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“I Don’t. Doubt. Me.”
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Last weekend, after a humbling 53-7 loss to Utah, things looked pretty bleak for Coach Prime and his Buffs.
“He [Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham] kicked my butt today”, Coach Prime lamented after the game. “This was bad. It’s probably the worst beating I’ve ever had. 422 yards rushing. You ain’t winning. Total offense, 140 yards, you’re not winning. Special teams gave up a fake punt as well as a blocked punt; you’re not winning. So, all three phases, we got our butts kicked.”
Of course, those who love to watch CU lose were out in force, with their pitchforks freshly sharpened. The message boards were lit up with salty language. One headline: “Utah knocks out the Buffs, kicks sand in its face, and flips it the bird in humiliating 53-7 fashion” … and that was from a journalist.
Live by the media frenzy; die by the media frenzy.
Then, just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse for the Buff Nation, they have.
Arizona ran over, through and around the Colorado defense in a 52-17 rout. The CU offense was not only ineffective, the Buffs lost five turnovers, three of which led to touchdown “drives” of less than 20 yards. The Wildcats were up 17-0 before the Buffs posted their first first down of the game. At halftime, the Buffs had more penalties (9) than points (7).
It was so bad that the only source of entertainment for those in the stands who hadn’t abandoned ship by halftime was a section of shirtless students, who played to the crowd in order to get themselves on the jumbotron.
Buff fans had to laugh in order to keep from crying.
After the game, for the first time in his three-year tenure in Boulder, Coach Prime didn’t allow any of his players to talk ot the media. He said that was because he was solely to blame for the bedraggled Buffs’ second straight blowout loss.
“Don’t attack the coordinators. Come at me. Don’t attack the players. Come at me,” Sanders said.
Coach Prime said had no answers as to why the Buffs played so poorly again, insisting good practices had given no inkling another rout was forthcoming. He bristled when asked if his team had checked out: “I know a quitter when I see one. I haven’t seen that.”
Sanders added that he’s confident he can coach Colorado back into winning ways, saying, “I don’t doubt me. Let’s get that straight: I. Don’t. Doubt. Me.”
While Coach Prime may not doubt himself, there is plenty of doubt from the rest of the Buff Nation.
Now, to be fair, it’s not like we haven’t heard this song before. Even in the relative bliss which has been the Coach Prime era (compared to much of the past 20 years, and certainly the absurdity which was the Karl Dorrell era of 2021-22), there have been other mind-numbing losses the past three seasons.
While it’s always good to have the memory of a goldfish (thank you, Ted Lasso!), I present the following embarrassments:
— September 23, 2023 … Eugene, Oregon … No. 10 Oregon 42, No. 19 Colorado 6
The Ducks dominated the first half with edges of 378-21 in total offense, 22-4 in first downs while possessing the ball for 20:48.
“Good old-fashioned butt-kicking,” Coach Prime said afterward. “No excuses, no nothing.”
And don’t forget what Oregon head coach Dan Lanning had to say. “The Cinderella story’s over, men. They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins. There’s a difference,” Lanning told his team in front of ESPN’s cameras before the game (begging the question: If he wasn’t all about the “clicks”, why did he invite ESPN to film his pregame speech???).
Coach Prime’s response after the game: “I don’t say stuff just to say it for clicks, contrary to what somebody says. Yeah, I keep receipts. But I’m serious. I analyze and I understand what we we’re up against and what we have and what we need,” Coach Prime said. “One thing I can say honestly and candidly, you better get me right now. This is the worst we’re going to be.”
Well … perhaps not the worst …
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— November 17, 2023 … Pullman, Washington … Washington State 56, Colorado 14
A 4-6 Washington State team mauled a 4-6 Colorado team in Pullman. One post-game story had this to say:
“Buffs showed a lack of understanding of the rules, no discipline and doubled down on their worst mistakes making for one big beat ’em down. Colorado was underprepared, less-talented and out-coached” … DenverSports.com
“Very sad at how we played. We practiced hard this week, we prepared like no other, to display a performance like that is not who we are or how we are,” a Coach Prime said in a brief interview postgame. “I have been boasting since the beginning of the season that I had not seen us quit or turn it down. There were some plays in the first half that I didn’t see the passion I wanted to see.”
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Even during CU’s otherwise enjoyable ride to a 9-4 record last season, there were moments when Buff fans wanted to duck and cover …
— December 28, 2024 – Alamo Bowl, San Antonio, Texas … No. 17 BYU 36, No. 23 Colorado 14
Colorado was held to 210 total yards with only two net yards rushing in a nationally televised bowl drubbing. The Buffs were so bad that 90 of their 210 total yards came in the fourth quarter with the Cougars leading by 29 points.
Coach Prime: “We couldn’t do nothing offensively much at all. Defensively, I think we had some sound stops, but we didn’t have enough, and we came up short”.
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This just in … The Buffs have been mauled before in the Coach Prime era.
The Buffs have been beaten in every phase before, and Coach Prime has been shocked – shocked! – before to discover that the outstanding practices during the week didn’t translate into anything but disappointment on Saturday.
So what’s the problem?
These are the same coordinators who helped lead the team to a 9-4 record last season (with defensive coordinator Robert Livingston being wooed by the NFL before signing a new contract with CU). At last check, coaches don’t throw the ball directly to the opposition or routinely miss tackles … so it’s not all on the coordinators and coaches.
At the same time, the Buff offense – almost comically – opened the Arizona game with two failed wide receiver screens, plays we had thought had been torn out of the playbook and burned. The Buffs continuously run the ball up the middle, with no history of being successful doing so, and often are out of position on defense … so it’s not all on the players.
