Austin – Confidence can be a funny thing.
It allows a team to have a swagger, to strut into Darrell K. Royal-Memorial Stadium with your head up, chest puffed out and believe that if you don’t beat yourself, an upset of major proportions can be possible.
Colorado had confidence Saturday.
But confidence can’t stop Vince Young.
A stout defense does that, and in the 24th-ranked Buffs’ 42-17 loss to No. 2 Texas, CU’s defense was anything but stout. Young, the Longhorns’ Heisman Trophy-candidate quarterback, passed for a career-high 336 yards and had five total touchdowns. He had 394 yards of offense.
“Vince’s performance was the best today that I have ever seen it,” UT coach Mack Brown raved.
The UT offense gained 482 yards, and five receivers had at least three catches, led by Limas Sweed’s seven grabs for 88 yards and two touchdowns.
A steel curtain, the Buffs were not.
“In this venue and against this team, we’re not good enough to make the kinds of mistakes we made today and still win the game,” CU coach Gary Barnett said. “We’ve got to play almost perfect in a game like this, and we didn’t.”
Not even close.
This game had the feel of the 2004 Big 12 championship, when Oklahoma beat the Buffs 42-3. It seemed that Colorado would score only when the Longhorns (6-0, 3-0) allowed. And in building a 28-0 lead, Texas didn’t want the Buffs (4-2, 2-1) to score much.
CU’s first four drives ended with three punts and an interception. The offense didn’t cross midfield until the second quarter and finished with a season-low 237 yards. It was the first time the Buffs finished with fewer than 300 total yards all season.
Running back Hugh Charles and the CU running game were held to just 45 yards. The Buffs gained only 3.8 yards per play and careless mistakes – penalties, turnovers- cropped up again.
“There were some things that we’d hoped we’d gotten rid of,” CU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “Foolish penalties. You’ve just got to go back to work.”
And so that’s what the Buffs vowed to do.
No part of this defeat felt anything like CU’s 23-3 loss at Miami, when players and coaches pounded their chests and announced their arrival on the college scene. They stood toe-to-toe with the Hurricanes, CU said then. The Buffs were plain stepped on by the Longhorns.
“This team is a much more dominant team than Miami felt like at that time,” Barnett said. “We didn’t get through our whole (offensive) script and we were down 14 or 21 points. So, it happens sometimes.
“But it’s not what happens to you, it’s how you respond. That will be the real test for this football team. We’re not going to be defined by this game. Today was a statement about Texas. They are darn good.”
Colorado’s Big 12 title game hopes remain attainable. The Buffs have finished the South Division portion of their schedule and have all their games against North Division teams over the course of the next five weeks, beginning Saturday with Kansas.
“I look forward to seeing them again (in the Big 12 championship),” safety J.J. Billingsley said. “We’re not going to let this game beat us for the rest of the season.”
Said Barnett: “We’re still in control of our own destiny, and that’s where we’ve got to go. This is life. You get knocked down, you’ve got to pick yourself back up. I’d be shocked if we don’t pick ourselves up and get after it.”
CU sidelines
KEY STATISTIC
5 – Texas scored touchdowns on each of its first five drives of the game, playing nearly flawless offensive football, as the UT defense controlled the Buffaloes.
KEY PLAY
Hugh Charles’ run for zero yards on the opening play of CU’s first drive. With that play, Texas established that the Buffs would not be able to move the ball freely, and it stayed that way all afternoon. The Buffs were held to 237 yards total offense, down from the 425.6 they averaged in their 4-1 start.
TURNING POINT
The opening kickoff. Really, because there was never a doubt that the second-ranked Longhorns were the better team, and they proved that from start to finish. Texas dominated on both sides, burying the Buffs in a 35-3 hole before CU was able to put anything positive together.
KEY BREAKDOWN
No defense for ‘Horns’ air game
Colorado’s secondary, which had shown marked improvement this season, was torched for 337 yards. Texas receivers ran fast and loose in the Buffs’ secondary, which was a step behind all day.
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
