PK: Utes’ Fall, Buffaloes’ Rise Encapsulates College Football’s Unpredictability

BOULDER, Colo. – Excuse the Utes for not recognizing the scene inside the formerly dormant football stadium nestled below the mountains on the west side of the Front Range.

For more than one decade, except for one blip in 2016, Folsom Field was more of a ghost town each time Utah Football ventured over the Rocky Mountains. Those times are history now, replaced by fabulous energy overflowing with pageantry befitting a nationally ranked team.

The vibes are goooood in Boulder 😄#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/R54o8EmzVf

— Colorado Buffaloes (@CUBuffs) November 16, 2024

The trip east for the Utes usually has been perfunctory, leaving the chilly November day with another win over Colorado. Since joining the Pac-12 for the 2011 season, the Utes lost only once – when the Buffaloes won the conference’s South Division – in six games on Colorado’s home field.

But as the song goes, glory days will pass you by. Saturday was more of a gory day, at least on this chilly, sunny November.

Going deep into the lyrical vault, the times, they are a changing. Before a packed house played out on a Fox Big Noon television audience, it was Colorado’s turn to dance as the Buffaloes won 49-24 before the fourth largest crowd (54,646) in program history.

There wasn’t much mystery to the latest rumble in the Rockies, as the Pac-12 tried foolishly to label the game when both belonged in their prior conference. After linebacker Landon Barton interception to set up an early Utah field goal, it was mostly all Colorado from then on.

RELATED: Utah Opens Colorado Game With Lander Barton Interception

INTERCEPTED ON THE FIRST PLAY OF THE GAME 😱@Utah_Football picks off Shedeur Sanders right out of the gate 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rRiPlHKKHD

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 16, 2024

Suffering a six-game losing streak for the first time in his career, Utah Football head coach Kyle Whittingham said this season has “been the most difficult year of my coaching career. Hands down, not even close.”

With two games left in the regular season, Colorado took a giant step toward qualifying for the Big 12 conference game in three weeks. Picked to finish first in the preseason poll was an abomination of inaccuracy, the Utes need to win out just to make a bowl game in their inaugural Big 12 season.

As all the college football world knows, formerly formidable Utah has suffered a precipitous drop two years removed from winning consecutive Pac-12 championships. Blame it on everything from injuries and insufficient play to bad officiating, none of it really matters anymore.

It’s easy to blast Utah Football for this season’s embarrassment, but it’s just piling on at this point. Pack it up and begin preparations for next season.

The story here isn’t the Utes, anyway. The focus all belongs on Colorado, recently one of the worst programs in the entire sport.

Electric. Any time of day. ⚡️#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/BWL4vpA8IQ

— Colorado Buffaloes (@CUBuffs) November 16, 2024

Consider that starting in 2006, when Dan Hawkins succeeded Gary Barnett as coach, the Buffs endured 10 consecutive losing seasons. Hawkins lasted five seasons before giving way to Jon Embree, who got fired upon going 4-21 across two years.

Mike MacIntyre was the next to fail, somewhere managing a 10-4 season in 2016 sandwiched around five losing years. Mel Tucker and Karl Dorrell didn’t fare any better, respectively, over the four seasons.

An NFL Hall of Fame cornerback was up next, bringing with him the ultimate showmanship and boatloads of transfers. With all the new lenient rules, apparently, the timing was excellent.

From 1-11 two years ago to a potential spot in the new 12-team playoff, the transformation is nothing short of remarkable. Give credit where credit is Deion.

“We expected to be here,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said in his postgame interview. “You all didn’t expect us to be here and don’t think that we didn’t know that.”

#HE12MAN pic.twitter.com/ITVbNf0v2e

— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) November 16, 2024

For the hype and circus-like atmosphere that surrounds this humble man, Sanders has put together a good football team. Two of the game’s finest players – his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, and do-everything Travis Hunter are Buffaloes this season and bound to become high picks in next spring’s NFL draft.

The coach has his rascals believing, even if the success has come at the expense of a slew of mediocre-to-bad teams. Colorado has yet to play, and therefore beat, a ranked team this season and the two teams left (Kansas and Oklahoma State) both have losing records.

And yet, none of those facts matter. Come this week, as usual, the national media will lavish ‘Coach Prime’ with the highest possible praise.

Take us with you, wherever you go.

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