BOULDER — Considering the strength of Big 12 football, this might not be a good year for a league member to go 6-6 and expect blazer-clad bowl representatives to be beating down the door.
When invitations are handed out in December, the Big 12’s eight guaranteed bowl slots may not be enough to accommodate every bowl-eligible team.
Mired in a three-game losing skid, Colorado stands 3-3, including 0-2 in the conference. It’s not hard to do the math. Opportunities to bolster the victory column are dwindling. Ultimately, Colorado’s home game Saturday against Kansas State (4-2, 1-1) could prove to be make-or-break.
“This is definitely a big game for us,” CU sophomore cornerback Jalil Brown said Tuesday. “This is almost a deciding point for our season. We definitely need a win to turn the season around and head it in a positive direction. We have talked (as a team) about how important the game is.”
It’s been almost a month since the shoulders of frenetic CU fans carried players off Folsom Field after the overtime victory over nationally ranked West Virginia. During his weekly media luncheon Tuesday, CU coach Dan Hawkins said the program has not forgotten how to win.
“We know what (winning) looks like; we know what it smells like,” Hawkins said. “We know how to get there. We have to keep battling.”
Colorado has dropped to last place in the conference in every major offensive category: scoring offense (22.5), total offense (310.2), rushing offense (114.8), passing offense (195.3) and pass efficiency (118.6).
“There’s no doubt in my mind,” Hawkins said, “that our kids and our coaches are doing everything they can to get them in the right spots, to create schemes, to create plays. So, we’ll get there.”
After Kansas State, the Buffs have consecutive road games against Missouri and Texas A&M. Then home games against Iowa State and Oklahoma State before the annual day-after-Thanksgiving battle with Nebraska, this time in Lincoln.
“All (games are important), they really are,” Hawkins said, not biting on a question about whether Saturday’s game rates in the “must win” category.
“You’re scrapping to improve. You’re scrapping to have a better season than last year. You’re scrapping to get to a bowl game, all those things. The mountain always gets steeper.”
Footnotes.
Colorado coaches are working on “creative ways” to get tight ends and running backs more involved in the passing game, Hawkins said. CU’s tight ends caught only two passes in the 30-14 loss at Kansas, both by junior Patrick Devenny. . . . Sophomore offensive tackle Ryan Miller, who underwent season-ending surgery Oct. 3 to repair a fibula fracture of his left leg, joked Tuesday that, while on crutches, he is building up the world’s strongest triceps. “The toughest part is not being out there with the guys,” Miller said.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
