? Maybe it isn’t the scene and the calls.

    Sadly, my dejection. After yesterday leaves me with this prediction. CU 2. Asu 0. I cannot pick against my Buffs. But that seems about the only way they can win that one. But it is only Sunday. My optimism may shine brighter by Friday.

    And hey, the pac 12 seems to suck, so we got that goin for us. Which is nice.

    Go Buffs

  15. I lived through the same era as you….we tore down the goal posts beating a bad KSU team….watched Oklahoma score 82 points. We were bad. But you are correct…as I sit today, it just seems different. We simply didnt have the horses in the early 80s….poor coaching and recruiting during Hawkins, Embree, McIntyre…Mel Tucker gave me some hope…perhaps another McCartney…and he abandoned the Buffs and now has a team that is 3-0 with two quality wins (Northwestern and Miami). Dorrell was a good calming force during the pandemic…and Sligging Sam was a pleasant surprise…but then reality struck again against Utah and Texas.

    Chiv WAS a great recruiter….not so much now. His offense has generated over the last six quarters zero points and 100 yards total offense….

    If Im HCKD, I sit down Chiv and Langsdorf…and I tell them to put together thier ideas for the GP for this week….and I let Langsdorf call the plays….

    Chiv makes great money…and he right now isnt getting it done.

    This may be my last season of season tickets…I simply cant take the abuse anymore…

  16. Stuart – thanks for putting into words many of the feelings I have. Its like I’m trying to protect myself from hurt and pain by weaning myself from caring about the Buffs. I will say, the Embree era has me more ready to be steeled from a season about to go down the drain. I do wonder if I and many other fans are feeling this way are mirroring what some of the players are beginning to feel….

  17. I have certainly only invested a fraction of the time and money you have in the program.
    However all the bad football (it’s not just the losing) over the past 20? years has taken my expectations of the program to Beavers/Jayhawks territory (and that was well before yesterday). This enables me to actually watch the entire game live, commercials and all without scaring the family (actually I get how HCKD can say, look nothing, I do the same).
    It’s the expectations that get us….until I see us play good football on a consistent basis I will not believe.
    P.S. – was in SJ night of Pac12CHAMP game…but didn’t go to the dismay of everyone b/c I knew we’d get hammered. Even that year almost every game we won, could have gone either way. Sad, but it’s how I survive, need to find your own method, otherwise I agree it’s insanity.

  18. Perfect synopsis, Stuart! If I’m Rick George, I am much more concerned with fans’ growing apathy rather than anger. Anger means we still care; apathy…not so much.

