For Buffs fans long starved to watch meaningful football beyond the middle of September, this was more like it.

Consider Colorado’s home slate so far this season, prior to a key 34-23 win in a Big 12 separation game against Cincinnati on a raucous Saturday night at Folsom Field.

North Dakota State. Whew! Business handled, but a grocery list of issues to address.

Baylor. Whew again! Just enough plays made and a huge prayer answered. Survive and advance.

Kansas State. Familiar problems resurface. Opportunity squandered.

And then came Cincinnati. The Buffs asserted their will and dictated the tempo. And now, for just the second time in the past 16 full seasons of Colorado football, the Buffaloes are going bowling.

The scene set before another sold-out crowd at Folsom wasn’t one of complete dominance. After owning the first half, the Buffs let things get uncomfortably close after halftime before Alejandro Mata’s late 47-yard field goal closed the door on the Bearcats. My BuffZone colleague Brian Howell summed that kick up best, offering it as a microcosm of these Buffs — not perfect, but more than capable of getting the job done.

It was just two years ago the Buffs finished 1-11 — and a 1-11 that somehow was even worse than the record showed. Enter Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders and the mad experiment of turning a moribund college football program into a pro-style operation. Sure, there were misfires along the way. Ingredients of the experiment that needed to be altered, tweaked, even replaced. And, as the Buffs themselves said, the final results are still pending.

Yet to be where the Buffs are, 6-2 overall and looking better every week while gaining traction in the Big 12 race, less than 23 months after Sanders was hired, is an achievement that deserves props. Much of the talk in the immediate wake of Saturday’s win was whether Shedeur Sanders deserves as much Heisman hopeful recognition as Travis Hunter. It’s a fun debate. But how about arguments for Coach Prime for coach of the year? In the topsy-turvy season unfolding in the Big 12 he’s probably a long shot candidate in his own conference (behind Iowa State’s Matt Campbell and BYU’s Kalani Sitake). But that doesn’t diminish the remarkable turnaround coach Sanders has overseen in Boulder.

The fact it was an understated celebration of the rare-in-town bowl eligibility should tell Buff Nation all it needs to know about the sudden upward trajectory of the program. CU isn’t quite in charge of its own destiny in terms of a run toward the Big 12 title game. The Buffs don’t own the tie-breaker against the only other one-loss team in league play, Kansas State. And conference unbeatens BYU (5-0) and Iowa State (4-0) don’t play each other, but will in the title game if they win out.

Still, that CU is even in the conversation, with a pair of legitimate Heisman candidates who will hear their names called quickly in the NFL draft, is a sight to behold. Two Novembers ago, the Buffs lost games by scores of 49-10, 55-17, 54-7 and 63-21. Heck, even last November featured a 56-14 dud at Washington State.

When the Buffs once again play in November, all the biggest prizes of college football will be on the table, from the Heisman to a conference crown. If the latter happens, a playoff push could even be in the cards.

I can almost hear Jim Mora crying, “The playoffs?” But this is a Buffs bunch getting better every week. They have the best quarterback and the best individual talent in the game. On most teams that would be the same player. It’s not in Boulder. The Buffs also have a favorable schedule ahead, especially if they can keep the party going at Texas Tech on the other side of the bye.

Much like a desperation Hail Mary against Baylor with no time on the clock, suddenly nothing seems impossible.