The Colorado Buffaloes are 7-2... and they're pissed off

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BOULDER – On Thursday night, underneath the lights of Folsom Field, in front of a blacked-out crowd, on national television, the Colorado Buffaloes clinched their first winning season in more than a decade.

They were pissed.

“We didn’t celebrate at all in there.”

“That’s not who we are.”

“We have to work harder.”

Those were the words of Mike MacIntyre, Phillip Lindsay and Bryce Bobo, respectively, after a historic win; a win that highlighted the strength of their herd.

The Buffaloes 20-10 victory over the UCLA Bruins came in spite of four turnovers, 13 penalties (eight of which were the 15-yard variety), a quarterback injury, a missed field goal, a questionable game plan and shaky offensive line play.

One year ago, a win as ugly as whatever is on top of Donald Trump’s head would have looked like Scarlett Johansson in “The Prestige,” absent of imperfections. But this is your father’s Colorado Football and winning isn’t enough anymore.

In less than one trimester, the Buffs have birthed expectations bigger than anyone could have dreamed, rained with boos Thursday as they took to the locker room down just three points at the half. A locker room in which Mike MacIntyre “got after their asses.”

So they came back to the field, and they shut out the Bruins in the second half, and they gave up fewer points off of turnovers than they had turnovers themselves, and they made the necessary plays to win. On a big stage. Under a lot of pressure.

Ho hum.

“We’re here to be Pac-12 Champions… They need to understand we cannot do that.”

“If we want to go where we want to go—that’s becoming Pac-12 Champions—we have to do a better job.”

“We’re always thinking Pac-12 Champions… We just have to come out and execute at a higher level than what we did tonight.”

MacIntyre. Lindsay. Bobo.

As a curmudgeonly head coach cruised through a winning press conference, a familiar attitude was in the air. The same attitude we saw so often in the 27 losing pressers over the past three seasons. It was a reminder of those dark days that finally got him to crack a smirk.

“Could you imagine sitting here one year ago talking about not celebrating a win?” He was asked.

“No,” MacIntyre said with a seven-win smile. “I couldn’t.”

Teams that win games they aren’t supposed to are the same teams that aren’t happy about them afterward. Coaches that expect greatness from their players are the same coaches who ask for more after they’ve succeeded.

The Buffs will be back in the building tomorrow with plenty to correct. They’re a good team, MacIntyre a good coach.

With a defense that’s only surrendered one second-half touchdown in the last five games, The Buffs have masked an offense that has suddenly gone as cold as the approaching winter. But it wasn’t long ago that same offense scored 38 points or more in five of their first seven games.

If they can get back to that, “the sky is the limit,” says Phil Lindsay.

Where is the sky, though? Because as the Buffs look up and see “Pac-12 Champions” spelled out in clouds, just above reads “College Football Playoff.”

It’s a faint, nearly-transparent cloud, but it’s up there.

In both years of the College Football Playoff’s existence, a team has come from an initial ranking 15 or lower to make the final four.

“I haven’t even thought about it,” Bryce Bobo said. “But that’s a cool little statistic.”

It might be time to start thinking about it.

The Buffs have reached the point where winning isn’t enough anymore. Now, they’re approaching a point where maybe even the once lofty goals they set for themselves aren’t enough either.