The Colorado Buffaloes' 57-24 loss to the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Week 8 was a shocker, especially given the first-half performance they put together. However, there was perhaps nobody more surprised by the outcome than Buffs wide receiver Joseph Williams.
Williams had a career game against the Cowboys, tallying nine catches for 135 yards. Despite him doing everything he could to help his team, the Buffaloes still suffered their fifth-straight loss, and he reflected on it postgame.
How his performance had him feeling at halftime
The Buffaloes' first-half performance actually had them leading the Cowboys at halftime despite what the final score may indicate. Colorado’s offense was going drive for drive with the top offense in the Big 12, and its defense was a stop or two away from widening that margin.
A major part of their offensive success was the work done by Williams. Going into the locker room after the first half, he’d already racked up eight catches for 130 yards. But regardless of his performance, he felt strongly about his team’s chances to win.
“Regardless of whether I have 100 yards or two yards by halftime, I'm feeling good about my team winning,” Williams said. “So it's just like, we died down in the second half. We just got to finish, man. Just the little things, little details. We had a lot of penalties in that second half as well, and right before halftime. So we just got to go back to the drawing board.”
If he saw any adjustments from the Oklahoma State Cowboys
He was particularly absent in the second half, as he only recorded one catch for five yards on two targets. While some of that can be attributed to the Buffaloes losing the second-half time-of-possession battle 18:54 to 11:06, quarterback Isaac Wilson was still looking to feed him as he did in the first quarter. However, Williams had a hard time separating from man coverage.
“I didn't see many different [things] that they did in the second half,” Williams said. “They still came out, pressed us multiple times out there. Left us one-on-one. So it's just, I don't know. I don't. They didn't do anything different to get in our way. It was us. It was on us. We got in our own way. So yeah, it's nothing that they did that stopped us from doing what we were able to do.”
Williams shared a sentiment with Colorado coach Deion Sanders and linebacker Gideon Lampron. They also shared their thoughts postgame and stated that they understood what went wrong, but don’t have many ideas left for how to fix it. That’s certainly an uninspiring message for Buffs fans to hear, but its the reality of the situation.
His belief in his teammates
But regardless of how the Buffaloes elect to modify their preparation moving forward, Williams still has faith in this team. That faith hinges on one thing: his teammates.
“We got a locker room full of winners,” Williams said. “A lot of guys were at other programs winning, so they know what it takes. They see we're on the right path; we're doing the right things. It’s just we got to all come together as one, and put a full four quarters together. We can't put a half together and expect to play a team like we played tonight with a high-powered offense and expect to come out with a win. So we've got to help the defense.”
The willpower of the players is all the Buffaloes are really clinging to at this point. They’re two losses away from losing bowl eligibility for the third time in Coach Prime’s four seasons in Boulder, and they still have five games to play. If they prove Williams’ faith to be well-placed, there’s still hope for this team, as the schedule gets a bit easier from here. But if not, the Buffaloes may have already seen all the winning they’ll do this season.
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