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Times have changed.  Friday night, once reserved for preps, before media money seduced colleges to play on Friday evening, produced two spectacular games — both in the often overlooked Mountain time zone.

The Odyssey was in Logan for a game of interest in that 2 teams wounded by the transfer portal (36 exited Utah State and 29 left Fresno) have maintained quality programs thanks to the considerable coaching acumen of Jeff Tedford and Blake Anderson.  Dub them anti-Cristobals!    The tilt was exciting with 2 late lead changes.  With  5 minutes left, Utah State took its first lead of the game, 32-31.   The Aggies produced 568 yards of offense but were plagued by penalties and 2 turnovers. Behind backup QB Logan Fife, the Bulldogs responded with an emphatic 5-play, 72-yard touchdown drive, only flawed by leaving the Aggies offense 2+ minutes for a potential game-winning drive.  An acrobatic interception by Fresno in the last minute  preserved the Bulldogs 37-32 margin and kept Fresno alive for the Mountain West title game.

The most creative play of the game came on Utah State’s 2-point conversion following a TD to reduce their deficit to 28-23 early in the fourth quarter.  The Aggies ran a reverse  which had the makings of a subsequent pass into the end zone.  At least 2 Fresno State defenders thought so.   Jalen Royals made a brilliant fake which caused 2 nearby Bulldog defenders to leap in the air.  While they leaped, he decided to sidestep them and dash into the end zone for a unique 2-pointer.   Delicious!

Thankfully, the game ended in time that most of the 2nd half (and thereafter!) of the Colorado-Stanford game could be watched.  With the Buffs leading 29-0 at the half, the watch seemed like it would consist of watching Shadeur Sanders pad his statistics  and seeing how healthy Travis Hunter was.  How could a downtrodden 1-4 Stanford team possibly put up significant resistance?  The impossible proceeded to happen!

The Cardinals kept throwing the ball to Elic Ayomanor in the 2nd half.  Again and again and again.  Did not matter to the Stanford brain trust in the least that Travis Hunter was covering Ayomanor.  A 46-yard field goal by their terrific field goal kicker, Josh Karty, forced overtime at 36 all.  Ayomanor wound up with a staggering 294 receiving yards that included a ridiculous TD catch on the back of   Hunter’s helmet in overtime.  The imagination boggles at how much NFL money that Ayomanor made after his mano-a-mano success against the usually brilliant Hunter who also committed a costly personal foul (but partially redeemed himself with 13 catches and 2 TD grabs).

Shadeur Sanders’ interception in the 2nd overtime sealed the Buffs’ fate and highlighted a CU shortcoming.  Subsequent to a pass interference call, Colorado had the ball on the Stanford 2.  Their nonexistent running game meant continued reliance on Sanders’ arm.  Often that is a good tactic given that Sanders threw for 5 TDs and 400 yards.  However, the lack of a run game also makes it more problematic to milk the clock with a substantial lead and to pound the rock home from the 2.

The shocking outcome on Friday the 13th was the biggest lead ever blown in Buff history as well as the biggest comeback in Stanford lore.

No matter what happens in future realignment, Mountain teams will always remain #1 in one category:  beautiful scenery.  Watching the sunset in Logan in the aptly-named Cache Valley (in French, cache means hidden) with the backdrop of mountains is amazing.  Ditto in places like Provo, Boulder or Colorado Springs.  To boot,  those jaw-dropping sunsets do not require any NIL money.

Decades of travel result in a climactic weekend for the Odyssey.  By attending tonight’s game at Utah State and then traveling to the Palouse tomorrow, the Odyssey will have attended at least one game at each venue in the Mountain and Pacific time zones.

Wednesday, we previewed Fresno State’s visit to Logan. The outcome of Saturday’s visit by Arizona to the Palouse may well be determined by which team can best get over bitter disappointments in Los Angeles last weekend.

