Every bit of goodwill Colorado earned two weeks ago by upsetting No. 22 Iowa State was ripped up and thrown out in an embarrassing opening 30 minutes in Salt Lake City on Saturday night.
Coach Prime said Colorado was going to Utah to 'dominate'; instead, the Buffaloes got embarrassed by a team that was better coached and better prepared.
Utah got the ball first, and it only took them two plays to go 75 yards and get into the endzone. It only got worse from there. After a three-and-out and a field goal, Utah scored touchdowns on four of its next five possessions.
Utah bludgeoned Colorado like they were playing a D-III opponent. If it wasn't for the logo on the helmets, you would have sworn the Utes were playing Northern Colorado instead.
The first half was one of the most significant mismatches you could ever see. The statistics didn't even look real. After the first 30 minutes, the scoreboard read Utah 43, Colorado 0. The stats made it look not even that close.
Colorado finished the first half with -18 total yards. Utah put up 398. Kaidon Salter was sacked five times, harassed on nearly every single drop-back. It was hard to determine which coordinator was swimming in deeper water. Both Pat Shurmur and Robert Livingston were in over their heads and had zero answers. Neither did Sanders.
Utah's offense didn't miss a beat with Devon Dampier sidelined and Byrd Ficklin making his first career start. It probably wouldn't have made a difference if the Utes had found a random fan on the sidewalk before the game and let him play QB. The result wouldn't have been much different.
The memory of last season's game was clearly on the mind of Kyle Whittingham and his team. This game felt personal, and the Buffaloes got exposed and humiliated.
Colorado hasn't turned the corner - and probably won't be going to a bowl game
Colorado did not look like a team coming off a bye week. They looked like a team that spent the bye week with their feet kicked up, still celebrating the win over a now three-loss and unranked Iowa State team.
Any hope that this team had turned the corner and would be a tough out down the stretch was replaced by the reality that this just isn't a good football team. There's talent on the roster, but that talent isn't being coached well enough.
And that's a damning indictment on Coach Prime and his staff. This always figured to be a rebuilding year in Boulder, but getting embarrassed to the degree the Buffaloes got embarrassed on Saturday night in Salt Lake City is a tough pill to swallow.
The loss drops Colorado to 3-5 and has its bowl hopes dwindling in Coach Prime's third season. The Buffaloes would need to go 3-1 in their last four games to reach the required six wins to make a bowl game. After the way they played against Utah, it's fair to question whether there's another win left on the schedule.