Despite losing streak, Tucker stays positive

B OULDER» His team riding a four-game losing streak, Colorado football coach Mel Tucker has found himself in a position of clinging to positives far too often lately.

At least the Buffaloes have a longer list of those positives this week.

CU’s 35-31 loss to Southern California on Friday night at Folsom Field was devastating, considering the Buffs played well for much of the night, had a 10point lead going into the fourth quarter and could have turned their season around with a first-ever victory against the Trojans.

After getting blown out in the previous two games, the loss to USC proved that Tucker’s Buffs (3-5, 1-4 Pac12) don’t intend on mailing in the rest of the season.

“There’s not a team on our schedule that we can’t beat,” Tucker said. “There’s not a team on the schedule that can’t beat us. We’re going to ride with the guys we’ve got and we’re going to get them better and we’re going to get ready to take the show on the road. I’m not sure how many people are lining up to play us right now.”

The same could be said for CU’s opponent this week, the UCLA Bruins (3-5, 3-2), who are suddenly surging. The Buffs and Bruins square off Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. (Pac-12 Networks).

UCLA has won two in a row in dominating fashion. It crushed Stanford 34-16 on the road on Oct. 17 and then pounded No. 24 Arizona State 42-32 on Saturday in a game that wasn’t that close. UCLA, which features 87 freshmen and sophomores, led the Sun Devils 42-10 going into the fourth quarter.

“The best thing that I can say is that the baby Bruins are growing up and it is fun to see,” UCLA head coach Chip Kelly said after the game. “It’s fun to watch.

“If you look where this team was when we opened on Aug. 31 to where we are now, I think that we’ve grown as a group. We are pleased with where we are, but we aren’t satisfied with where we are. We have to continue to grow as a group.”

It’s been a quick turnaround for UCLA, which started the season 1-5, its only victory being a miraculous comeback at Washington

State rallying from 32 points down to stun the Cougars, 67-63. The Bruins looked inept in many of their first six games.

Now they’ve dominated their last two opponents and look as dangerous as anyone in the Pac-12.

The Buffs lost to USC, but played significantly better than previous weeks because of how they prepared, Tucker said.

“Our coaches have done a really good job of being very steady and consistent with our players, never making excuses, keep putting pressure on our guys to get better,” Tucker said.

Despite a four-game losing streak, Tucker is still confident the Buffs can figure out how to win again.

“We talked about that in a locker room after the game,” Tucker said of building on a solid performance against USC. “I said, ‘Hey look, you can look at this two different ways. You can sit there and feel sorry for yourself and kind of a woe-is-me type of deal, or you can look at it and say, look at the type of team that we can have . ... ’

“I told them I believe in them. I believe in this football team that we can we can get the job done.”