No. 25 Colorado needs to take care of business against visiting Oklahoma State on Friday in Boulder, Colo., and then hope for some help from other teams to get to the Big 12 Championship.
A 37-21 loss against suddenly red-hot Kansas last week at Arrowhead Stadium snapped Colorado’s four-game winning streak and left the Buffaloes in a four-way tie for first place.
However, the tiebreakers make Colorado (8-3, 6-2 Big 12) a long shot to make next week’s championship game in Arlington, Texas. The Buffaloes must win but they also need two of the three teams — BYU, Arizona State or Iowa State — to lose this weekend.
“Tough week, of course. We plan to respond accordingly to get our little swagger back and fix the things we let down last week,” Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders said. “It was a tremendous game. We still got a little bit hanging on, we are trying to flush it, trust me, we are trying to flush it tremendously.”
Oklahoma State (3-8, 0-8) limps to the finish line in the worst season it’s had under veteran coach Mike Gundy. The Cowboys won’t go to a bowl game for the first time since 2005.
With Gundy on the sidelines, the Cowboys have beaten a ranked team for 19 straight years. They’ll have a final chance to do so as they try to snap an eight-game losing skid. Gundy has said he plans to return for his 21st season leading the Cowboys’ program next fall.
“This team, like the last one, is not playing indicative of their record,” Sanders said. “They are much better. They have a winning program and one of the most heralded coaches in the Big 12 that I have the utmost respect for.”
Maealiuaki Smith made his first career start last week for OSU in a 56-48 home loss to Texas Tech. The freshman threw for 326 yards, completed 72 percent of his passes, had two touchdowns and an interception, and was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.
“Until (a quarterback) gets out there and plays a whole game,” Gundy said. “Until they feel like no one is looking over their shoulder, you never know how they are going to react. I thought he had poise and played with confidence.”
After a slow start to the season, Ollie Gordon II has posted back-to-back 100-yard rushing games. He had 156 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 carries last week and leads the Cowboys with 870 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns.
De’Zhaun Stribling has 50 catches for 872 yards and six scores. Brennan Presley has leads the team with 82 catches for 725 yards and a team-high seven receiving touchdowns.
For Colorado, Shedeur Sanders has 3,488 passing yards, connecting on 73.4 percent of his passes with 30 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Two-way star Travis Hunter has racked up 1,036 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. Hunter has broken up nine passes, made three picks and forced a fumble on defense. Colorado’s defense leads the Big 12 with 34 sacks and 10 fumble recoveries.
–Field Level Media
