Colorado determined to earn Horns’ respect
The day after the Pac-12 championship game, while most of the league was closing out the season, Colorado coach Karl Dorrell was at home, playing a combination of Santa’s helper and sous-chef.
Dorrell said he spent the weekend of Dec. 19 helping his wife, Kim, put up the Christmas tree and chop ingredients for home-cooked meals.
If either Oregon or USC had been unable to compete in the Pac-12 title game, or if the league had settled on a tweak to its protocol, Colorado would’ve been playing for a league championship. Instead, the Buffaloes could only watch and wait, finding out Dec. 20 that they will face No. 20 Texas in the Valero Alamo Bowl at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Alamodome.
While the five other Pac-12 teams eligible for Alamo Bowl selection decided not to pursue a postseason berth, Colorado saw the game as a chance to continue building on a resurgent season, and to prove that perhaps the Buffaloes deserved better to close the year.
“It wasn’t perfect, but it created a barometer for us of where we need to go,” Dorrell said. “Even this game against Texas is a great measuring stick for us. We need to see where we are in relation to a program that’s normally in the top 20 every year. I’m very curious, and very excited, to see our team match up.”
When the Pac-12 finished the last scheduled games of its regular season, Washington (3-1) from the North Division was selected to face 5-0USCfrom the South for the conference championship.
After COVID-19 issues prevented Washington from playing in the
game, Oregon (3-2), the second-place team in the North, was selected as a replacement. Colorado, sitting at 3-1 in the South, was deemed an alternate should either team be unable to play.
The decision rubbed some around the Colorado program the wrong way. Under Pac-12 rules, the championship game would be played between the two teams holding the highest winning percentage, regardless of division, if the average number of conference games played by Pac-12
teams was four or lower. The league cleared that threshold by just a single game, keeping Colorado on the sideline.
Had Colorado canceled its final game against Utah on Dec. 12 instead of losing 38-21, or if any other Pac-12 game had been called off through the season, the Buffaloes would have been playing for the league title.
Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said he felt “a lot of empathy for Colorado.” Buffaloes athletic director Rick George said conversations about making a late change to the league’s protocol, much like the Big Ten did to allow Ohio State to play in its conference title game,
didn’t lead to any action.
“I appreciate people having empathy, but what we want, is we want their respect,” George said. “We have to earn their respect, and we know that. That’s what we’re going to be focused on.”
The Pac-12 is also fighting for respect as a league, with only No. 17 USC and No. 25 Oregon, the conference champion, appearing in the CFP rankings — a standing George described as “not good enough.”
George said Colorado is relishing the opportunity to play in a postseason game for the first time since 2016, seeing a matchup with longtime rival Texas as a chance
to start earning that recognition.
“It’s an honor to be invited to a bowl game,” George said. “We just thought it was important for our studentathletes, and the fact that they wanted to play.”
After being picked to finish fifth of six teams in the Pac-12 South, Colorado this year posted only its second winning campaign in the past 16 seasons.
George heaped much of the credit on Dorrell, who was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year. Hired Feb. 23, Dorrell was on the job for only about two weeks before the pandemic upended operations. George said Dorrell’s calming presence
was “exactly what we needed,” helping the team roll with the changes as spring practice was replaced by Zoom meetings.
“When coach Dorrell came in, he really taught us self-confidence and believing in yourself,” running back Jarek Broussard, the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year, said. “That helped the team a lot.”
Colorado’s schedule turned tumultuous because of COVID-19 protocols, as the Buffaloes lost three games and added a replacement contest against San Diego State on two days’ notice. George commended the team for its “resilience and perseverance.”
Dorrell said he sees the Alamo Bowl as an outlet to generate excitement for 2021 and strengthen one of Colorado’s most reliable recruiting pipelines. Twentytwo players on the Buffaloes’ roster are from Texas.
Offensive lineman William Sherman said another source of motivation is not wanting the loss to Utah to stand as the final game of the season.
“It didn’t end the way we wanted it to,” Sherman said. “This is another opportunity for us to do that and really show the country how special Colorado football is.”