BOULDER — Ralphie’s path to the College Football Playoff? Turn left at Texas Tech’s secondary, take a right past Isaac Wilson, do a U-turn at Arrowhead and pump the brakes on Ollie Gordon.
“They do (have a way). They absolutely do,” Fox Sports college football analyst Geoff Schwartz told me Thursday. “Because the schedule dictates a chance to win all these (November) games.”
The Red Raiders can’t defend the pass. Utah can’t score. Kansas and Oklahoma State can’t give a darn.
If there’s another loss in there, I sure as heck couldn’t find it. So I called Schwartz. He couldn’t peg one either.
“There really is only one (key) to slowing CU down right now,” the former Oregon and NFL lineman stressed. “It’s being able to hit (Shedeur) Sanders and sort of affect the passing game, right? And no one on the schedule can do that.”
Nope. And probably not Tech (6-3, 4-2 Big 12), which hosts Deion Sanders and his Buffs (6-2, 4-1) on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Raiders head into the weekend ranked last in the Big 12 in sacks per game (1.22), last in passing yards allowed per game (307.2) and last in passing touchdowns allowed (20). If Kansas State was a tough matchup, on paper, Tech sets up as an ideal one for Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and one of the nation’s fastest and most fearless passing attacks.
“(They) definitely (need to) win out,” CBS college bracketologist and analyst Jerry Palm messaged me. “Not only do I think 9-3 won’t get in, but there could be multiple 10-2 teams left out (of the CFP). CU would probably be one of them. I don’t this is realistically an at-large team. No playoff contenders on their schedule. No noteworthy wins. Lost to arguably the two best teams they played.”
Undaunted, I reached out to some national college football voices earlier this week to take their temperatures on CU’s CFP scenarios the rest of the way. They all said largely the same four things:
1. Thanks to losses against Nebraska and Kansas State, CU doesn’t have much hope as an at-large, even as one with a 10-2 record;
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Source:: The Denver Post – Sports
