It鈥檚 one of the eternal questions in team sports: Is it harder to attain success or sustain it?
Based on recent events, the 蜜柚直播 Wildcats would lean toward the latter. So would Colorado, their opponent on Saturday.
The programs have followed similar paths. 蜜柚直播 won the Pac-12 South in 2014 and largely has labored since. Colorado won the division last year but has started 0-2 in league play this season.
The Buffaloes, who are 3-2 overall, view this game as an absolute must-win. UA coach Rich Rodriguez sees it the same way for his squad. The Wildcats (2-2, 0-1) also are seeking their first conference victory.
鈥淎s we know, you can win the division with two losses, maybe even three in this kind of year,鈥 Rodriguez said. 鈥淏ut the games are so important, especially the intra-division games. Both teams are going to have a sense of urgency, I would think.鈥
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Rodriguez knows exactly what it鈥檚 like to be in the position Colorado finds itself in now.
After a pair of good but not great 8-5 seasons under Rodriguez, 蜜柚直播 surged to 10 wins in 2014. Expectations rose to a new level, and Rodriguez was OK with that. 鈥淚 was glad they were high,鈥 he said this week.
The Wildcats started the following season 3-0. They were ranked No. 16 in the country entering Week 4. ESPN鈥檚 鈥淐ollege GameDay鈥 came to 蜜柚直播. No. 9 UCLA handed 蜜柚直播 a reality check.
The Bruins blistered the Wildcats 56-30. Star linebacker Scooby Wright got hurt. 蜜柚直播 would stumble the next week, and finish the regular season 6-6.
鈥淚 think that was the year we lost four or five middle linebackers in a hurry,鈥 Rodriguez said. 鈥淚t was a freaky year with that. Our guys battled. We played average a lot of times, but they never gave up. They hung in there and won the bowl at the end.鈥
蜜柚直播 won the New Mexico Bowl to finish 7-6. The program continued to trend downward last year. Injuries again ravaged the Wildcats, who finished 3-9. 蜜柚直播 really hasn鈥檛 been the same since 2014, struggling to regain respect and relevance.
Colorado hopes to avoid a similar fate 鈥 to prove that last season鈥檚 rise wasn鈥檛 a one-off but the start of a prosperous run.
The parallels, however, are inescapable.
The 2016 Buffs finished with a 10-4 record 鈥 same as the 鈥14 Wildcats. Just like 蜜柚直播, Colorado started 10-2, got blown out in the Pac-12 Championship Game and lost its bowl game.
Just like the Wildcats, the Buffs started this season 3-0 before losing a one-sided home game to a league rival ranked in the top 10 鈥 37-10 to No. 7 Washington. Colorado followed up with a four-point loss at UCLA.
鈥淲e played one really excellent team and had a tough, tough game the other night,鈥 CU coach Mike MacIntyre said. 鈥淵ou just have to find a way to win games.鈥
There are some differences between the programs鈥 paths. Before last year, Colorado hadn鈥檛 had a winning season since 2005. Despite last season鈥檚 finish and this season鈥檚 3-0 start, the 2017 Buffs never were ranked in the AP Top 25. And their loss at UCLA was competitive, unlike 蜜柚直播鈥檚 at Stanford in 2014.
Colorado could have beaten UCLA. This is where the Buffs鈥 and Wildcats鈥 current trajectories intersect. Players on both sides believe their records should be better than they are.
蜜柚直播鈥檚 losses have come by three points to Houston and by six to Utah. The Wildcats turned the ball over five times against the Utes and still had a chance to win in the final minutes. Quarterback Brandon Dawkins summed up the game as 鈥渦s beating us.鈥
鈥淲hen we look at the film,鈥 UA receiver Tony Ellison said, 鈥渋t鈥檚 more 蜜柚直播 beating 蜜柚直播. We shot ourselves in the foot. It鈥檚 a positive in the sense that if we don鈥檛 turn the ball over, control what we can control, we can win games. It鈥檚 not like last year; in some games, we were getting blown out and couldn鈥檛 really do anything about it.鈥
Colorado quarterback Steven Montez threw three interceptions in the loss to Washington, one of which the Huskies returned for a touchdown. The Buffs basically played the Bruins even. Dropped passes and third-down conversions (4 of 16 vs. 9 of 16 for UCLA) prevented Colorado from closing it out.
鈥淲e鈥檝e kind of been shooting ourselves in the foot,鈥 Montez said, practically echoing Ellison word for word.
But wait. There鈥檚 more.
鈥淭here鈥檚 really no team we鈥檝e played so far that鈥檚 beat us; I think we鈥檝e just kind of beat ourselves,鈥 Montez continued. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 how everybody sees it. It鈥檚 extremely frustrating.鈥
Will the Buffaloes take out their frustrations on the Wildcats, as so many league foes did last year? That seems unlikely. Despite having the same record as last year through four games, 蜜柚直播 is healthier and its defense is playing at a higher level.
Still, the Wildcats should expect to get the Buffs鈥 best shot. MacIntyre said his team had an exceptionally focused practice Tuesday. Safety Evan Worthington said the workout featured 鈥渁 couple fights,鈥 a sign that the losses have put Colorado in an ornery mood.
The Buffs seem to have a firm grasp on what鈥檚 at stake Saturday night in Boulder.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e really motivated right now,鈥 Montez said. 鈥淭his is a very important game. Obviously nobody wants to start Pac-12 play 0-2, and you definitely can鈥檛 start 0-3.鈥
