OutKick's Glenn Guilbeau believes Coach Prime's 2023 Colorado football roster, one filled with journeymen transfers, was "all talk and little competitiveness" during a 4-8 season that ended on a six-game losing streak.
"Everything looked great as national media flocked to a locale it usually flies over," Guilbeau prefaced before saying, "Then the season went on. And Colorado basically transferred out of it, losing its last six games to finish just three games better than in 2022 at 4-8 and the same in the Pac-12 at 1-8 for last.
"In the end, Sanders’ journeymen were all talk and little competitiveness. They even lost to bad teams – 56-14 to Washington State, which finished 5-7, and 46-43 to Stanford, which finished 3-9."
Guilbeau went on to give props to Washington, which the OutKick writer essentially labeled as the anti-Colorado.
"Meanwhile, northwest of Boulder by about 1,300 miles in Seattle, the Washington Huskies more quietly put together a 13-0 season with a dramatically more selective approach to the portal," Guilbeau wrote.
Colorado football more competitive than what analysts led on
The hype Colorado's first three games of the season generated, and mostly the first two if we're being honest with ourselves since the Rocky Mountain Showdown ended up delivering on the trap game label it had going into it, set up the Buffs for failure the rest of the way if that success wasn't matched. And boy was it not.
The truth, though, is that CU was still more competitive than what Guilbeau let on. Remember, only three of the Buffs' lost came by double-digits, and Colorado being competitive against USC, Oregon State, and Utah was far from expected before the season started.
2023 was not a great year for the University of Colorado on the gridiron, but it wasn't bad either. Being competitive in losses is the first step on the road to being competitive. The next step is winning close games, before eventually winning big.