  19. I am sorry, and I feel your pain. I understand that this season is likely lost and after the A&M game we were all so hopeful, and that part is probably what makes it sting so bad. Then come the doubts. How could the coaches not see this coming. They are highly paid professionals, their job is to mentor and teach and how could they not see this coming? Is Lewis able to execute in practice? The comments from the team seem to say so? The comments from the coaching staff seem to say so? But he clearly cannot execute the plays called in the game. That is not on him….. Dorrell fired Summers becuase he was not putting the kids in a position to succeed. And it has been successful. The defense wore down yesterday but they are still very good and this is largely becuase Dorrell made a hard call (Summers wasn’t all that bad but he wasn’t great either), Dorrell also made a hard call on the strength and conditioning coach. Dorrell will make the hard call. As much as I think this is on Chev and I doubt he will be here next year I suspect replacing your OC in the middle of the year is difficult. He said it in his press conference. We are going to have to find out what we can do, and do that. Right now he does not know what that is. But here is why you come back……. He will keep trying….. we are going to see the next 9 games Dorrell trying to find out what works. Remember when Mcartney went to the wishbone (I don’t but I read your articles on it) maybe we will try air raid? Maybe we will have a full back on every play? Maybe we will run wildcat every play? Maybe every week we will try something new? It’s ok to feel sad, it’s ok to feel a bit broken inside. I feel it too. But maybe, just maybe Dorrell has reached his breaking point and we are going to go off of the current script and see what we can do, and see if creativity can solve this. The players said it after A&M, if we just made one more block, on more catch here and there 2 weeks ago we could have won that game. And that was true. So they went and tried to fix those issues. That is what you do. But what they thought was true (that the current offense is fixable) was not. So now that they know it is not, what is there plan? They have the problem and it is amazingly simple. Teams are going to line up with +1 in the box. They are going to run zone with the number of deep safeties dependent on how many they have to throw into the box. We cannot pass with Lewis, he cannot anticipate in football games regardless of what he can do in practice, Carter is a true freshman who is having problems picking up the playbook? Our offensive line has not solidified yet (though blocking was not as bad as people think – you cannot run zone blocking into a 9 man front with 7 blockers and no real threat of a pass and the ball need to be out at 3-4 seconds in Chev’s offense and Lewis had rarely even loaded it up by then) Our recievers are what the national media says they are. Ok. Brussard is amazing but he needs somewhere to run and people are now pinching the cut back lane and bringing people into the box to eliminate the lanes. So, they have the problem. What are they going to try to do to solve it. Unlike Mac and Hawkins and Embree I have a feeling they are not going to wait on better recruits and keep trying the same thing. I suspect that is not Dorrell’s way. Will next week result in the answer. To be honest I doubt it. Changing your offense in week 3 is rough. I suspect next week will be Drew Carter starting. Easier to give the back up qb a shot at executing your offense than change up everything. If that doesn’t change things I am interested to see where we go. So I am not lost yet. Utah sucked last year, but if we had Landman that game finishes differently. Texas sucked last year and we got a new defensive coordinator, UNC was ok, but we scored the same number of points as most of the other big programs in their first game so we are ok, A&M was rough but they only scored 10 against us so we were in that game…..Dorrell will make a change after this game. Stick around and find out. He will not stand pat and keep trying the same thing. Dorrell is not the same. Stick around and find out what they do. If at the end of the year we are still running Chev’s offense poorly then we can talk about the need to make some hard choices (grad school at Alabama?)

  20. Perfect. You’ve written this feeling so well. It’s never quite been this hopeless for me either. Thank you for this.

  21. The outlook wasn’t brilliant for The Buff 11 that day:
    The score stood 3 to zero, with but one more minute to play,
    And then when Broussard lost a yard , and Lewis did the same,
    A pall-like silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
    A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
    Clung to the hope which springs eternal in the human breast;

    They thought, “If only Chev could but get a play to call—
    We’d put up even money now, with Chev calling the ball.”

    Oh, somewhere in this favoured land the sun is shining bright,
    The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light;
    And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout,
    But there is no joy in BuffVille—mighty Chev has struck out.

  22. Great questions Stuart. My family laughs at me every year (kindly of course) as my optimism turns to dejection once again.

    65 yards? How did it come to this? No words can sum up how we all feel as we look down the barrel of another lost year. It feels as if no progress has been made since the game against Montana State 15 years ago. 15 years!

    So sad.

  23. Stuart – I just wanted to say thank you once again for all that you do. I feel exactly the same way except I don’t have any faith in Dorrell. I think George needs to nuke this thing and start over.

  24. Well Stuart, I have been a loyal fan since I was about 8 or 9. I have asked myself the very same questions many times over. I have 2 sons that I brought up to be avid Buff fans. Both were ncaa athletes at other schools but are still avid Buff supporters. They went to the game yesterday and called me with the same reaction you had only with many more inflammatory words. I was looking forward to yesterdays game and really thought they would win. That feeling dissipated in a hurry. I don’t like bashing college athletes as I know what they go through from a parents view but what an embarrassing performance to watch. I had high hopes for Coach Dorrel but wow it just looks like a rerun of the last 2 decades. Thank you for giving us a place to vent .

    Go Buffs

  25. Because I am a Buff, win or lose. It’s my alma mater. Because of the past memories and the future ones yet to come. Two stories: When my daughter was little she loved going to Folsom but said once: “I hate football”. Since kids are direct and honest, I thought about that. The traditions, being with family and friends. As she became older, she learned to love the game too. When my son was young, he was more into the game than my daughter but also loved the traditions. He learned the fight song at an early age and one time when he was about 8, when we were skiing and riding, he started humming the CU fight song in the lift line. Soon many around us joined in. Now he is a grown man and we rendezvous at games. As for me, my wife and I are alums. We love all of the above and have seen many highs and many lows over the years. It’s been hard from a W/L standpoint but we have been, are, and will be Buffs. Forever. That is why we care.