Washington State brought an undefeated team into the Rose Bowl , featuring Cameron Ward who had been as hot as Pasadena’s midday sunshine proved to be. The Cougars could not hang on to a 17-12 4th quarter lead and succumbed to UCLA, 25-17. The story of the game was how UCLA’s ferocious defensive line kept Ward in check. His stats: 19/39/2/197 with a quarterback rating of a paltry 32.8. Utah was considered to have the Pac 12’s best defensive line by the pre-season talking heads but UCLA’s front may well be the equal of the Utes.

Arizona gave USC fans heart failure Saturday night. The Wildcats grabbed an early 17-0 lead as Caleb Williams actually looked mortal in the first quarter. One cannot keep Superman down forever as Williams led back the Trojans for an apparent game winning, chip shot field goal at the end of the game. OOPS! An errant snap meant overtime. Predictably, Williams led USC to a score, putting the Trojans in front 35-28. When Arizona scored a touchdown, the Odyssey felt that Jedd Fisch had an easy decision. Go for 2! What right-thinking human being would want a tiring defense to be tormented by the Heisman Trophy winner in subsequent overtimes? Fisch kicked the extra point and the inevitable befell the Wildcats in the third overtime (Rece Davis also screamed at his TV when seeing Fisch’s fatal flaw).

Who will have the worse hangover in Pullman? The Odyssey believes that UA’s migraine will be worse. Not only will Washington State have the home crowd, Arizona has 37 Southern Californians on its roster who may not be fully over massive heartbreak against USC.

The Cameron Ward factor will be everpresent in a second sense. Jayden De Laura was voted the Freshman of the Year in 2021 at Wazzu. Why did De Laura subsequently enter the transfer portal in January 2022? New coach, Jake Dickert, may not have been enamored with de Laura, unquestionably talented but also with erratic, off script tendencies. When Ward announced his transfer from Incarnate Ward, De Laura said goodbye to the Palouse. De Laura’s September injury has opened the door for Wildcat backup, Noah Fifita, to play. Fifita, while not having as high a ceiling as De Laura, has efficiently operated the UA offense with its cadre of ultra-talented receivers.

If De Laura does play, an extra layer of intrigue will be present! Some homecomings are just more bittersweet than others.

Last Saturday at 7,220 feet, Fresno State could not overcome a 24-7 halftime deficit to Wyoming and lost 24-19.  Goodbye to the Bulldogs’ 14-game winning streak and a national ranking.  Very possibly goodbye to the coveted “New Year’s 6” bowl invite to the best Group of 5 team.

Worse, their productive QB, Mikey Keene, left the game in the 4th quarter with an ankle injury.  The Bulldogs have a short week to prepare for a second game at altitude as they visit Utah State on Friday night.

The circumstances are quite tricky for Fresno.  While Utah State has also had injury issues at QB, both Cooper Legas and McCae Hillstead have played well.  Keene’s status is uncertain.  Giving Bulldog fans some comfort, backup Logan Fife is experienced as he started 4 games in 2022.

After a disappointing off season where the Aggies suffered multiple losses to the transfer portal, Utah State is trending upward.  Two Saturdays ago, they blocked an extra point to win 34-33 over Connecticut just when the Huskies thought they were going to force overtime.  Last Saturday, the Aggies spotted Colorado State a 17-0 lead.  No problem for Utah State as the Aggies roared back from a double digit deficit for the second straight week as they rolled to a 44-24 victory.

The Odyssey cannot help but root for Utah State’s coach Blake Anderson.  His wife passed on while he was coaching Arkansas State.  More recently, Anderson had to deal with another unspeakable tragedy when his son committed suicide.  Hard to believe, but a few things are just more important than college football.

Utah State is currently a 5.5 point underdog.  If live dogs appeal to you, the Aggies are attractive.

On Saturday evening, the most infamous game in Baylor history kept playing in my head in the midst of some horrific coaching decisions.  Let’s rewind!   In 1999, Baylor’s head coach was Kevin Steele.  Baylor was in an unexpectedly close game with a UNLV team that had just snapped their 16-game losing streak.

