Gamenight In Boulder - Here Comes Ralphie
And Coach Prime. And a sellout crowd. And a media circus. Oh, and by the way, there's a shot at a good bowl, and maybe even the conference championship game for Oregon State. And maybe a bowl game for the Buffs.
And of course, another episode of #Pac12LoooongAfterDark. The nights of which are numbered.
It's not a game on the level of this week's Pac-12 ranked vs ranked game, #5 Washington at USC in the LA Coliseum, but both are among the many November games with a lot on the line for not only both teams, but everyone else that's close to anyone else in the conference race, which is at least 3/4 of the conference to be dismantled soon.
Additionally, both head coaches (and some assistants) are somewhat under the microscope, and the gun, a natural consequence of making their programs relevant, but then coming up wobbly a week ago.
So we once again have the elements that make for a great Game Day. But it's November, when, one way or another, the games will be remembered. Buckle up.
It might be that the 12.5 points the Beavers are favored on the road by will come to pass because Oregon State runs the ball well, and the Colorado defense, though occasionally stout, has been mostly inconsistent. However, the OSU O-line is a bit banged up.
But the reality is the game, never mind the spread, will probably come down to how the Colorado passing offense does against an Oregon State secondary that's been vulnerable, especially of late, and particularly on the road. And it's been 3 weeks since the Beavers have been in Reser.
It was expected that the Beaver secondary would regress from last year's level of performance due to the loss of heavily experienced next level grade starters, and it needs to be remembered that injuries have further exacerbated, taking the Beavers another line into the depth chart. And into inexperienced as well as less than blazing speed territory.
It should be the deterministic match up, going against one of the better receiver arsenals, and a very dynamic quarterback in Shedeur Sanders. Unless he happens to wind up horizontal; the sometimes maligned and sometimes inconsistent Buff offensive line has given up more sacks of Sandres than any other team in the country. If the Oregon State edge rush can get to Sanders often enough, that could win the battle in the secondary.
Let's see what we can in the last encounter with Ralphie, possibly forever. And enjoy another big Game Day; next November most of the big ones will be reserved for the teams in the B1G and Big 16/XII (or is it the Big XVI?)
Go Beaves!
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com