Kiszla: For CU Buffs to build winning program, receiver Brenden Rice is one player that must keep faith through defeat

2 years ago 172

BOULDER — Playing shot for a losing squad truly stinks. Am I right, Brenden Rice? What’s the worst portion of going retired connected the tract wearing a Colorado Buffaloes azygous and getting beat, week aft week?

“That’s benignant of an unfair question,” said Rice, lad of the top NFL receiver who ever lived.

But then, connected a bluebird day erstwhile the prima yet shined connected the Buffs during a 34-0 shellacking of Arizona, Rice came clean.

“Yeah,” Rice told maine Saturday, “it s**** losing.”

Adversity builds character. Or truthful they say. Once upon a time, earlier a assemblage jock could easy bolt done the transportation portal from a struggling program, it mightiness person adjacent been the truth.

But these days, erstwhile a manager can’t clasp players nether his thumb, adversity lone encourages a young antheral to spell searching for greener pastures successful a stadium wherever there’s a amended accidental to locomotion disconnected the tract with a winning smile.

After 4 consecutive losses by a cumulative people of 134-68, it was perfectly indispensable for the downtrodden Buffs successful manager Karl Dorrell’s programme to person affirmative feedback, particularly a talented young receiver similar Rice, who could play anyplace successful the country.

Dorrell saluted “a batch of faithful young men (that) stayed existent to themselves.”

With a 2-4 grounds astatine the midway constituent of their schedule, the Buffs fig to beryllium underdogs against each remaining foe. They desperately needed a reason, immoderate reason, to support the faith.

“Going done adversity, you got to emotion it, due to the fact that you spot immoderate of the greats spell done it and that’s what truly brings you backmost up connected top,” Rice said. “That’s wherever radical abstracted yourself from a regular subordinate to beryllium the top of each time, a Hall of Famer.”

Rice climbed an invisible ladder successful defiance of gravity to snare a 31-yard walk from backmost Brendon Lewis connected CU’s 2nd violative drawback of the game, and helium stamped an exclamation constituent connected the triumph with a 62-yard touchdown drawback precocious successful the 3rd quarter.

I don’t person to archer you astir his Pops. In an epoch erstwhile GOAT mightiness beryllium the astir over-used acronym successful sports, Jerry Rice exceeded the hype, practically inventing different acronym (YAC, yards aft the catch), during his Hall of Fame career. What’s more, the DNA indispensable beryllium rich, due to the fact that the Buffs person the benignant of dynamic playmaker we spot much often wearing the azygous of Ohio State oregon Oklahoma.

Adversity “builds the instauration of winning,” said Rice, a 19-year-old who mightiness good beryllium the 1 subordinate Dorrell could slightest spend to suffer to the transportation portal..

Hey, I’m neither arsenic astute nor arsenic eloquent arsenic the Cookie Monster. But anybody with adjacent a Sesame Street level of shot cognition knows the “A” connected the Wildcats’ helmet stands for “Atrocious.”

I covered my archetypal crippled astatine Folsom Field successful 1979, and was erstwhile granted an assemblage with Chuck Fairbanks, but cannot callback seeing a worse-coached shot squad successful this stadium than Arizona.

But erstwhile you’re the Buffs, thirsting for your archetypal sensation of triumph against an FBS hostile since beating these aforesaid atrocious ‘Cats successful December 2020, you creation similar nobody’s watching.

“We’ve been losing,” CU tailback Jarek Broussard said, “so it felt bully to travel retired present and alteration the narrative.”

How captious was it to flip the publication connected the bittersweet communicative of this season? Well, enactment it this way: When the Buffs marched the magnitude of the field, going 68 yards successful 9 plays, lone to look 4th down a scant 36 inches from the extremity zone, Dorrell elected to nonstop the field-goal portion connected the tract alternatively than spell for a touchdown.

And the assemblage lustily booed.

Hey, possibly Mel Tucker was right. Maybe it’s conscionable excessively dang hard to physique a winning shot programme successful Boulder.

But the Buffs, bless their hearts, recovered their mojo, erasing the uneasy hostility of a 6-0 halftime pb by scoring touchdowns successful each 3 phases, with a blocked punt, a pick-6 and that agelong onslaught from B-Lew to B-Rice.

Playing assemblage shot for a losing squad truly does s***, successful nary tiny measurement due to the fact that you lone get to spell retired and play connected Saturday, with truthful galore boring meetings and signifier drudgery betwixt the games it feels a full batch similar work.

And if losing becomes a habit, it tin beryllium adjacent harder to crook connected the tv and perceive that Alabama combat song.

That’s precisely why, portion riding an elevator successful the CU Champions Center with linebacker Nate Landman aft this victory, 1 small condemnation helium uttered made truthful overmuch sense.

“Watching shot tonight,” Landman said with a grin, “is going to beryllium a batch much fun.”

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