Steele must have thought that winning a game 24-20 against such a lowly squad would not impress.  So, he decided to go for an extra touchdown in the waning seconds instead the UNLV 10.  Since UNLV had no timeouts remaining, a knee would have ended the game.  But, NO!! Steele elected  to go for a tack-it-on touchdown.  OOPS!  A fumble and a 100-yard return ensue as UNLV won a gift shocker.

Given this decision, one can understand Steele’s 9-36 record at Baylor, including 1-31 in the Big 12.  One can also understand why his subsequent coaching experience has been limited to defensive coordinator duties.

Miami’s Mario Cristobal may not have been aware of the Steele debacle.  One knee would have prevented a crushing Hurricane upset to 3-TD underdog Georgia Tech.  Instead, a rushing effort results in a fumble.  A 44-yard TD pass from Haynes King in the game’s final 2 seconds produced a  nightmare for the Hurricanes.  If the Cristobal era fails, his post-game comment “We should have taken a knee” will be the perfect summation.

The Arizona-USC triple overtime classic resulted in two more coaching miscues in the Odyssey’s view.

USC was angling for a game ending chip shot field goal with a timeout in its pocket in a 28-28 battle where the Trojans had overcome a 17-point deficit.  Southern Cal  could have kicked on third down in case of a disaster – such as occurred when the snap on their fourth-down try went awry.

In overtime, Arizona’s Jedd Fisch made an error that caused me to yell at the TV.  His 21-point underdog Wildcats scored in OT to cut the deficit to 35-34, UA had a CLEAR decision.  Win the game NOW!  To claim that USC’s Caleb Williams is an all-world QB is almost an understatement would be fair.  With a tired defense and the incomparable Williams,  how can one like their chances in subsequent overtimes?  Fisch made the passive and fatal choice to kick the game-tying conversion.  The inevitable befell the game Wildcats in triple overtime.

Good coaches can make bed decisions.  Unlike Kevin Steele, both Lincoln Riley and Jedd Fisch are good coaches.  Fisch has brought the UA program back from the dead.  The improvement in the Wildcat defense has been truly impressive.  Still, I deeply feel for the 37 Southern Californians on the Arizona roster.  They deserved a better decision at the end of the first overtime.

Two recent developments in major conferences have led to a greater possibility of inequity in conference schedules.

The growth in conference membership means that the concept of playing all your opponents in a given year is impossible.  For example, the Big 10 would need a 17-game schedule with no non-conference opponents to accomplish a true head-to-head.

Elimination of divisions does have the attraction of having the teams with the two best records in the title game but does increase the randomness of scheduling.  In the division model, each team in its division had a cadre of common opponents.  No longer.

When the Big Ten announced its conference schedule for the next 5 years, the Odyssey decided to analyze the strength of each team’s 2024 conference schedule.  To do this, we arbitrarily decided to rank each team from #1 to #18 based on its performance over the past 4-5 years (with some discounting for COVID’s 2020).  This is a tricky exercise because teams like Northwestern, Indiana and Michigan State have all had moments of glory and years where they did a face plant.

However, fools rush in where wise men fear to tread, so our rankings look like this:

1.Ohio State

2. Michigan

3. Oregon

4. Penn State

5. USC

6. Wisconsin

7. Washington

8. Iowa

9. UCLA

10. Michigan State

11. Minnesota

12. Purdue

13. Maryland

14. Illinois

15. Northwestern

16. Indiana

17. Nebraska

18. Rutgers

 

Using these numerical rankings, we calculated a sum for each team.  The lower the total, the tougher the schedule.  Since there are 9 conference games, we used a tiebreaker of home conference games if the total for 2 teams was within 1 point of each other.  Our tally, with #1 being the toughest conference schedule and #18 being the easiest:

1. Oregon
2. Penn State
3. Northwestern
4. Minnesota
5.  Washington
6.   Michigan
7.   Purdue
8.   USC
9.  Indiana.
10.  Michigan State
11.  Ohio State
12.  Iowa
13.  Nebraska
14.  Maryland
15.  UCLA
16.  Illinois
17.  Wisconsin
18.  Rutgers

In a perfectly balanced schedule, Ohio State might have the easiest schedule since the Buckeyes do not have to play themselves.  Similar thinking would lead one to assume that Rutgers might have the most difficult schedule.  Instead, Rutgers has the easiest schedule.  The Scarlet Knights do not play teams #1-#4 and have 5 home games.  Did the schedule makers tilt the schedule to have more marquee games for TV appeal?  Based on our analysis, the Odyssey thinks so.

