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Colorado got the job done as 14-point dawgs in Orlando
The Colorado Buffaloes heard the noise. They listened to the hate. They know you don’t like them. And they don’t care.
CU entered UCF’s Bounce House as 14-point underdogs on Saturday but left as victors by a margin of 27 points. They listened to people doubt them all week and proved them all wrong. Coach Prime and his team knew they had what it takes to get the job done and now Colorado has their biggest win against the spread since 2005.
“We don’t care about [the spread], y’all do,” said Deion Sanders in his postgame presser. “We’re underdogs every week. Ain’t nobody wanna see us win, except for our fanbase.”
Vegas will likely continue to bet against the Buffs, especially with 23rd-ranked K-State coming to town for their next game. The Buffs and Coach Prime are going to continue to roll with the punches and showcase what this team is made of.
“That’s just the nature of the game,” said Prime when asked about his team being underdogs. “We’re now mad about it, we’re not upset about it. We know who we are, we know how we get down.”
What’s especially impressive is that Colorado managed to pull off this stunning win after a week full of chaos. The Buffs’ travel plans got messed up due to Hurricane Helene and had to head to Orlando early on Wednesday. The team was confined to their hotel and a makeshift practice facility but used that opportunity to bond and focus on beating their opponent.
“[What helped us] was just being smart and getting out ahead of the hurricane,” Sanders said. “Getting out in front of the storms and getting here on Wednesday after a pretty decent practice. Getting [the team] away from everything and having them focus and lock in.”
At the team hotel in Orlando, the team stayed unified. Being confined to the same small space helped the team push each other to shock the college football world on Saturday.
“We had some tremendous walk-throughs in the hotel,” said Sanders. “It was just unity. All the guys ate together, they had meetings together, they were watching film together. The film times were unbelievably high this week because you had [the team] secluded.”
The Buffs could have folded in the face of that adversity, but they faced it head-on and prevailed. Colorado just played their most complete game in years against the Knights, and the extra work done while stuck in the hotel during Hurricane Helene played no small part in that.
“[The team] responded tremendously,” Prime said. “It could have been hate. They could have been mad and upset about us leaving so prematurely, but they were on it. They did a great job. They responded, and I’m proud of them.”
Now, with a record of 4-1, the Buffs are only two wins away from their goal of bowl eligibility. Colorado made a statement by dominating UCF, but the work doesn’t stop there. There’s still unfinished business in Boulder that Coach Prime and Buffs need to tend to.
“I feel like we are trending in the right direction,” said Sanders. “I feel like you guys are seeing the fruits of a lot of hard work, a lot of dedication, great hires... I love where we are as a program, I really do.”
Colorado will sit out next Saturday on a bye, but will face off against a hungry K-State squad at Folsom Field on October 12. The winner of that game will have their chances at a conference title game birth skyrocket. The time and TV network have yet to be announced, but we’ll update you here on Ralphie Report as soon as that info is available.
by RylandScholes
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