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November 12th – at Arizona No. 16 Colorado 49, Arizona 24
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Colorado ran its record to 8-2 with a harder-than-it-looked 49-24 victory on the road against Arizona. The Buffs were out-gained by the Wildcats, 412 yards to 388, but costly penalties (13 for 138 yards) and three missed field goals kept the Wildcats from making it a game.
The Colorado offense did produce a 100-yard rusher (Phillip Lindsay, 25 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns), and a 100-yard receiver (Shay Fields, six catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns), but the Buff offense seemed out of sync for much of the evening. Sefo Liufau had his first three-touchdown pass since the Michigan game, finishing with 19-of-27 passing for 213 yards.
The Colorado defense struggled at times as well. The Buffs came into the game surrendering only 117.6 yards per game rushing (17th in the nation), but gave up 186 yards rushing to the Wildcats in the first half alone (and 262 yards for the game). The 412 total yards surrendered were over 100 yards over the 296.9 yards per game the Buffs had posted in the first nine games of the season.
The victory gave the Buffs an 8-2 overall record, 6-1 in Pac-12 play. The eight wins represented the highest total since 2004, with the team’s first four game winning streak the longest since 2002.
“It was a good win for us”, said Mike MacIntyre. “Rich Rod(riguez) does a heck of a job and they’ve beat us three years in a row now and we finally got them. The last time we were here, we got beat pretty good, so I am excited about what we have done and we are going to get some In-n-Out Burger after this.”
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On the opening kickoff, which went for a touchback, Arizona was called for a personal foul … setting the tone for the rest of the game. The Wildcats’ first possession, after a holding call, quickly stalled, giving the Colorado offense its first opportunity.
The Buffs then pieced together a 16-play, 81-yard drive to take the lead. The Buffs converted four third down conversions on the drive … a five-yard pass from Sefo Liufau to Jay MacIntyre on third-and-four; a 16-yard pass from Liufau to Devin Ross on third-and-six; a Liufau run for seven yards on third-and-one; and a Liufau run for four yards on third-and-two.
The final Liufau run gave the Buffs a first-and-goal at the one, with Phillip Lindsay taking it in from there. The methodical drive took over five minutes off the clock, giving CU a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Instead of laying down, however, the 2-7 Wildcats responded. The Arizona offense launched an 11-play drive of their own, but the drive stalled when the Wildcats were called for a leg whip at the Buff 20-yard line, pushing the ball back 15 yards. Arizona kicker Josh Pollack was called upon three plays later for a 44-yard field goal attempt, but Pollack hooked the attempt, keeping it a 7-0 game.
After a Colorado punt, Arizona put together its first scoring drive of the half. A 20-yard run by quarterback Brandon Dawkins was quickly followed by a 50-yard completion from Brandon Dawkins to wide receiver Shun Brown. The eight-play, 85-yard drive was culminated by three-yard touchdown run by Samajie Grant, tying the score at 7-7 early in the second quarter.
The game didn’t remain tied for long.
On the third play of CU’s ensuing drive, Sefo Liufau hit Shay Fields for a 47-yard gain down to the Arizona four yard line. Phillip Lindsay scored on the next play, and, after just 53 seconds of game clock, the Buffs were back in the lead, at 14-7.
Presented with a second opportunity to fold, the Wildcats instead responded with another long drive. A 45-yard run by Samajie Grant was the highlight of a 69-yard effort. The Arizona offense, though, ranked 112th in the nation in red zone offense, stalled inside the CU ten yard line. Pollack connected this time, from 23 yards out, to make it a 14-10 game midway through the second quarter.
On CU’s next drive, a 22-yard run by Phillip Lindsay put the Buffs inside Wildcat territory. The drive appeared to come to an end on a completion from Liufau to Bryce Bobo for no gain on third-and-six at the Arizona 31 yards line … but … the Wildcats were called for a late hit on the play, keeping the drive alive. Two plays later, Liufau hit Shay Fields for a 15-yard touchdown. With 5:45 to play before the break, the Buffs had their first two-score lead, at 21-10.
When the Buff defense forced a fumble on Arizona’s next possession (fumble forced by Ryan Moeller, recovered by Rick Gamboa), the opportunity for the Buffs to make the game into a rout again presented itself. Instead, the Buff offense went three-and-out.
The Wildcat offense responded with a three-and-out of its own, and, this time, the Colorado offense took advantage. On the fourth play of the CU drive, Sefo Liufau hit Jay MacIntyre for a 40-yard touchdown. MacIntyre’s first career score finally gave the Buffs some breathing room, at 28-10, with less than 90 seconds before the break.
