Boulder – For too long, say Colorado’s football players, they have seen their image nationally affected by circumstances out of their control.
Saturday, the Buffs can change all that.
Colorado (2-0) gets a chance for positive publicity in the national spotlight when it plays at No. 12 Miami (1-1). CU players say they are ready to seize the opportunity.
“It’s a game to put ourselves on the map,” tackle Clint O’Neal said. “You get the national attention. It would get us back in the polls, and we’ll be recognized as an old-school football team. We’re thrilled to go down there.”
It has been more than two calendar years since the Buffs were ranked. CU was ranked No. 17 in the Associated Press poll going into its Sept. 13, 2003, game against Washington State. Colorado’s 47-26 loss at home dropped the Buffs out of the poll the following week, and they haven’t been back since.
And since that time, the national headlines CU’s program received usually were negative, resulting from publicity surrounding investigations into recruiting tactics.
This season, CU has been receiving votes in the AP poll, but victories over winless Colorado State and New Mexico State don’t garner the respect that a win over Miami would.
“The two teams we played before are decent teams,” defensive tackle James Garee said. “But they are no Miami.”
Miami is a measuring stick, and the Buffs are itching to be measured. In the preseason, CU coach Gary Barnett compared his team to the 1991 squad that finished 8-3-1, saying the Buffs’ returning talent made them the “kind of team coming back where we don’t have any apparent weakness.”
Through two games, CU has the fourth-best total defense in the Big 12 (283.5 yards per game) and the best rushing defense (50.0 yards), along with the fifth-best total offense (433.5 yards).
The validity of those numbers, however, will be severely tested in South Florida, where Miami has not lost a home opener since Arizona State beat the ‘Canes 23-12 in 1997.
Still, the Buffs don’t seem fazed.
“It’s just Miami,” cornerback Lorenzo Sims said. “People make it a big deal. They are a great team, but I just see them as another team on our schedule. We have a great schedule, especially in conference.”
Added linebacker Jordon Dizon: “They are ranked pretty high, but it’s not a David- and-Goliath kind of thing, you know? It’s David vs. David, and I think this is a good match to prove what we can do.”
Either way, the game should allow CU to know where it stands when it starts Big 12 play the following week at Oklahoma State. The Buffs follow that with a game against Texas A&M and then at No. 2 Texas, before finishing the season against Big 12 North opponents.
“It’s a great learning experience for us,” O’Neal said. “We’re using this game as a steppingstone for us to go to the hard part of the schedule. It’s a big-time football team, and we’re going down there with the mentality to win. There’s no losing in our minds at all.”
Footnotes
Tropical storm Rita is altering Miami’s practice plans. The storm, scheduled to hit the area today, caused Miami to move its Tuesday practice to Monday. Normally, Monday is a day off for the ‘Canes. … CU guard Brian Daniels’ status for Saturday is uncertain. At issue is the health of his kidneys, which were bruised when a rib was broken against CSU. If tests on his kidneys this week come back clean, then he should be cleared to play. … Kickoff for the Oklahoma State game Oct. 1 in Stillwater is 12:05 p.m. (MDT). It will not be televised.
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
