Game at a Glance
Matchup: Colorado Buffaloes at Kansas State Wildcats
Kickoff: 10 a.m. MT
Where: Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas
Capacity: 50,000 (AstroTurf)
TV: FS1
Radio: KOA (850 AM/94.1 FM)
Odds: Kansas State by 17.5
Series: CU leads 45-21-1
The message from Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders to his team this week was simple.
“Finish strong. Finish strong. You gotta finish strong,” Sanders said. “It’s almost like you got gas in the tank, but you gotta have a full tank, because you running out.”
Easier said than done for a team that is running on fumes going into Saturday’s finale at Kansas State. CU has lost four in a row and, at 3-8, has no bowl game in its future. But, the Buffs do have some pride to play for, as well as the opportunity to dash K-State’s bowl hopes.
“I’m not going to quit,” said CU tight end Zach Atkins, who is from Olathe, Kansas. “There’s never been quit in me and in this team. I’m taking it upon myself to be a better leader and to lead the offense. I think that we’re going to go out there and we’re going to fight.”
To CU’s credit, it has shown fight in most games this season. The Buffs were blown out at Utah on Oct. 25 (53-7) and a week later on Nov. 1 against Arizona (52-17), two games in which they were non-competitive from the start.
Aside from that, CU’s been in every game, including last week’s 42-17 loss to Arizona State. The Buffs trailed 21-17 at the start of the fourth quarter and had the ball at the ASU 26-yard line before things unraveled.
Sanders showed his team a graphic this week that showed that and other close calls from the season.
In the opener Aug. 29, the Buffs were tied with Georgia Tech, 20-20, with two minutes to play, but lost 27-20.
Two weeks later, CU trailed just 19-14 at Houston midway through the third quarter, but wound up getting humbled 36-20.
On Sept. 27, CU led BYU 21-17 at the start of the fourth quarter, fell behind 24-21 early in the fourth and failed to score on its last three possessions.
On Oct. 4 at TCU, the Buffs were tied 21-21 and forced a TCU punt with seven minutes to play, but unraveled late for a 35-21 loss.
Then, on Nov. 8, the Buffs trailed 22-19 at West Virginia midway through the fourth, but lost 29-22.
“You’re running out (of gas) in that third and fourth, and you’re making some mistakes that we can’t recover from,” Sanders said. “That’s not indicative to who we are, but it seems as though (it is). We gotta do better. I say that every week, but we gotta do better.”
The opportunity is there once again as CU goes into a battle between two of the more disappointing teams in the Big 12.
Generally a contender in the Big 12, Kansas State was projected as one of the top teams this year but has been dealt five one-score losses.
“We’ve lost them in ways that I’ve never seen in college football before,” K-State coach Chris Klieman said. “I really haven’t, in doing this for 30-some years. So it’s something we’ll probably dive into a little bit more at the end of the year.”
Asked about CU having a weird year, Klieman smiled and said, “Yeah, it’s a weird year for a lot of teams in college football. It really is.”
For one of these teams, Saturday offers a chance to end the weird year on a high note.
For K-State, there is at least bowl eligibility on the line, and it is senior day. Beat the Buffs and the Wildcats will secure a fifth consecutive bowl berth and send their seniors out with another postseason appearance.
“These guys have won a lot of games and meant an awful lot to myself and this program,” Klieman said. “So we’re going to go out and honor those guys and try to find a way to get a win and get bowl eligible.”
For CU, it’s all about snapping a four-game losing streak, spoiling K-State’s bowl hopes and going into the offseason with a win. There may not be a big difference between a 3-9 finish or 4-8, but it matters to Sanders.
“To take a L, take a L, take a L, you have no idea how hard that is to a winner,” said Sanders, who won at the highest levels as a player and had four winning seasons in his first five as a head coach. “(The players) want to win games. And that’s what we’re here for, to win games.
“You can be a loser or a guy who lost games. I would rather be a guy who lost games than a loser, because I’m not a loser.”