Ames, Iowa – This isn’t the script the Colorado Buffaloes had written.
Their version featured smiles and parties and good times and a Big 12 North championship. A loss? That page wasn’t anywhere to be found.
Iowa State injected its own rewrite, however, with a 30-16 victory Saturday night, and now the Buffs must find a way to shake off the hurt of an opportunity lost and focus on their Nov. 25 home game against Nebraska. If the Buffs win, they are North champions for the second straight year and fourth out of five.
Thanks to a two-game cushion over the challengers before Saturday’s loss, first-place Colorado (7-3, 5-2) has that second chance.
“We worked hard enough and played well enough to put ourselves in position to win this title outright still,” quarterback Joel Klatt said.
A win over Nebraska would send the Buffs to Houston, the site of this season’s Big 12 Championship game Dec. 3.
“We’re playing for something,” defensive lineman James Garee said. “It’s going to be a big game.”
Garee was ready to play 30 minutes after the loss to Iowa State.
“After a game like this,” he said, “I’ll fly to Nebraska right now.”
But Colorado gets almost two weeks to shake it off. The Buffs are scheduled to practice Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Sessions on Friday and Saturday are to be determined.
CU coach Gary Barnett said he is confident his team won’t dwell on the loss.
“This team handles that well,” Barnett said. “It’s late in the year. We’ve got everything out there in front of us.”
Sophomore linebacker Jordon Dizon isn’t too concerned.
“Everyone is going to think about it for a couple of days, but when we start on Nebraska, everyone will forget about it,” he said. “The good thing about this team is we have a lot of veterans. We have a lot of poise.”
Footnotes
Colorado’s loss snapped a seven-game winning streak against Big 12 North competition. … Lawrence Vickers’ fumble was his first in 193 touches.
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