The difficulty of Washington’s schedule may be slightly understated.  Not only do the Huskies have 5 road games but UW has two of the longest road trips as they play at Penn State and Rutgers.

Wisconsin, UCLA and Maryland avoid both Ohio State and Michigan.  Michigan State is the only school which must face each of the top 3 teams.

Michigan’s total 2024 schedule is much more difficult than their 2022-23 schedules which included the following murderer’s row in non-conference play:  Connecticut, Colorado State, Hawaii, East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green.  No such cupcakes in 2024 as UM’s non-conference schedule includes Texas and Fresno State.

The Odyssey believes that Iowa will have a scheduling advantage in most years due to their three (!) protected conference tilts with Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska.  No offense to those 3 programs but the Hawkeyes will annually have 3 less slots to draw perennial conference powers.

Among non-protected opponents, future schedules will be set up so that rotating opponents will be faced a maximum of 3 times within any 5-year period.

One final thought on divisions which bothers us.  College football’s most intense rivalries have the allure of only 1 meeting per year.  With the elimination of divisions, the possibility of Michigan-Ohio State or USC-UCLA playing on consecutive weekends gives the Odyssey indigestion.

 

Imitation is truly the sincerest form of flattery.  Thank you, English Premier League, and others for the inspiration to help the Pac-2!

Two proud programs, Washington State and Oregon State, have totally been screwed over by money-crazed athletic programs, inept administrators and greedy university presidents.  While no solution is ideal for the Pac-2, College Football Odyssey offers the best option from a very limited palette.

KEEP THE PAC ALIVE!

The Odyssey’s solution is to add 6 teams to make it the Pac 8 – The same number of teams that the Conference had for decades prior to the addition of the Arizona schools in 1978.  The name value of the PAC and some residual assets make the PAC worth saving.   However, the same 8 teams would not be in this revamped conference from year to year!

 

SAY NO TO ADDING ON TO THE MOUNTAIN WEST

Becoming part of a 14-team conference is undesirable for the Cougars and the Beavers.  The Mountain West’s  strength in football has dropped in recent years and there are too many bottom feeders (Hello , New Mexico, UNLV and Hawaii!  To boot, San Jose State and Nevada are often not quality outfits) to justify being regular opponents for WSU and OSU.  Even 2 of the conferences ‘bellcows, Boise State and San Diego  State combined for seven losses by the end of September.

 

CHERRY PICKING THE BEST OF THE MOUNTAIN WEST

However, adding the 6 best teams from the Mountain West would make a viable conference  that does not have the regional insanity currently confronting the Big 10 and the ACC.

How could this cherry picking be fairly done without devious politicking and underhanded bribery?  The Odyssey’s suggestion is to initially peg the 6 teams that have the best conference record in the previous 5 years. On this basis,

Boise State   34-7

Fresno State 27-13

Utah State 26-13

San Diego State 25-14

Air Force      23-13

Nevada 20-20

Hawaii 19-22

San Jose State 18-21

Wyoming  17-21

Colorado  State  11-25

UNLV  9-29

New Mexico 4-35

The demarcation between the Moutain West’s top 6 and bottom 6 is aided by the fact that 6 have had losing conference records during this period.

 

THE RESIDUAL:  A REDUCED MOUNTAIN WEST

The bottom 6 teams would stay in the conference.  Since 6 is a relatively small number, the objective is to add 2 teams. For the current teams in the “bottom” of the Mountain West, there is a much bigger chance of winning a conference title in this reconfiguration. Regionally, New Mexico State and UTEP would be a desirable added duo.  UTEP’s addition would be redemptive for the Miners as they were kicked to the curb in the post-WAC incarnation of the Mountain West.   New Mexico State has been the most common non-conference opponent played by Mountain West teams, including 7(!!) in 2021. However, neither the Aggies and the Miners have an esteemed football pedigree.

