Utah football must stay perfect and avoid letdown in Colorado

The 11th-ranked Utah Utes travel to Boulder to take on one of the worst Big 12 teams — the Colorado Buffaloes. On paper, this should be a cakewalk. The Utes are playing rather well with a 5-0 record and are also undefeated in conference play. While Colorado only has one quality win, and it came in the first week of the season.

There is nothing Utah should be overly concerned about. A deeper look into Colorado over the last few weeks will echo that sentiment. However, the noise is not limited to a ‘this week’ concept. There’s drama and possible must-win scenarios almost every week with Deion Sanders and his staff. The concern for CU football is their current predicament could have eventual permanent results.

Unlike the last few times Utah played Colorado, there is new uncertainty with the Buffs. In the previous three seasons, a loss to Utah did not spell any lasting impact beyond that week. Even following last season’s 53-7 dominance of the Buffaloes, it did not cause any lasting concerns. However, any dog (or Buffalo for this analogy) that is forced into a corner becomes a potential threat.

The outside noise does not directly relate to Utah at all. There is often noise around a Colorado game and has been since Sanders took over as coach in 2023. For the most part, that comes down to grandstanding and self-promotion put out by the Buffaloes staff or players. The typical “We Coming” or “Ain’t Hard to Find” level rhetoric is not the concern.

The program has been somewhat quiet until recently. With bad losses to Baylor and Texas Tech, the young season is already headed for a bad result. Heading into this season, the belief was Sanders needed to be at least ‘bowl eligible’. While that idea becomes less likely with each passing week.

In the past three press conferences and the most recent coaches show, Sanders and one of his coordinators have begun to throw people under the bus, while also doing nothing to address internal issues such as a leaked game script, confrontational actions in-game and a three-week jersey controversy.

On paper, Utah wins this matchup any way you stack it with running, passing, defense, tactics and strategies. There’s almost no aspect of this game where Utah does not have the edge. Ticket prices and sales have dropped at Colorado. The game day crowd lacks the celebrities it once attracted. The latest roster rebuild focused on lower rated and less expensive talent, hungry for the spotlight, has not worked anywhere near as well as they claimed it would.

When the support dwindles and those in power feel their backs are against the wall, there is potential for desperation. Nothing unsportsmanlike, but the game plan could become almost anything. Logical or not. Former Utes quarterback Issac Wilson will get the start, but backup Kaneal Sweetwyne has been mentioned more than normal, while Julian Lewis has almost been forgotten.

Utah needs to take care of business and get Colorado in the rear-view mirror. With a convincing win over a struggling Colorado team, Utah can begin to focus on the Big 12 race to the title game and possible playoff seeding. While the Big 12 is a three-team race at the moment, both Utah teams seem destined to face off after the Holy War for the conference title.

Utah travels to Boulder for the latest edition of the Rumble in the Rockies with Colorado (10:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).