On paper, this is the most talented team Colorado has had since 2016. There are more four-star players on the roster than at any time since the Buffs were winning Big 12 North division titles 20+ years ago.
Coach Prime angrily insists the team hasn’t quit … which suggests that they might have.
Coach Prime angrily insists it’s not the coordinators or the players … which suggests that it is.
Buff fans, whether they left the stadium at halftime or turned the channel to watch the World Series instead of putting themselves through watching another embarrassing loss, are left with many unanswered questions.
Can the coaching staff keep the team together? Is there any hope of avoiding a five-game losing streak to end the season, and an abysmal 3-9 record?
And, just as importantly: Is there any reason to believe that Coach Prime can keep what talent he has on the roster, and find new talent to replace that which will inevitably be lost to the Transfer Portal?
Coach Prime does not lack for confidence: “I don’t doubt me. Let’s get that straight: I. Don’t. Doubt. Me.”
Sorry, coach, but we have our doubts …
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12 Replies to ““I. Don’t. Doubt. Me.””
I still believe in Prime. He is in his third season coaching at this level without a huge talent lead. I think there is a reason no other team is building teams primarily through the portal, coaches with a lot of experience knew the risks. We missed on qb, we missed on linebacker, our one season rental at lb and edge left and we did not replace effectively. The question is will prime rethink? Will we be better as our 10-15 freshman get older and he has a group of 50-60 of them instead of 20? I Don’t count his first year of recruiting since he was so late to the game. Livingston’s defense was just fine when he had a linebacker that is second string at Alabama and two good edges. Shurmers offense was good with a great qb. His run game has always been crap though and that is kinda an nfl thing. Passing is everything in the nfl. In college you need a run game and Shurmer just doesn’t seem to have that.
Frankly, I think linebackers, edge, o line, wide recievers and Rb need more experienced coaches. I like giving Livingston another year. I think Shurmer probably needs to go. Not sure it is fair as I think plays are there to be made, but we should never have brought Salter in to this scheme and Shurmer should have said that. Shurmer should also be responsible for calling wr screens with wr that cannot block. And also not realizing they are constantly in illegal formations.
We’ll see.
Stu, After game like this, it may put your “new approaoch” to enjoying everything about a game in Folsom to the test
Ain’t that the truth?
Actually, after the first half of the first quarter, the game was over, so we just tried to have a good time.
In addition to my regular game-goer Brad, we had a friend from undergrad in town for the game. We went to The Sink, the Alumni Association tailgate, and she got to watch Ralphie VII run. We spent most of the evening trying to just enjoy the view and the company. In the second half, after 3/4 of the crowd had left, we had a fun little group left in our section, and we made the most of it. For those who stuck it out … at least we got the “shirtless” section made up of the remaining students, and the “fake” Andy Reid, who actually got interviewed on television.
Tried to make lemonade out of lemons … but it wasn’t easy.
Andy Reid was a great highlight of the evening.
Go Buffs
Ahhh the winds of change, just a few months ago, fans were fretting about Deion heading to richer pastures, now they wonder if he will be fired, that is college football, just ask LSU, PSU, Florida……..
I hope CP will be around for a long while. He is good for the program and for the school. But I would like to see him abandon the NFL buddy coaching system and find some decent college coaches.
I don’t doubt Deion either. This is when coaching gets way harder. Let’s see how they do. I think qb will go a long way in making them look like better coaches. And shhhhh, West Virginia beat Houston.
Go Buffs
I think Salter has been basically set up to fail by the staggering incompetence of Shurmur. But the team also clearly does not really around him either. I feel bad for him because even when he plays great he gets no credit and when things go bad he gets all the blame even when it’s WR not getting open, running the wrong routes, or getting huge holding calls. Even when it’s the OL not opening holes in the running game (despite teams dedicating two players to spy Salter or zone reads) or giving up pressure way too quickly. Fans rightfully blame Shurmur for WR screens but don’t blame the WRs for failing to block or the WR coach (who should have been fired months ago) for failing to teach the WRs to block and failing to enforce accountability on players that quit on plays or run the wrong routes or fail to execute basic blocks.
ANYWAYS it’s a shitshow. Most of the offensive staff needs to go. The defensive secondary has taken huge steps back and looks lost. The linebackers we knew were an issue and they’ve somehow gotten worse.
The only bright spots feel like the lines and maybe the RB play is better than it was recently.
Kaidon’s ok. Very inconsistent. Misses a lot reads and throws. Until Utah, the offensive line had been doing pretty well protecting him.
As to the receivers? Same coaching as last year. What’s the disconnect?
The d? Same thing. Did Livingston and co go from geniuses to dunces? Doubt it.
For a multitude of reasons, including a pretty tough schedule and some very close losses to pretty good teams, this season made Vegas look like the geniuses again.
The good news? It’s just fuel for Deion.
Go Buffs
I don’t think its a mystery why Salter isn’t succeeding here when he went nuts at Liberty. Its pretty much what you said plus he had a coach at Liberty who knew how to use him. I also sense a lack of urgency with the coaching staff that may be instilled by Sanders, emphasized by what he is saying after these losses. Yeah he is the head coach and the buck stops there but there is too much going on for him to cover every little detail. He keeps trusting his coordinators and they keep betraying him. Maybe its time the HC starts laying down the law. Then again, maybe its too late.
Do we have the receipts still?
What do you call a huge pile of receipts?
Debt