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Buffs Silence Critics (Just Kidding!)
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It’s never easy being a Buff fan.
To be fair, I guess you could say that about almost any sports fan, as no team wins every game. No team meets every expectation.
But it’s been a tough two decades for the Buff Nation. There have been only a few precious moments in the sun in the last 20 years, with only a few seasons of meeting – or exceeding – expectations.
More often than not, CU fans have left Folsom Field the past 20 years or so with another loss. And while recent success under Coach Prime has restored the faith of many long time fans, we still are not too far removed from the “bad old days”.
A brief reminder: Just three seasons ago, the 1-11 Buffs finished out the season with a following November results:
- November 5th v. No. 8 Oregon … Buffs a 31.5-point underdog … Final score: Oregon 49, Colorado 10
- November 11th at No. 8 USC …Buffs a 34.0-point underdog … Final score: USC 55, Colorado 17
- November 19th at No. 17 Washington … Buffs a 31.0-point underdog … Final score: Washington 54, Colorado 7
- November 26th v. No. 14 Utah … Buffs a 29.5-point underdog …Final score: Utah 63, Colorado 21
Four straight games being a four-touchdown underdog … and not once coming close to beating the spread.
So you would think that CU fans, as the 2025 season gets underway, would still be basking in the glow of last fall’s 9-4, 7-2 campaign.
You would think that the Buff Nation would not go off the rails with a 27-20 loss to a Georgia Tech. To a Yellow Jacket team which will likely win nine or ten games this fall (it doesn’t hurt that Georgia Tech misses No. 5 Miami, No. 14 Florida State, and No. 17 SMU in ACC play this fall, but that’s a discussion for another day).
You would think that CU fans would look at a Buff team coming off of a 31-7 victory over Delaware, with a 3-0 turnover margin for the second straight game, only four penalties, a perfect 3-for-3 in the red zone, and just shy of 400 yards of total offense utilizing three quarterbacks, four running backs, and seven wide receivers, and be satisfied with the win.
You would be sorely mistaken.
Remember this past off-season, which ended, what, two weeks ago?
Two weeks ago, CU’s potential was a complete unknown. Ten new starters on offense, with only left tackle Jordan Seaton returning from last season. Seven new starters on defense, with Robert Livingston putting out four players for the opening series of the season (defensive lineman Keaten Wade and Brandon Davis-Swain; together defensive backs RJ Johnson and Ben Finneseth) making their first collegiate starts.
So many questions to be answered: How would Kaidon Salter fare? Would CU’s running game (finally) emerge? Would the (once again) refurbished offensive line actually be better? Could the stacked defensive line and talented secondary make up for deficiencies in the linebacker corps?
Could Colorado, picked 10th or 11th in most preseason magazines, and given an over/under of 5.5 wins by Vegas, again exceed expectations?
Considering what the national pundits thought about Georgia Tech (a 5.0-favorite at kickoff), and what they thought about Colorado. a 27-20 game played out about as predicted.
Considering that CU was a 23.5-point favorite over Delaware, and won by 24, the game, for all of its warts, played out about as predicted.
Good enough for the Buff Nation?
Nope. CU fans are having none of it.
After the Georgia Tech game …
- “Pat Shurmur is a complete moron” was the heading of one thread on the BuffStampede message board. “Bench Salter NOW!“, “How do we feel about Livingston’s contract now?“, and “That was a complete **** show” were headings posted by less than satisfied CU customers.
After the Delaware game …
- “Safeties and linebackers: Yuck” … “Improvement from first to second game – hard to see” … “Rob and D: Soft as F” were the new headlines on the message boards.
While I was just as frustrated by some of CU’s play-calling, tackling, decision-making, roster choices, etc., etc., as the next Buff fan, I have been taken aback by the firestorm of vitriol on the message boards. Why so much hate for a team which had positive trends (no turnovers for the first two games of the season in school history; over 100 yards rushing in both games – after averaging in the 60’s per game the last two seasons; smatterings of success from the quarterbacks, running backs, and wide receivers), and a 2025 schedule against a Big 12 which is devoid of unbeatable teams.
I try to avoid posting on message boards, because you can’t win an argument against someone unwilling to listen. But I have still been having arguments with these posters in my head.
Then, as I was trying to get to sleep early last week, pondering why so many Buff fans are so down on their team, it hit me why the negative comments have been bothering me so much.
These folks are trolls.
Not trolls by the definition I had always gone by: Fans from other teams hanging out on the message board to stir the pot. Fans of Nebraska or Colorado State showing up on game weeks to pick fights … You know, that kind of “troll”.
No, these trolls are actually Buff “fans” … but they really aren’t.
My new definition of a troll (and forgive me if I am late to have this epiphany):
A troll is someone who would rather be right … and have their own team lose … than see their home team win.
It wasn’t that these fans were frustrated with CU’s play-calling or tackling (we all are) … It’s they actually wanted to see the Buffs struggle, so that they could say after the game: “See! I told you Pat Shurmur sucked!“; “Told ‘ya that Salter was no good!“; “Coach Prime can’t coach!” …
“See how smart I am by predicting – and then pointing out – CU’s shortcomings!!!”
I don’t get that type of fan. I really don’t. You’d rather be able to say “I told you so!”, and have your team lose, than actually have your team win?
Am I frustrated by how Coach Prime and offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur decided to use their quarterbacks against Delaware? Yes.
Am I dumbfounded by the marked inability of the CU defense to tackle consistently, bailed out only by turnovers and mistakes by the opposition? Yes.
