Conference wins have been hard to come by since Colorado joined the Pac-12 before the 2011 campaign.
Beating conference foes has been so difficult, in fact — CU is 28-78 against the Pac-12 since 2011 — that there’s rarely been a reason to complain about any of those wins.
Thatap not the mindset of the Buffaloes’ first-year head coach, however. Deion Sanders wasn’t happy with CU’s performance in last week’s 27-24 win at Arizona State — just the second win for the program ever in Tempe.
There is an opportunity in front of the Buffaloes to get right on Friday, though, when Stanford visits Folsom Field.
“He knows what he’s looking for on the field and he knows what he’s looking for, for his players and his coaches how to act,” said CU linebackers coach Andre Hart, who has worked with Sanders for several years. “So when he doesn’t see that, he will get directly in your face and let you know exactly where he is and where you should be. I love that about him. He lets you do your job, but at the same time, if you’re not doing it, he’s gonna make sure you understand what you need to be doing and get it corrected, because if you don’t, you won’t be here very long. And thatap players and coaches.”
Hart, in fact, joked that after a very strong message was delivered to coaches this week, “There’s a lot of coaches trying to figure out, you know, should I be paying this mortgage next week or should I be selling my house?”
CU may not be at the point where jobs are on the line, but there’s no question Friday’s game is a big one for the Buffs, whose goals include challenging for a conference title.
Stanford comes to Boulder as a struggling squad thatap lost four in a row, but the Buffs are in no position to take the Cardinal lightly.
As Sanders lays the foundation at CU, he appreciates the challenge in front of Stanford’s Troy Taylor — hired by the Cardinal in December, about a week after Sanders came to CU.
“We have a daunting task, not only defeating one another but building our programs,” Sanders said of himself and Taylor. “I got an opportunity to meet all the coaches at the Pac-12 meetings and all those guys, to me, they were above board, they were cool. They were straight.
“(Taylor) is doing a great job to me. He’s doing his thing. They’re playing hard. They have fight in them. They won’t give up. They have some specialists that are pretty darn good. And I love what they’re putting on the field. Itap gonna be a great task.”
Despite its struggles, Stanford has talented players who could come together and bite the Buffs if they aren’t ready. CU faced a 1-4 team last week, too, and needed a late rally to knock off the Sun Devils.
“Like coach said, we won the game, but we didn’t play to our full potential,” linebacker LaVonta Bentley said. “We need to start fast from the jump. We don’t need to wait until the second or third quarter to get on these boys. A win is a win, but we ain’t satisfied because we know we left some stuff out there on the table.”
CU’s offense has struggled early in games. The run game hasn’t been much of a threat all season. The defense has given up too many yards and points. Special teams have had too many bad moments. And, only four teams in the country have been penalized more than CU (52 times).
Those are all issues Sanders and his staff hope to fix as they start the second half of the season against the Cardinal.
“We want to win in a certain fashion, with dominance,” Hart said. “Do you want the win? Yes, of course, it helps you. But there’s a certain way you need to look, there’s a certain way things ought to be done. And thatap what we want to get across to our team and to our coaches, and thatap what Coach Prime wants.”
Game at a Glance
Matchup: Stanford Cardinal at Colorado Buffaloes
Kickoff: 8:20 p.m. MT
Where: Folsom Field in Boulder
Capacity: 50,183. Playing surface: Grass.
TV: ESPN
Radio: KOA (850 AM)
Odds: Colorado by 11.5
Series: Tied 6-6
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