How Colorado football is maintaining perspective after losing to Oregon State

Coming off of the momentum generated by interim head coach Mike Sanford’s energy and the Buffs’ first win of the season against Cal, Colorado fell flat last Saturday against Oregon State.

It was a painful 42-9 loss that was a reminder of the first five games of the season under Karl Dorrell’s lead.

Last week’s loss was a tough pill to swallow but the Buffs are focused on what’s in front of them, the Arizona State Sun Devils.

It’s a similar situation to the one two weeks ago when Colorado hosted the Cal Golden Bears for Family Week at Folsom Field.

The Sun Devils are coming to town for the Buffs’ Homecoming Weekend as 13-point favorites and have struggled to find consistency on both sides of the football throughout 2022. Both teams have moved on from their respective head coaches to start the season and are led by interim head coaches now.

On Tuesday, Colorado interim head coach Mike Sanford spoke about what Sun Devils interim head coach Shaun Aguano said on how ASU is approaching this week’s game.

“I’ve heard, ‘must-win game, this is a game we’re gonna go win,’ things along that nature so you have to expect tricks, onsides and reverses on kickoff returns,” Sanford said. “When a team is putting those kinds of statements out, we anticipate everything, we’re preparing for everything.”

Florida transfer, Emory Jones has been the Sun Devils’ starting quarterback but three weeks ago he was injured early in the game against the Washington Huskies. Trenton Bourguet (junior) entered the game and completed 15/21 passes for 182 yards and 3 touchdowns to lead Arizona State to a massive upset win over the Huskies.

“I think [Bourguet] is really who their head coach wants to play just reading between the lines of his press conference,” Sanford said. “Either way we’re prepared for whichever quarterback plays.”

Uncertainty still surrounds the Buffs’ quarterback situation as Owen McCown continues to work back from an injury suffered against Cal. J.T. Shrout started for Colorado last weekend and there’s a chance that he may be the guy against Arizona State this weekend.

Coach Sanford spoke candidly about McCown’s injury.

“Owen got very limited reps again today,” Sanford said. “It’s a throwing-based injury but it’s in his midsection. So it’s not a shoulder, it’s not an elbow, it’s nothing along those lines.”

The Buffs running back room has also faced a great amount of adversity due to injuries suffered this season.

Anthony Hankerson fumbled against Oregon State last week but in his attempt to chase down the defender and make the tackle, he reaggravated a lower-body injury that held him out for some time during the offseason. Coach Sanford has not updated Hankerson’s status since Sunday evening, his status is unclear for this weekend.

On a positive note, Deion Smith was back and practicing in full for Colorado in a non-contact jersey on Tuesday and Alex Fontenot is expected to return to practice this week. Smith is expected to play this week while Fontenot could go either way.

When Hankerson went out, Jayle Stacks was the back Colorado turned to in last Saturday’s game. Stacks rushed for his first touchdown against Oregon State and spoke about how the Buffs’ running backs have responded to all of their injuries.

“If you look at our running back room and the depth that we have, if some guy gets banged up, I think there’s always someone that’s going to step up and do what he needs to do,” Stacks said.

Because of how the game unfolded against the Beavers, Colorado was forced to abandon the run but the passing game struggled to pick up chunks as the Buffs’ struggled with drops.

CU’s drops were painful to watch for fans but coach Sanford refused to blame his players.

“We as coaches are never going to point a finger at a player for dropping a pass,” Sanford said. “I look at it as it’s my responsibility and our coaches’ responsibility to build up confidence throughout the course of the week and then empower those players to play free and loose.”

Redshirt freshman wide receiver, Jack Hestera received an opportunity to make plays down the field for the Buffs late against Oregon State and coach Sanford hinted that we may be seeing more of him in the near future.

“He’s continued to trend in a really positive direction,” Sanford said.

Sanford also spoke about R.J. Sneed being featured more moving forward.

“I think [Sneed] has been trending up and getting healthier every week,” Sanford said. ”His play speed was the highest it’s been all year.”

The Buffs’ interim head coach also talked about the Sun Devil players that could present the most challenges for Colorado this weekend.

“They have a running back [Xazavian Valladay] who I think is a game-changing type of player, Sanford said. “He’s very similar to Jadyn Ott where if you give him a crease, he’s going to take it.”

Defensively, coach Sanford highlighted Sun Devils defensive lineman Nesta Jade Silvera who joined Arizona State from Miami as a graduate transfer.

“When he gets going, he’s a force to be reckoned with both as an interior pass rusher and as a disrupter in the run game,” Sanford said.

Entering his second home game as the Buffs’ interim head coach, Sanford is expecting an atmosphere similar to that of two weeks ago against Cal.  

“We look forward to doing everything in our power to recreate what I got to experience firsthand with Folsom Magic,” Sanford said. “That’s a real thing. I felt it, it was unlike any other fan base that I’ve personally been a part of, particularly in a time of adversity. We need all of you Buff Nation, everybody’s got to show up and fill up Folsom Field.”

Arizona State is the only remaining team on the Buffs’ schedule with a losing record and could be Colorado’s last chance to secure a win this season.

November’s schedule has Colorado playing Oregon, USC, Washington and Utah.