Am I concerned about what this means for the Buffs going forward, as conference play begins next Friday on the road against undefeated Houston? Definitely.
Guess what, trolls? We all share those concerns. Yet, as it turns out, most of us keep those concerns to ourselves, or at least discuss them in civil terms.
So, go ahead and have your say. You’re not smarter than everyone else by pointing out the obvious deficiencies in the 2025 Buffs – you’re just louder.
This just in: The 2025 Buffs have enough talent to stay in every game they play this fall.
Will they win every game? Nope.
But for those of you calling for the ouster of Coach Prime, scroll back up and see what it was like for the CU program the month before he was hired.
The 2025 CU team is likely to continue to frustrate its fans, but I, for one, am happy to sign on to cheering on a team which leaves me frustrated after a 31-7 victory.
Beats the hell out of losing 54-7.
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9 Replies to “Buffs Silence Critics (Just Kidding!)”
So what happens now at QB??
Looks like the ‘recruiting sites’ got Salter right too, his inability to throw on the run (wildly inaccurate) completely negates his natural ability to escape, that’s when the big plays are supposed to happen w/him.
easily fixed
if you are already running just keep running. Show us those legs
seriously
Here I go again, but I am going to be just as persistent as Shurmur’s intransigence. Trying to explain Salter’s earlier career success at Liberty and his fall off here could be….you guessed it…..Shurmer. Salter and Lewis seem to be hesitant to throw the ball like Shedeur was. Because of the line of scrimmage focus on the plays we dont get the coverage of the WR routes. Are they as bad as the running scheme? The rerun of the Brown TD showed a decent route combo but the success of the play depended somewhat on they guy who was covering Brown who hesitated looking briefly to cover the shorter route, even though a team mate was trying, which left Brown open. Kudos to Staub to see that.
Salter or Staub? Salter or Staub? Salter or Staub?
That is not the question
The question is why the sudden reversal of the defense….and what seems to be the never ending question of Shurmur. I didn’t see anything different. We did get an average number of running yards but we were playing Delaware. I was happy to see a number of players on offense we don’t see often who, just like Staub, took advantage of the opportunity to show their stuff. Practice doesn’t always sort out the handful of guys who come alive when the real thing and adrenaline start flowing. Shurmur’s practices cant be any different than what he shows on the field so they are probably more drudgery than most.
But I digress.
The D, bent over backwards, still didn’t break. (how about Finneseth?) That kind of performance wont hold up against the top teams in the conference. They got to the hen’s QB some, especially later in the game with the blitz, but overall he had too much time to pick a target and it was a good thing he was off target half the time.
And did someone mention the bubble screen? I’m not sure how many times it was called but I remember 4. One that actually gained 5 yards but the others more than doubled that in losses. Its just another symptom of the one or 2 page playbook
In my opinion, what a great time to try all three QBs, than in a game that the Buffs were more than likely going to win. It was a risk, but in my opinion, a risk that may pay dividends. Salter had the opportunity in week one and week two to show he was the clear #1. He did not do it. Staub’s first two passes were pretty ugly but after that, it was like a completely different offense. Why, I don’t know – perhaps he knows the playbook better or the team has more confidence in him or he’s just better at the long ball. Whatever it is, this was the only way to give him an opportunity to see if that was true, in live action. It also gave me a better feeling about the QB situation. I think all three can play, but it’s hard to argue with, on four opportunities, Staub directed 21 points, Salter got 10. JuJu’s didn’t really get four true opportunities, which is unfortunate. It’s almost like after each QB got there first two possessions, the QB order for the remaining possessions, was the new QB order. To me, that was a coaching plan.
Gary Barnett said after the game that this our team this year. A chance to win or lose every game. But Shurmur has to go.
I think it’s just part of online discourse these days that “valid criticism has to be passed as unhinged vitriol” to have anyone pay attention to it. Part our impending societal collapse due to the semantic apocalypse, I suppose.
The criticisms of the non stop bubble screens by Shurmur are the most valid of the criticisms… And yet we don’t see practice so we can’t see what Salter does well in drills after drills….
But then again if you have a quarterback that’s a big running threat I would think you would want to spread the ball vertically with passing now horizontally. What’s to stop an opposing team from playing short cover one zones against Salter right now when he won’t throw the f*ing ball down the field except when he’s scrambling (in which case he sails it). So scheme criticisms are pretty valid.
Defense I think needs a bit of time. They’ll be ok.
Staub is clearly the only QB Shurmur trusts to run an actual non gimmick offense, so from that point of view you go have to start him.
Stuart, while I agree that there are some who would rather be right than win, there are many legitimate concerns. While you do acknowledge this fact, I don’t think it helps to gloss over, minimize or ignore them. What we saw yesterday was pretty bizarre no matter how you (not you) look at it. Now maybe there really is some sort of plan. Maybe they have sat the three QB’s down and talked about what they are doing and everyone knows what is going on. Maybe. It sure didn’t look like it.
Now, I do believe that the coaches are working hard to find solutions and having ten new starters on offense and replacing most of the defense is going to create issues, so some grace is in order. However, what we have seen in the first two games is something very strange. Maybe it is just a blip in the long road. Many eventually successful teams and coaches have gone through them including Coach Mac. We have a long way to go, but it certainly feels like this team is really struggling to find its identity and the coaching is very strange to start the season. Hopefully we all look back on this as a passing moment.
Great comments, Stuart! Go Buffs!
I was right! I was right! Well, sort of. I did say don’t discount staub, and hoped he’d win the job. We’ll see how he does against Houston.
Go Buffs