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 Friday, November 30, 2001
Buffalo head
By Marc Connolly
ABC Sports Online
IRVING, Texas -- Life is good for Gary Barnett.
Sitting on a dais looking meticulous in a checkered suit, gold tie and with a red hue on his face that living at the foothills of the Rockies allows you to maintain some 300 days a year, the Big 12 Coach of the Year opened his news conference at Texas Stadium on Friday with one simple message.
|  | | Gary Barnett has a 19-15 record at Colorado. |
"We're back."
Of course, the last time Colorado was truly "there" was 1990 -- the last time the Buffs won the national championship. Barnett then was a member of the CU coaching staff as an assistant under Bill McCartney.
Not that anyone paid attention, but back in the summer at the Big 12 Media Day, Barnett claimed that his Colorado squad -- coming off a 3-8 campaign -- would "consider this season a failure, and it would be very disappointing," if they didn't win the North division title. That meant beating out Nebraska and Kansas State, among others, which could only be deemed as, well, laughable.
"I believed it," said Barnett, in his third season in Boulder. "I felt it."
That was when he had high hopes for an offense built presumably around the strong arm of quarterback Craig Ochs, go-to receiver John Minardi and a running back named Marcus Houston, whom many preseason magazines listed on their All-something lists after he rushed for 332 yards in only three games as a freshman.
That was when Barnett knew he could count on senior Butkus Award candidate Jashon Sykes to man the defense and be the ball-hawking inside linebacker who would get to Eric Crouch in the regular-season finale at Folsom Field.
Forget about the 62-36 drubbing of Nebraska, the season's biggest upset. What if some Big 12 football savvy soothsayer -- perhaps Barry Switzer? -- had stormed into Big D that summer afternoon and told Barnett that Sykes and Minardi would suffer season-ending injuries before the midseason mark, that Bobby Pesavento would be his quarterback for the final three games of the regular season and that Houston would have a mere 132 yards?
Would he have thought that his squad ever would have been in the conference championship?
"No, No, No," said Barnett. "We played the Nebraska game without Cortlen Johnson (one carry for three yards before a knee sprain), Craig Ochs, Jashon Sykes and John Minardi. I wouldn't have had that much boldness."
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They've done a great job … of changing the philosophies to fit what they want to do and fit their personnel. They've gone to power football. Power running game and zone plays and counter plays, the play-action pass. And it's helped their defense and their kicking game. So they've done a tremendous job of taking the talent they have available and playing to that talent. And I don't think that people have talked about that enough. ” |
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— Texas head coach Mack Brown |
Getting his team to stay together through so many injuries is one of the reasons Barnett has earned so much credit the past few weeks, and is why he would have been a unanimous coach of the year selection in the conference had one writer not turned in his ballot before the Nebraska game (he voted for Frank Solich).
"Gary's done a tremendous job this year," gushed Texas coach Mack Brown on three different occasions during his 25-minute news conference Friday.
Barnett wasn't in the mood for compliments, though. In fact, he seems in awe of his players' accomplishments and unexpected performances.
"I don't think you can credit coaching for that," he said. "I think you have to credit our players for finding a way to respond. Especially our seniors, because some of the guys who've responded, like (receiver) Matt Brunson, whose only year of football is this year. He's not going to play anymore. This is it. He's 27 years old."
Brunson caught 12 balls for 236 yards and three touchdowns (second among receivers) after Minardi's injury pressed him into action.
In addition to the standout play of Pesavento (who has played well enough in three games to earn the starter's role against Texas even with Ochs up to 95 percent physically) and the bruising running attack led by Chris Brown, Bobby Purify and Johnson, Barnett credits players such as cornerback Terrence Wood, who came in against Texas A&M after Roderick Sneed got hurt.
"He hadn't hardly played at all and he came in and had two interceptions," said Barnett. "We've had a season of that sort of thing."
What is most impressive about Barnett and his staff's ability to roll with the punches is how they changed systems based on their talent once key players went down.
"They've done a great job ... of changing the philosophies to fit what they want to do and fit their personnel," said Brown. "They've gone to power football. Power running game and zone plays and counter plays, the play-action pass. And it's helped their defense and their kicking game. So they've done a tremendous job of taking the talent they have available and playing to that talent.
"And I don't think that people have talked about that enough."
Barnett's players have adopted his mentality. Whether it's something hokey, such as carrying a replica of Texas Stadium around with decals of the teams the Buffs have beaten, to believing that reading newspapers in the early part of the season would only do them harm because no one would write anything good about them, it all seems to have worked.
"Coach Barnett has put the model in our head that we are a team of destiny," said Purify, who ripped Nebraska for 154 yards.
Said safety Robbie Robinson: "Coach Barnett made us believe, and told us we should never doubt ourselves. When this team comes to play, we can do whatever we want to do."
Marc Connolly is a senior writer for ABC Sports Online. He can be reached at marc.connolly@abc.com.
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 Colorado's Chris Brown slashes through the defense and goes 36 yards into the end zone (Courtesy:ABC).
avi: 1075 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Colorado's Bobby Purify finds the hole and goes 39 yards for the touchdown (Courtesy:ABC).
avi: 963 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
The Buffaloes' Bobby Pesavento connects with Daniel Graham for six (Courtesy:ABC).
avi: 890 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Watch all six of Chris Brown's touchdowns (Courtesy:ABC).
avi: 936 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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