Colorado's slide is real, and it's ugly. During the 5-game skid the Buffaloes scored 7 at Northwestern, 13 at Baylor and 7 at home against Texas Tech. They did play Utah to a 27-24 finish in Boulder, and they held a 24-20 lead over Oklahoma State in the first half last week. Then they didn't score again while the Cowboys put up 37 straight in a 57-24 loss. Colorado can hang around for a half. Lately it hasn't been able to play a full 60 minutes.
Kansas State has looked like 2 different teams depending on the opponent. The Wildcats scored 35 on Kansas and 31 on Tulane, both at home. They also gave up 35 to Houston in Manhattan and lost one-score and two-score games on the road at Cincinnati and Arizona State. At 4-3 overall but 1-3 in the Big 12, this is a team that needs to stack wins to keep bowl hopes simple. A winless-in-conference Colorado team at home is the kind of game it can't drop.
The early forecast for Boulder has temperatures in the mid-60s and clear skies, with wind gusting into the teens. That's worth watching if Kansas State ends up with a backup quarterback who would rather hand it off than throw into the wind. For Colorado, the job is simple. The defense that gave up 57 has to stop bleeding, and the offense has to find something after halftime. If Johnson plays, Kansas State has the steadier quarterback and the better recent body of work. If he doesn't, this is a lot closer to even than either record suggests.