Nobody likes the "bottom feeder" feeling in aspect of society. Sports is no different. Every league, conference, and division has them. While growing up in the Northwest, in particular, Oregon, we had two teams that were consistently considered "sure" wins. Oregon and Oregon State were not what they are today. Young Duck fans may not believe that, but that is simply the way it was. It was even worse in Corvallis for Beaver fans. In Boulder, Colorado fans are wondering when they will get off the mat and challenge other teams in the Pac-12 South Division and not be the doormat of the whole Pac-12.
Since the Colorado Buffaloes joined the Pac-12 from the Big 12 they have been struggling to forge a winning record. In all honesty, the program has been in decline for over 10 years and when you are on the decline in a Power 5 Conference it doesn't add up to much success. When teams have gone into Boulder, they are hoping for a win over a struggling team, but they are wanting to get out of town with a clean bill of health. Colorado has given some teams a ballgame from time to time, but I would suspect that most of the fans that show up to support the team go with a frame of mind that tells them that a win probably isn't in the future.
It's a tough road to become a winner in the Pac-12 because there are so many talented teams in both the North and South divisions. Another problem for the Buffs is that they are in probably the toughest division in all of college football. The Pac-12 South is very deep in talent. In fact, every team in the South division went to a bowl and will be returning a lot of the talent that brought them to their bowl games. All those teams have their quarterbacks and many skill players coming back as well and that'll make the road to victory much more difficult.
Now, in defense of Colorado they have had a revolving door of coaches and lack of good recruits. Anybody who looks at this situation in Boulder with any common sense knows that when you have coaches coming and going and no substantial talent to compete it is a recipe for losing. The record for Colorado this was 2-10 overall, and 0-9 in the Pac-12, good enough for last place in the south division. Obviously being a little sarcastic about that last comment about being "good enough", but even Buffalo fans has to look at their dire situation and see the slight humor in it.
What do they have to look forward to? Well, they do have their quarterback, sophomore Sefo Liufau who threw for 3,200 yards, 28 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. That is someone who has some experience behind him and can make things happen on the field. Anytime you have 3,200 yards passing it is clear that he can do some things with his arm. Liufau will certainly be the man in spring ball, but there are glut of guys trying to get the back up position and that'll be place that fans will want to look to. The problem with these guys trying to get the back up position is that they have hardly any experience, so if for some unforeseen reason Liufau goes down for any length of time, Colorado will be a bigger world of hurt.
One good thing for Colorado quarterback is that his leading receiver will be returning. Nelson Spruce who caught 106 passes for 1,198 yards. He also averaged over 11 yards a catch. Behind Spruce are four other receivers that played in at least 9 games and have at least 350 yards in receiving. The second leading receiver on the Buffs was Shay Fields who caught 50 balls for 486 yards. The Buffs will be looking for bigger and better things out of Fields. Fields was a freshman this past year, so he has a lot of room for growth. Having to guys on the outside that can stretch a defense will be a weapon that Head Coach Mike MacIntyre will look to use often. His offense ranked 38th overall and that is something to build on going into spring ball.
The Buffs will have to work on their defense. Keeping teams out of the end zone is obviously something teams need to do, Colorado is no different. Colorado was ranked 98th against the run and 96th against the pass. Overall they ranked 110th in total defense. That has to get better. Out of the 12 games they played, 11 teams scored at least 30 points. You can't win at any level giving up at 30 points a game. Bottom line is until they start playing some defense in Boulder, wins will few AND far between.
At the end of the day, Colorado, as stated earlier, is in a very tough predicament. A tough conference, an even tougher division, and not enough talent to compete at a high level right now. It doesn't mean that things can not turn around for the Buffaloes, but it is an uphill climb and the mountain top is very far away.
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