Buffs hope to bolster record in the Bay Area

The University of Colorado takes flight for California today to begin a busy weekend in which the Buffaloes will play Santa Clara Saturday Jan. 31 and Stanford the very next day.

Colorado is coming off a disappointing fall campaign after giving up a combined 110 points to Air Force and Colorado State in losing efforts, and only managing a tie while playing on home soil against Wyoming. The Buff’s lone win came against New Mexico, a team that has struggled during its returned venture to the West Conference competition.

The rough start to its 2014-15 season makes Colorado hungry for a big win, but its opponent Saturday will take the pitch with a belly growling for a victory as well.

Santa Clara was embarrassed at home last week when Arizona trounced the Broncos 55-5. The 50-point loss can be partially chalked up to a combination of factors: Santa Clara is not yet clicking as a unit this early in the season, and Arizona, now ranked No. 9 in D1A, just might be a whole lot better than most people perceived at the beginning of the season.

Either way, the Broncos will be eager to erase the memory of its defeat against Arizona with a quality performance that leads to a win over the Buffs.

For Colorado, a sweep of the South Bay Area schools would not only boost its record, but also its confidence prior to diving into the second half of its West Conference schedule.

Stanford could present the heavier task as compared to Santa Clara this weekend. The Cardinal gave Santa Clara everything it could handle before falling 22-19 in the match’s closing minutes. The fact that the Buffalos take on Stanford less than 24 hours after going a full 80 minutes against Santa Clara will make the second leg of the trip a difficult chore.

Several of key players who were held out of action in the fall but were starters for Colorado in 2013-14 when they won the West are set to return to the first XV. This will surely give the boys in black and gold a boost, as they will need a to handle this weekend’s opposition with ease if they want to show they can avenge losses to Air Force and Colorado State in March.

Article by Alex Solomon | Originally published at d1arugby.com