Thus, alternative #2.  Offering an invite to 2 of the best FCS programs west of the Mississippi.  North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Sacramento State and the Montana schools would all be attractive and would make the conference stronger than the Aggie/Miner pairing.

Reconfiguring these conferences is quite beneficial to the Mountain West as this reduces the chance of its more desirable teams being poached in the future.

 

PROMOTION / RELEGATION CARROT

An exciting element to the reconfiguration of the 2 conferences is the concept of promotion/relegation.  The Odssey’s suggestion is that the bottom team in the Pac 8 be relegated to the Mountain West and the champion of the Mountain West promoted to the Pac 8 annually.  We would be open to the relegation of the top2/bottom 2 annually if increased incentives to move up to the Pac 8 are desired.  While we are not English soccer gurus, reports indicate that the games to avoid relegation are often intense and exciting.

 

NON-CONFERENCE FLEXIBILITY

For the Cougars and Beavers, one of the attractive elements to this proposal is the ability to have 5 non-conference games.  Both can attempt to retain numerous rivalries among their former Pac 12 brethren.  Thus, many opportunities would remain to schedule games with traditional Power 5 squads.   Protection of certain rivalries would need to be part of the non-conference equation due to the possibility of being in a different conference in a given year   For example, the following games would be played even if teams were in different conferences in a given year.

Washington State – Oregon State

Colorado State – Wyoming

San Jose State – Fresno State

San Diego State – Fresno State

Nevada – UNLV

If the UTEP/ New Mexico State option is adopted, then New Mexico would retain games with New Mexico State and UTEP.

 

The Promotion/Relegation concept would be unique and add needed allure to the conference. The Mountain West’s best teams would have a chance to shine on a somewhat larger stage. The Odyssey likes the idea of the Pac-2 each having 5 non-conference games each year while locking in 7 conference opponents from the Western part of the country.

College Football Odyssey’s belief in the PRIME era is evidenced by the fact that one of our senior correspondents, Matt Anctil, permanently resides in the Rocky Mountain High state.  The Odyssey is appreciative that Matt was able to get back to his journalistic duties 2 weeks after injuries he sustained in an alarming field-storming incident incurred after the Buffs’ miracle win over Colorado State (extra appreciative because if Matt’s injuries were of longer duration, our lawyer told us we might not prevail in a legal action in regard to his work-related injuries).

Matt’s report:

Saturday, on a beautiful Boulder day, Folsom Field was energized to the roof!  USC prevailed over Coach Prime’s Buffs, 48-41, in a wildly entertaining game. The game was a rollercoaster affair with USC dominating the first half only to have the Buffs fight back in the second half.  Colorado could easily have folded when down 41-14, but, instead fought back like a horde of Raging Buffaloes.

Caleb Williams was fantastic.  The USC passing game was polished and exacting.  Complementing the  Heisman Trophy winner was a speedy rushing attack.

Shedeur Sanders nearly pulled out an epic second-half comeback, yet again putting his team on his shoulders.

Quick hits:

The Buffs’ running game, ranked next-to-last in the country, exploded for 195 rushing yards, taking some of the pressure off Sanders.

Two self-inflicted wounds may have cost the Buffs the chance at a stunning upset.  An incredibly bad decision by the CU punter to attempt a rugby-style punt,  taking 5 fatal steps, was blocked by USC and quickly resulted in 7 points for the Trojans.  The second gaffe was a number of called run plays late in the fourth quarter after CU had exhausted its timeouts and needed to preserve time.  Those calls resulted in the need for an onside kick, which proved to be unsuccessful.

The quality of officiating was consistent with the demise of the PAC 12.

That the Buffaloes could produce a stirring second-half comeback without 2 of their brightest stars, Travis Hunter and Shilo Sanders, was impressive.  To help fill the void of Hunter’s receiving prowess, Freshman Omarion Miller made a star turn in his debut with 7 catches for 196 yards.

