BUFFS BOUND FOR EV1.NET HOUSTON BOWL
BOULDER ? After bowing in the Big 12 Championship game this past Saturday, it was announced Sunday afternoon that the University of Colorado football team (7-5, 4-4 Big 12) will meet Texas-El Paso (8-3, 6-2 Western Athletic Conference) in the EV1.net Houston Bowl on Wednesday, Dec. 29.
The Buffs, who fell to Oklahoma 42-3 for the league title, will square off against a UTEP team that finished second in the WAC this season behind undefeated Boise State. In what is CU’s 26th bowl appearance, the Buffaloes-Miners contest is the first ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
CU returns to postseason action for the first time since the 2002 Alamo Bowl when it surrendered a tight overtime loss to Wisconsin, 31-28. In their history, the Buffs have posted an 11-14 record in bowl games, as the they rank sixth in the Big 12 in bowl appearances behind Texas (44), Nebraska (42), Oklahoma (38), Texas A&M (28) and Texas Tech (28).
“We are going to Houston, and we’re playing against a really good UTEP team,” CU head coach Gary Barnett said Sunday. “Being in Houston, an area where we have a lot of players from, it’s a great opportunity for the parents to come to this game where some of the other games they may not have been able to make it to.
“I think for our program and our kids it’s a really good bowl game for us. And, we’re playing against a team that has won eight games. We’ll be playing in front of an away crowd again, but we’re sort of used to that now. I’m sure most of our kids are pretty excited about that right now.”
Barnett said the Buffs will practice three days this week and then take next week off to prepare for the upcoming university exam period. Noting that a schedule had not been set yet as to when CU would depart for Houston, Barnett was content knowing that his young team has an opportunity to train longer for a bowl later in the month, and heal up after Saturday’s tough loss.
“We’ll have a few more days,” he added on his team laden with underclassmen. “It probably helps because a couple guys got banged up yesterday, as well. More than likely we’ll be pretty healthy by the time we get down there. We’ll also get some more practices in there for our young guys, and for a younger team it is really critical to get as many additional practices as you can get. For a younger team, it really will help us take a look at some guys.”
The 2004 Associated Press Big 12 Coach of the Year also stated other goals for his program heading into the showdown with UTEP at Houston’s Reliant Stadium (2:30 p.m. ESPN National).
“Because we are young and because of the number of guys we have coming back, I want to send us into the off-season on a positive note. I want to send our whole university and athletic department into the new year on a positive note. I really want to start to build our program for next fall. ... I want to get that bad taste out of our mouth from yesterday and go out with a win.”