BOULDER — As Jordan Carrell absorbed the pain of losing his father unexpectedly to a heart attack last April, he told his Colorado teammates he had known for a little more than a year how much he needed them.
Lawrence Carrell had always pushed his son to reach for something greater than himself. As his son, who had grown into a 6-foot-3, 280-pound defensive lineman, began his senior year, he knew he and his teammates had a chance to achieve the “greater” his father had always urged him to chase.
“I told them that no matter what, I wanted to play for my dad this season,” Carrell said. “I knew he wanted us to do the same. We all linked arms around the locker room, and everybody said they had my back. And I told them I had their backs.”
As catchy and apt as “The Rise,” CU’s online marketing slogan, became this season, the chorus that shouted, “I’ve got your back” inside the Buffs’ locker room is what lit the fire in a quest for the Pac-12 South Division championship the Buffaloes won late Saturday with a 27-22 victory over Utah.
Overcoming adversity is as common a narrative as you’ll find in sports. It can often be contrived, built on insignificant or even imagined slights.
But triumph over obstacles became a tangible part of the drive for Colorado. The man who led them had lost his own father a year earlier, but CU coach Mike MacIntyre used his pain to help players such as Carrell find the strength within themselves to keep moving forward.
“Coach Mac was like a father figure,” said Carrell, who joined CU last season after playing his first two seasons at American River College in Sacramento. “He guided me through the whole thing.”
Tense situations on the field started become anything but this season. How could the Buffs, now the No. 9 team in the country, melt on the field when they had learned to stand strong in the face of so much turmoil off it? Car accidents. Major injuries. Personal turmoil. Every struggle was met with a network of support.
A few days before the Buffs beat Utah to earn a berth in Friday’s Pac-12 championship game against Washington, CU junior wide receiver Devin Ross felt his heart break over the loss of his beloved grandmother.
The Buffs had his back. Ross kept feeling his emotions swell inside him when he stood on the sidelines during the game. When he was on the field, riding the support of his teammates, he caught a game-high nine passes for 94 yards.
“It was an unreal, once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Ross said. “I appreciated my teammates and my seniors coming out and being here for the last four or five years. I’m glad we got to help them go out on top.”
With one more victory, CU will find itself atop the Pac-12 and likely headed for the Rose Bowl. They face a monumental task against a Washington team that is playing for a shot at entering the national championship playoffs and is coming off a pasting of rival Washington State in the Apple Cup on Friday.
The Huskies are one of the nation’s most efficient offensive teams behind quarterback Jake Browning. Their defense is dotted with future NFL players who love to bring pressure. They have a wild card in wide receiver John Ross, who can bust big plays in the blink of an eye.
The Buffs opened the week as seven-point underdogs as they gathered for the most joyous end-of-season team banquet in years. It’s just as well. Overcoming the odds can’t be penciled into the game plan without belief that such a goal can be reached.
That’s why Carrell, after busting a move in a postgame dance party inside the CU locker room Saturday night, kept reflecting on a text message MacIntyre sent to his players before the clock struck midnight last New Year’s Eve.
It read: “I can’t wait to coach the 2016 Pac-12 champs.”