 

The Odyssey has noted two quirks:

First, the obvious:

If there are another 1,000 years of college football (and the Odyssey certainly hopes this is the case!), there will never be 3 colleges at the highest level with quarterbacks sporting the last name of Daniels and the first initial of J.

LSU’s Jayden Daniels
Kansas’ Jalon Daniels
America’s JT Daniels (technically, he is RIce’s starting QB but the Owls are his fourth school!!)

The last name of Bailey has never been as common as Smith, Brown or Johnson. Yet, the “Baileys” of both quality and quantity are stunning in 2023.

Here are some of the Bailey clan, some deserving of being dubbed a “Champ” Bailey:

TCU’s Emani Bailey rushed for over 100 yards in last Saturday’s Iron Skillet victory over SMU

The linebacking anchors of 2 California schools:

Levelle Bailey, Fresno State’s leading tackler in 2022

David Bailey is Stanford’s man child, a convert from their 2022 defensive line

Other Baileys of note:

Chad Bailey Middle Linebacker for Missouri
Dominic Bailey Defensive End for Tennessee
Jake Bailey, SMU Wide Receiver
Derrell Bailey, USF Offensive Lineman
David Bailey, Texas A&M running back
Myles Bailey, CMU Running Back
Tanner Bailey, South Carolina’s highly touted redshirt Freshman

The Odyssey will toast this Bailey explosion with its favorite drink: coffee liberally sprinkled with Bailey’s!

Only 13 months ago, San Diego State’s ascension to very high levels of college football’s pecking order was coming closer and closer.

Consider:

SDSU would start to play in dazzling new Snapdragon Stadium,  a jewel by any measure.

The Aztecs had piled up a decade plus of solid results, a formidable defense and a potent running game.  SDSU’s record against the Pac 12 from 2017-2021 was a jaw dropping 6-1, including a 2021 triple overtime thriller against eventual conference champ Utah.  In 2019, San Diego State happily shattered their 0-in-forever drought against UCLA by beating the Bruins at the Rose Bowl.

The Aztecs were poised to eventually make the leap into the Power 5 when such opportunity arose.  Snapdragon, their winning pedigree, the sunshine and a fertile recruiting region all pointed in the same direction:  UP!

Since their 2022 home opener against Arizona, disaster after disaster has unfolded.  Favored against the Wildcats, the Aztecs laid a non-competitive egg.  This upset would be a sign as to 3 additional losses to the Pac12, all VERY lopsided.

In 2023, the Aztecs had 2 very attractive home dates:  UCLA and Boise State.  That the UCLA game was not a quick sellout was disappointing given the infusion of Bruin faithful.  However, the waves of empty seats for the Boise State game Friday night was the latest of innumerable body blows to the Aztec program.  Two fumbles coughed up by Jalen Mayden allowed the Broncos to escape with a victory.

Only months ago, the Aztecs had informed Mountain West brass of their intent to leave the Mountain West.  Wanting to reduce their buyout fee from $34 to $17 million, SDSU was willing to cool their heels for an additional year as the invitation to the Pac 12. coveted for decades, loomed.  SDSU’s presence in Southern California loomed much larger after USC and UCLA bolted for the Big 10.

Since then, the unthinkable has happened.  The 108-year history of the Pac is coming to a close.  SDSU already has  3 losses.  The Aztecs had to retreat, hat in hand, back to the Mountain West.

Even worse, the future appears bleak.  The Aztecs have a 20th century man, Brady Hoke, coaching in the crazed 21st century of NIL and insta-transfers.   Oh, Hoke has progressed enough to actually wear a head set, something he never adorned in Ann Arbor.  But his inability to develop a quality offense or, gasp, recruit a heralded quarterback is alarming.

San Diego should be a mecca for quarterbacks and at one time it was.  Memories of Brian Sipe, Todd Santos, Billy Blanton, Kevin O’Connell and Ryan Lindley abound.  However, Lindley graduated over a decade ago.  Since then???

