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Game at a Glance
Matchup: Colorado Buffaloes at Arizona Wildcats
Kickoff: 2 p.m. MT
Where: Arizona Stadium in Tucson, Ariz.
Capacity: 50,800 (FieldTurf)
TV: Fox
Radio: KOA (850 AM)
Odds: Arizona by 2.5
Series: CU leads 16-10
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders summed up the mood of the program on Tuesday when he closed the opening statement of his weekly press conference.
“Is what it was,” he said of the Buffaloes’ 31-28 loss to Kansas State last Saturday. “Move on. Let’s flip the page. Let’s get ready. Let’s focus.”
As disappointing as that loss was for the Buffs (4-2, 2-1 Big 12), another big opportunity sits in front of them as they visit Arizona (3-3, 1-2) on Saturday in Tucson, Ariz.
After CU’s first loss of the season, Sept. 7 at Nebraska, it won three straight games while playing complementary football throughout much of that time. This week, CU’s aiming to get back to what has led to success.
“We just trying to get that bad taste out our mouths right now,” receiver LaJohntay Wester said. “You could just see everybody knows we could have won that game (against K-State); knows we should have won that game. And we can’t be dwelling on it. It’s on to the next, on to Arizona. Everybody’s preparing and ready to get back in the win column for Arizona.”
It won’t be easy at Arizona, which has been struggling, but is more than capable of winning on Saturday. The Wildcats, after all, were a top 25-ranked team coming into the season but they’ve lost two straight games.
“I say this every week, but I’m not lying; it’s a well-coached team,” Sanders said. “They’ve got a great quarterback, I feel. One of the best receivers in the nation, if not the best arguably. Let’s start right there. You gotta deal with those two. … They’ve got a running game and they can move the ball.
“Defensively, they got some big guys in the middle. … These guys play complementary defense, and they get after it, man. They get to the ball. They’re relentless. They attack. They’re predators on the field. They get to the ball, and they make plays, so it’s going to be a tremendous task.”
Getting a win is never easy, of course, and success early in the season doesn’t guarantee that will continue. CU, in fact, was 4-2 at this point last year, too, but went 0-6 the rest of the way.
There’s a different feel to this year’s 4-2 record, though.
“As I was saying before the season, we got some good guys,” safety Shilo Sanders said. “You know, we’ve made some good upgrades, even some great coaches, and we truly, actually want to go out there and win every game. We don’t feel like no team is better than us.”
This year’s Buffs have shown more resiliency than a year ago, in large part because they are led by better and different players and different coaches in some areas.
“It’s a whole new day, whole new year, whole new time, a whole new thought process, whole new outlook on life,” Coach Prime said. “I don’t look at yesterday and compare those two, not whatsoever … but this is a whole different team, and I’m proud to coach it.”
The resiliency and improvement of the Buffs will be tested in Tucson, though. It’s a pivotal game for a CU team that is a game back of first place in the Big 12 standings and can’t afford a second straight defeat to make a run at bowl eligibility and a conference title.
“(Arizona is) a really good football team,” CU defensive end BJ Green said. “So we just got to be us; we’ve got to take same the same approach. So just gotta be us and attack the week.”
