Game at a Glance
Matchup: Colorado Buffaloes vs. Arizona Wildcats
Kickoff: 5 p.m. MT
Where: Folsom Field in Boulder
Capacity: 51,400 (AstroTurf)
TV: FS1
Radio: KOA (850 AM/94.1 FM)
Odds: Arizona by 4
Series: CU leads 17-10
Earlier this week, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders stood in front of his team and wanted to hear about their hobbies.
“Some people said, ‘I like to fish. I like to hunt. I like to ski. I like to cook,’” Sanders said of the various answers he heard from his players.
As a follow-up, Sanders asked if anyone was paying them for their hobbies. The answer, as he expected, was “no,” as players said they just enjoy doing their hobbies.
“I said, ‘When you do that, do you give it your all?’” Sanders said. “And they said, ‘Yeah.’”
His point was simple. If his players are going to give their best effort to a hobby, without any compensation, why not give their best effort in football?
“Last time I checked, we’re getting a check to do this,” Sanders said, alluding to college athletes now getting paid. “So let’s give it your absolute all. Make it your hobby. Make it personal. Make it have some feeling into it that you want to be successful.”
Sanders is doing his best to inspire and challenge a team that has fallen short of its own expectations and is coming of an embarrassing loss, but still has plenty to play for this season.
Just 3-5 (1-4 Big 12) after a 53-7 loss at Utah a week ago, the Buffs face Arizona on Saturday with a chance to get their season back on track. Win three more and they can get to a bowl game.
“I feel like there’s definitely still goals to reach this season,” defensive end Keaten Wade said. “I feel like we’re not giving up as a group and as a unit.”
CU’s season has included several disappointing losses, such as coughing up 14-0 leads in losses to BYU and TCU, and giving up a late score in a 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech.
The Buffs face perhaps their toughest mental challenge this week, though, after getting crushed by Utah. It was the first time in two years that a CU team simply wasn’t competitive in a game.
“I don’t like getting boat-raced like that,” defensive end Arden Walker said. “I definitely took it personal. … It’s in the past, so now we got to focus on Arizona and make sure we come out and just get back to where we’re supposed to be.”
Several players said that while last week’s game was embarrassing, it hasn’t damaged the morale in the locker room. Sanders and players said the response in practice has been encouraging.
“When we came back on Monday, we were just like, ‘Man, we’ve got to get back to it and keep working,’” Walker said. “You can see that the whole week and I assume it’s going to carry over to Saturday.”
Sanders’ message was designed to help that, as he hopes his players put everything they’ve got into the game during the final month of the regular season.
Receiver Sincere Brown said, “I feel like that was to let us know, if we love this sport like how we say we do, we’ll go all out no matter what.”
Wade said there should be no excuses for the Buffs not giving their best effort.
“We love this,” he said. “This is what we signed up for and we’ve just got to show it on the field. There’s nowhere that I’d rather be at. I’m just going to play until I can’t no more and just give 100% on the field.”
That hasn’t been the case for all of the Buffs this season, which is what prompted Sanders’ message. The head coach has seen some take the message to heart, though, including punter Damon Greaves, who spent an hour working on his own after practice earlier this week.
“These young men have responded tremendously, and I’m proud of them that they’re putting it aside and saying, ‘You know what, we’re better than this,” Sanders said. “We’ve got to focus, we got to lock in.
“That was a tremendous bump in the road (last week at Utah) and we’re trying to put that behind us and let’s move on. Let’s go, because I know we’re capable.”