  26. Stuart,
    I will tell you why you do this, cause every Sunday morning I wake up and I go to CUATG website ta get comfort knowing that someone else is feeling exactly the way I feel. You article today was particularly on point to exactly how I felt.

    After the game I walked around Boulder in disbelief of how bad the game was. But when I came up on Farrand Field as the band came back and their energy was still there.

    The Flat Irons were still as beautiful as ever.

    For me Folsom Field is my majestic place as well.

    Keep doing what you are doing Stuart, we all need your voice of honesty to keep us going.

    Thank you for all you do!!
    And forever GO BUFFS!!

    1. We’ll said Cbuffsgo. I count on Stuart to explain what happened after each game. I wouldn’t mind contributing to cover his airfare. He may be best Buffs supporter out there.

  27. So what the hell was going on in the summer preseason practice? The coaches couldn’t see this coming with Lewis but still designed this offense for him? and for those nacho eating wannabe QB coaches who want to rationalize to make themselves feel better by saying it shouldda been Shrout? Why did the coaches keep telling us it was neck and neck? and Carl hinted it was going to be Lewis.
    And how did an impressive performance in the Alamo bowl turn in the paralysis to begin this season? Going back further how did a surprise season last year turn into a bowl of manure?
    Coaching.
    Last question ……why didnt HCKD, with all his experience, see this coming ? He is a coach with an O background who managed to figure out who to pick for a DC. Was it Chev being the sentimental fave and the outlying covid season that constrained the inevitable?
    Why do I care? (ok it wasnt the last question)
    Going to school and getting my degree in Boulder was the high point of my early life…and not just because of football when Crowder and Anderson got me hooked. Studying at CU was a whole new bright world for me after high school where the teachers were just there for a pay check and their curriculum and delivery was uninspiring and down right boring. Just being in Boulder and around fellow students who weren’t mired in the 50’s was a whole new world for me.
    Thats why I will always be involved with the football program, and anything else that concerns CU albeit the concern for football is waning and the pain is deadening. I’m bracing myself for the next addition of the bottom ten where I’m afraid we will be included with the fort fun failures.
    If RG and HCKD take some drastic action and some radical changes on the offense it will certainly keep my attention even if it fails for the rest of the season as well. At least they wont be doing the same Gott Damn thing over and over again once again proving what a genius Einstein was.
    Mea culpa for thinking Chev, coming from an air raid school was going to be a dynamic breath air on the O after Lingering . Sorry Lingering fans, he still sucks too.

  28. Wow. Stuart, we feel your pain. Personally, I feel the need for my mental health to step back a little from the Buffs. But not leave. The aspen are turning, falls are glorious, my golf game needs attention, and skiing is around the corner. To KD’s credit he acknowledged he needed drastic changes to regain the fans. He knows he has lost us. Lets wait and see what kind of a leader, manager, mentor he is. I might be interested in reengaging when significant changes are made.

  29. Wow, Stuart!! You are experiencing what fans will increasingly experience in the age of Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL). There will be “haves” and “have nots” to a greater degree. I have been hoping that Coach Dorrell, a committed Boulder resident who knows his football as an excellent self-made player and respected coach, could put CU back to the Crowder and McCartney eras. Can he? I hope so. If he cannot, and NIL continues it’s money grubbing course/direction (where the “haves” will “poach” players (not recruits) from “have nots,” THEN, and only then should any or all of the Buff Nation give up hope and stop caring.

    USC is feeling it’s way, Utah, ASU, Arizona, and UCLA and California as well are all “looking in the mirror today. The entire PAC 12 has slipped in the past few weeks. Coach Dorrell can “right this ship.”

    For the sake of the “faithful,” I SURE hope he can and will!!!!

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