Hoke’s first tenure in San Diego, in 2009-10, was aided considerably by the presence of 335 defensive guru, Rocky Long.  Now Long-less, Hoke also appears rudderless, a nice man and a good defensive line coach promoted to a level where the warts are showing.

Perhaps the Aztecs are lacking in NIL money.  But, hope is another currency in which San Diego State seems to be in very short supply after 13 shocking months.   At some point, somebody will make a gallant effort to push that rock back up the hill.  Sadly,  said rock’s current placement is at  the base of Mission Valley.

 

 

Billy Blanton Kevin O’Connell

 

The honor of being dubbed “The Longest Day” will always go with the day of the invasion of Normandy beaches by Allied forces – certainly one of the most memorable days in history.

However, Boulder has offered a strong candidate for the 2nd longest day, Saturday, September 16.   The Holy Trinity of 21st century media was in town:

1. College Football Gameday
2. Fox’s High Noon Kickoff Show
3. College Football Odyssey (Senior Correspondent Matt Anctil is an ardent CU Alum)

Fans were out in force prior to the 7AM  start (Mountain time)  of Gameday.  Those fanatics would still be enthralled as Saturday gave way to Sunday morning.

Regrettably, Matt was unable to file a report due to injuries he sustained in the midnight, post-game field storming.  Matt learned two tough lessons in the post-game revelry at Folsom Field.  Medicare-eligible fans should be careful in how they “field storm.”  If a senior citizen does choose to field storm, definitely do not collide with The Rock.  Said senior citizen will lose.

Colorado State should have won this game.  CSU made good use of their bye week as the Rams looked little like the hapless bunch that was embarrassed by Washington State in their home opener.  Their downfall was due to an unfathomable number of penalties: 17 including a number of unsportsmanlike penalties.  One egregious cheap shot took all-everything Travis Hunter out of the game in the first half.  Getting Hunter out of the game took out both an All-American defensive back AND an All-American wide receiver in one cheap, outrageous gut punch.

The Buffs thankfully have a great passing game because CU seems unable to run the ball effectively, save for some well-timed scrambles by their stellar QB Shadeur Sanders.  Still, the odds seemed stacked against Colorado with 2 minutes to go.  Stuck in the shadows of a goal post at your own 2 yard line, down 28-20.  After driving to the CSU 45, Shadeur connected to Jimmy Horn on a 45 TD pass.  When the subsequent 2-point conversion was successful, the crowd went into a frenzy.

Frenzy is a relatively new emotion in Boulder.  Not only were the 2022 Buffs bad, they were as boring as their head coach, Karl Dorrell.   The Odyssey remembers covering the CU game at Air Force – a 41-10 rout in favor of the flyboys.  Matt Anctil went into a near-coma by the 4th quarter and had to be revived.  Now, High Noon kickoff has set an all-time record for being at each of the first 3 games in the Prime era.

The Odyssey believes that hatless, sunglass-less Jay Norvell made a coaching error in the first overtime.  CU kept up its momentum by scoring to go up 35-28.  When CSU scored, the Rams had a choice to end the game with a 2-point conversion.  Given recent Buff momentum and the raucous crowd, this move seemed indicated.  Norvell took the safe route and kicked the extra point.  When the irrepressible Shadeur guided the Buffaloes to  both a 2nd-overtime TD and the mandated 2-point conversion, CSU was unable to surmount their 43-35 deficit.  Ballgame as a midnight field storming ensued.

On Sirius radio, Barrett Sallee and Tom Luginbill have a cool Sunday show which reprises some of Saturday’s big doings.They dissed the CU fans for “unnecessary field storming.”  The duo opined that field storming is inappropriate when your team is a 23-point favorite.  Normally, yes.  BUT nothing is normal in the hype surrounding Prime Time in Colorado.  Especially in the Rocky Mountain Rivalry when CSU is doing more cheap-shotting than in most wrestling matches.

The Odyssey expects CU to be non-competitive in their next 2 games against Oregon and USC, in part to the expected absence of all-world Hunter.  Regardless, Prime has set college football on its head!