BOULDER — When Urban Meyer sees this Rocky Mountain Showdown up close, he sees a sleeping giant, snoring a Mile High, just waiting for the right little poke.
He also sees the Buffs.
“You know, both of my daughters were born in Fort Collins,” Meyer said to me as we walked off Fox Sports’ “Big Noon Kickoff” set at Farrand Field. We huddled just a few blocks away from the 2023 Showdown, a game he coached in twice as a Rams assistant in ’92 and ’95. (Both in Boulder. Both losses.)
As much as CU needed a Deion Sanders, CSU sure could use a transformative, what-the-heck, look-at-me, America-can’t-stop-talking-about-you hire like … I dunno, Urby. Now don’t get me wrong: Jay Norvell could sure as heck be that guy.
But we also live in a world of instant gratification, for better or for worse. And Coach Prime had almost as many victories after two games with the Buffs going into Saturday night (two) as Norvell did after his first 13 games in FoCo (three).
CSU, 23-point underdogs in the Shade Bowl, rolled into Folsom Field with a record of just 53-66 since 2013, 37-39 against the Mountain West. The Rams are 11-25 in league games since 2018. Only San Jose State, UNLV and New Mexico have piled up worse MW records over the last half-decade.
“To be honest, I don’t understand it,” Meyer told me, shaking his head. “I think it’s the best job in that conference. I think (CSU is) one of the greatest places to live, to this day.
“It’s one of our favorite places we ever lived (as a family). Now, you have the incredible stadium (Canvas Stadium). You have a great school. You have an even greater town. I don’t understand it, for them to struggle.
“I thought I would never see that again after Sonny Lubick. I was there with Earle Bruce, he took us to a bowl game and they kind of fell backwards. But Sonny had it so consistently winning. I’m shocked that they can’t get that thing going.”
Meyer, who turned 59 this past July and is back on the broadcasting side of the fence with Fox, did try to help on the getting-it-going front. Although hindsight says Urby might have inadvertently set things three steps back while trying to push the Rammies two steps forward again.
The former Ohio State, Florida, Utah and Bowling Green coach served as a consultant to CSU athletics on the search for Mike Bobo’s replacement in 2019. That replacement became Steve Addazio, a longtime Meyer confidant. The Daz and CSU made Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett look like a happy marriage.
“Broke my heart,” Meyer said of Addazio, who was ejected from a blowout home loss to Norvell’s Nevada squad in November 2021 and got fired a few days later after a 4-12 tenure. “You know, It broke my heart because (CSU) asked me for some input and I gave them a group of coaches that I thought would be great.
“Once again, I don’t — that’s an enigma to me, how CSU is not one of the top two teams in the (Mountain West) every year. It is for them, too.”
Urby and I nodded in agreement that Norvell’s “my mother taught me” hats-and-sunglasses shade this past Wednesday was a head-scratcher, too, given Sanders’ sensitivity to well … just about everything. But to moms, especially.
“I don’t know Coach Norvell. I met him of course, but I’m just wondering,” Meyer said, wincing as he gritted his teeth. “To fire a shot across the bow (at Coach Prime) …
“But then, you know, coaches have reasons for doing stuff. Maybe take the pressure off of his team. Maybe to get a little stir in the game … I think he was probably trying to stoke the flames a little bit and try to get his team a little jacked up.
“The reality is, that this publicity (for Sanders) has been overwhelming, and I imagine he’s probably speaking a little bit of truth.”