Woelk: One Game Won't Define Buffs' Season Of Accomplishments
December 03, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — No shame.
While the Colorado Buffaloes' 41-10 loss to Washington in Friday's Pac-12 Championship will no doubt hurt for a while — a long while — this will still be a Colorado team that deserves to hold its head high.
Yes, Friday night's loss was tough to swallow. After a dream regular season, a nightmare championship game was not what anyone envisioned — or expected. The Huskies did what no other team has done to Colorado this year: dominate the Buffs on both sides of the ball and slowly but surely throttle them into submission.
But everything Mike MacIntyre's Buffs accomplished this season can't be erased by one difficult night against one of the best teams in the nation.
Simply, one game cannot define a season.
This is still a CU team that won 10 regular season games to produce Colorado's first winning season since 2005, and in the process complete a historic worst-to-first finish. It is still a team that ended a nine-year bowl drought and won eight conference games and a Pac-12 South title. It is still a team that worked its way into the top 10 in the national rankings.
Colorado football is relevant again on the national scene. That can't be scrubbed away by one game — no matter how tough a night it proved to be for players, coaches and fans.
It's a message MacIntyre delivered with his opening statement at his postgame press conference.
"What these young men have done for the University of Colorado is amazing," MacIntyre said. "How they fought through everything is amazing. I couldn't be prouder of them. We lost. We lost to a good team. We made some mistakes and gave them a chance to pull away from us. …. (But) I love 'em. I love the staff. I love the team, I love their fight."
In Hollywood, the Buffs' dream season would have continued Friday night. It would have included one more triumphant performance for senior quarterback Sefo Liufau, the player who has come to embody Colorado's turnaround.
But not all dreams end on a sweet note — and on a night when the Buffs needed everything possible to go their way, their luck turned sour.
Liufau was injured on CU's first possession of the night. He returned in the second half — only to see his first pass of the half tipped, intercepted and returned for a touchdown. Then came another interception, and suddenly, a 14-7 deficit had ballooned to 24-7.
It was, for all intents and purposes, the end.
Liufau, of course, shouldered the blame. He didn't mention that a couple of those pass interceptions were tipped. He refused to use his injury as an excuse.
He simply did what he's always done: protect his teammates and take the hit.
"We just didn't execute as an offense," Liufau said. "It's my fault. I didn't do a good job of preparing us. We had a really good game plan in and I just didn't execute."
But fact is, a big part of that game plan went away when Liufau was injured — and while the quarterback came back to the game, he couldn't bring with him his threat as a power runner. It forced the Buffs to change that game plan and the Huskies pounced.
Give credit to Washington. Even with a fully healthy Liufau, the Buffs' task would have been tall. Washington brought one of the nation's top defenses into the game and the Huskies backed those numbers up. Offensively, they displayed a one-two punch running game for which Colorado had no answer. A CU defense that had been rock solid against the run all year bent and finally broke.
There is a reason the Huskies will hear their name called Sunday when the College Football Playoff committee announces its final four.
As for the Buffs, they will wait. They'll hear their name called for a quality bowl game on Sunday and they'll begin their preparations. They'll return to school, return to practice and do their best to make sure the finish ends on a positive note.
But it will also take time for them to look back and put this season into perspective. It won't happen overnight.
"It's going to hurt," MacIntyre said. "It'll hurt even worse tomorrow and the next day."
No doubt.
But at some point, the Buffs will be able to look at this season through fresh eyes, unclouded by the pain of Friday night's loss. They will remember where they were two years ago, three years ago, four years ago.
They will remember when they won two games and lost 10.
Then the reality of what they accomplished this year will set in. They will see what kind of foundation they've established for the future, and they will remember how they brought a university, a city and a community back to the Buff fold.
More than anything, they will remember how they made people proud again to be Colorado fans.
That legacy didn't go away Friday night. One game will not define this season.
Rather, the accomplishments of a season will define this team.
That's something that will stick with these Buffs long after the pain of one game has been dulled by time.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
