Five takeaways from Colorado’s final Pac-12 football game
As they have for most of the season, the Colorado Buffaloes fought until the bitter end on Saturday in a narrow 23-17 loss to the Utah Utes.
The Buffs finished the year 3-5 in one-score games to wrap up head coach Deion Sanders’ first season at CU.
As an old adage says, a rebuilding football team goes from losing big to losing small to winning small to winning big. Colorado was blown out frequently last season but was much more competitive in most of its losses this year. Will the wins start to come in 2024? Only time will tell.
Here are my takeaways from Colorado’s final football game of the Pac-12 era:
Ryan Staub played a great game
Talk about a trial by fire in Ryan Staub’s first career start. Playing in an environment as hostile as Rice-Eccles Stadium, Staub played posed, moved the offense to three scores and kept CU within striking distance of the Utes. His final stat line was 17 completitions on 24 attempts for 195 passing yards and a touchdown.
Colorado had to play through a bad whistle
We will get into the reasons Colorado lost soon, but I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the missed calls CU endured. Travis Hunter had an incredible game but had two touchdowns taken off the board at the end of the first half.
After forcing a Utah punt on its first drive of the second half, Dylan Edwards housed the return, but a questionable crackback block called it back. These calls did not cost CU the game, but they certainly changed things.
Colorado's run defense wasn't good enough
Colorado’s warts in stopping the run cost the Buffs a chance at winning. Utah protected walk-on quarterback Luke Bottari by running the ball 53 times for 268 yards. Bottari only needed to attempt 10 passes. The Buffaloes have to improve their defensive front seven this offseason.
Travis Hunter is an all-star
Even without his starting QB, Travis Hunter showed why he is one of the best players in the country, catching eight passes for 107 yards and one touchdown (there should have been two). On defense, he also had four tackles, including one TFL. Hunter played like a man possessed.
Goodbye Pac-12, hello Big 12
While Saturday wasn’t the last time Colorado will play Utah as a conference foe, it was the Buffs’ final football game of the Pac-12 era.
Next up for Colorado is the Big 12, a conference that hosted the Buffs for some of their best years. While there were tough moments this season, the future looks bright for the Buffs in the Big 12.
Further reading
READ: Tim Brewster’s resignation marks first offseason change to Colorado’s coaching staff
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