BOULDER — It didn’t take long for Colorado’s player leadership to call a meeting in an attempt to correct the team’s course before the entire football season slips away.
About 20 Buffs in the team’s leadership inner circle — not all captains and not all seniors — had a heart-to-heart meeting Monday in the Dal Ward Center before position meetings and practice. If there were no great discoveries of what ails the Buffs, at least the message to the rest of the 1-4 team was unanimous.
“Some of the leaders met earlier today and what’s best about this whole situation is we still get to play football,” said senior defensive captain Anthony Perkins, a safety. “We still have eight weeks left to go out and play like we know how to. As hard as the last week was, the sun came up and we have an opportunity to play next week.”
Coaches often marvel at the resiliency of college players. Selective memories help too, especially when you blow a late 10-point lead — as CU did Saturday in a 31-27 loss to Washington State at Folsom Field.
“Guys have forgotten about it,” said quarterback and senior offensive captain Tyler Hansen. “We have a job to do now, and we’re getting ready for Stanford. I feel like guys have gotten over the last one. It’s a tough one to get over, but we’re ready to move on.”
The first major postgame rant in front of the TV cameras by Colorado coach Jon Embree didn’t come as any shock to his players.
Yes, Embree repeated Monday that five weeks into the season, he’s sick of losing games like the gut-wrencher against Washington State, in which the Buffs coughed up a 27-17 lead in the last three minutes. In case there was any doubt with the coaches, the fans or anyone connected to the program, the feeling is shared by the players, especially the veteran leaders.
“We’ve been here for a while,” Hansen said. “We’ve been tired for a while. It’s nothing new to us.”
Perkins added, “We’re all tired of it.”
Embree second-guessed his own postgame news conference emotional outburst.
“I’m learning some things the hard way,” said the first-year CU coach. “The hard thing for me is I wear my emotions on my sleeve, especially when you come off a competition and feel like your heart has been ripped out and you see how some of your guys are just devastated.
“I’ll get better as I go. There may be some pretty boring press conferences.”
Embree was unsure about the injury status of wide receiver Kyle Cefalo and cornerback Parker Orms. Embree said backup cornerback Ayodeji Olatoye will sit out another game because of an undisclosed violation of team rules.
CU’s Oct. 15 game against Washington in Seattle will kick off at 1:30 p.m. MDT and will be televised by Root Sports.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
