Boulder – There are good repeats and bad ones. In Colorado’s case, getting back to the Big 12 championship game is a good repeat.
Going into Saturday’s game against No. 2 Texas with the mind-set the Buffs had against Oklahoma a year ago would be a bad repeat. Very bad. The Buffs are vowing not to let it happen.
CU is trying to avoid the attitude of a year ago, when emotions in practice and remarks among the team before playing the second-ranked Sooners ranged from awe to fear. The transgressions carried over to the game, which CU lost 42-3.
“I think there were some guys on our team that started saying stuff that got into everyone else’s head, and it just made everyone’s mind state going into that game not right,” tight end Joe Klopfenstein said. “Not respecting them, or being scared to play them. Stuff like that.”
Coach Gary Barnett said he had an inkling of the same thing, though he would not address specific comments from a year ago.
“I just know, talking to guys that played in the game, they told me they were all sitting around watching (ESPN’s ‘College GameDay’) or whatever it was, and (the announcers) were talking about how good Oklahoma was and how they were going to kill us, and they started looking at each other like, ‘We’re lambs at the slaughter,”‘ Barnett said.
“And when that happens, you are lambs at the slaughter.”
Oklahoma jumped on the Buffs early and never let up, holding CU to 46 total yards on 44 offensive plays. The Buffs had three first downs and ran four plays in OU territory.
Until that game, Barnett said, “We had a team all year that was very careful who it listened to. But we got to the Big 12 championship game, and they allowed themselves to listen to criticisms and the speculation that Oklahoma was so much better than we were. I would have bet if they had not, if we would have played that game earlier and we didn’t get up and watch all that stuff, we would have played better.
“I’m not saying we would have won it, but I’m saying we would have played a lot better.”
According to quarterback Joel Klatt, the Buffs got too caught up in the hype that surrounds a big game.
“We were just looking forward to taking the trip,” Klatt said. “Seeing Arrowhead Stadium for the first time, the field painted this or that. We were just happy to be in that game last year.”
And this time, against an opponent getting every bit as much or more hype? The Buffs have better leadership, said linebacker Jordon Dizon.
“Last year we expected a lot, but didn’t get much out of it,” he said. “This year, we expect a lot and we expect to get it.”
Said Barnett: “It’s amazing how you have to learn that lesson, not to listen to all the things you read or hear. Either you learn to shut it out, you don’t read it, or you read it and accept it. And if you do, then you’ll probably get your butt handed to you. It’s the choices we all make, and it’s part of the educational process.”
Klatt said CU’s focus is squarely on what must be done to win.
“We were given this opportunity for one reason, to go down there and put forth a great effort,” he said. “We’re not just going there to be North champions and to get a Big 12 watch and things of that nature. We’re going down there to play Texas. I think that’s where the mentality is different from last year.”
Buffs on all-Big 12 team
Klopfenstein, center Mark Fenton, punter John Torp and kicker Mason Crosby were named to the all-Big 12 first team by league coaches, announced Tuesday.
The honor was expected for Klopfenstein, Torp and Crosby, who were tabbed before the season as perhaps the best in the conference at their positions. Fenton was a different story.
“Mark Fenton has come the furthest on our team of any player,” Barnett said. “Maybe as far as any player I’ve ever had.”
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