Instead of folding, the Arizona offense put together yet another drive. A 20-yard run by Brandon Dawkins put the ball at the CU 17-yard line with 44 seconds still left on the clock. There, the Buff defense stiffened, with Dawkins called for intentional grounding on third-and-10. The resulting 16-yard loss pushed the ball back to the 33-yard line, with kicker Josh Pollack missing a 50-yarder to end the threat.
Halftime score: No. 16 Colorado 28, Arizona 10
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The Buffs had a three-score lead at the break, but were far from comfortable. Arizona had out-gained Colorado, 271 yards to 228, and the Buff defense, giving up 117.6 rushing yards per game coming into the contest, had surrendered 186 yards in the first half. If not for nine penalties (for 87 yards) and two missed field goals, it would have been a game.
The Wildcats looked primed to make it interesting as the third quarter opened.
After forcing a quick three-and-out from the Colorado offense, Arizona launched a methodical 14-play drive. Once again the Wildcats made into the Buff red zone … and once again came up empty.
On third-and-three at the CU 18, quarterback Brandon Dawkins was sacked by linebacker Jimmie Gilbert. The loss of nine yards brought Josh Pollack in for a 44-yard attempt. Pollack’s third miss of the night, though, left the Wildcats with nothing other than more an additional accumulation of yards on the stats sheet.
On CU’s second drive of the third quarter, the offense clicked. Aided by a pass interference penalty on a third-and-seven, the Buffs put together a seven-play, 73-yard scoring drive. The drive was culminated on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Sefo Liufau to Shay Fields, pushing the lead to 35-10 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
After a quick three-and-out from the Arizona offense, the Buffs looked to put the game away. Three runs by Phillip Lindsay went for 26 yards, setting the Buffs up inside Wildcat territory.
Later, on third-and-six at the Arizona 13, Liufau hit Bryce Bobo for ten yards and a first-and-goal at the three. Two plays later, Sefo Liufau did the honors himself, scoring from two yards out.
Colorado 42, Arizona 10, with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter.
The Arizona players would have been forgiven for giving up with a 32-point deficit and a quarter to play before a mostly empty home stadium. Instead, the Wildcats continued to fight. Anu Solomon came in at quarterback, and sparked the Arizona offense.
It took the Wildcats only seven plays – and only 2:10 of game clock – to score. Samajie Grant scored his second touchdown of the game, this time from three yards out, to make it a 42-17 game early in the fourth quarter.
Instead of back onto the field to restore order, the Colorado offense instead fueled the Arizona fire. On the second play of the drive, a Sefo Liufau pass attempt was tipped, with the ball intercepted by Brandon Rutt at the CU 33-yard line.
Three plays later, Arizona was on the board again.
A 29-yard run by Shun Brown on a reverse gave the Wildcats a first-and-goal at the four. Two plays later, Zach Green took it in from two yards out. Colorado 42, Arizona 24 … with still over 12 minutes remaining.
The Buff offense responded … with a three-and-out, giving the Wildcats new life.
The Arizona offense, though, could not move the ball, also going three-and-out.
The Buff offense, with another opportunity to close the door on the contest … went three-and-out once again.
The Wildcat offense, with one last chance to make it a game … went three-and-out again.
The Buffs offense, again, went three-and-out … except that the Wildcats were called for a personal foul after Sefo Liufau was stopped on third down. Given a second chance, the Buffs finally capitalized, with Phillip Lindsay taking it in from 34 yards out. The run put Lindsay over 100 yards for the night, and finally put the game to bed, with CU taking a 49-24 lead with 3:34 to play.
Final score: No. 16 Colorado 49, Arizona 24
The Wildcats had the better of it on the stats sheet, out-gaining the Buffs, 412-388. Several stats were telling, however. Arizona committed 13 penalties for 138 yards, with several penalties keeping alive Colorado scoring drives.
Then there was the red zone.
Arizona had six opportunities in the redzone against Colorado, while the Buffs had only four. The Wildcats, though, scored only three touchdowns in those six chances inside the 20, while the Colorado offense scored touchdowns on all four trips.
“I think it was really important for us as an offense to get back on track, and go out there and put up points on the board, because we’ve really been leaving our defense out to dry these past couple of weeks,” said Sefo Liufau, who had 213 yards passing (19-of-27, three touchdowns and one interception) to go with 56 yards rushing and a fourth touchdown. “And so I think for the most part we did very well in terms of scoring points. There’s a couple things we could have done better, and that all falls back on me. So I’ll look at those mistakes and make sure we’re better for Washington State.”
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… Game Notes …
— Sefo Liufau made his 36th career start at quarterback for the Buffs, another CU record for the senior quarterback (his 82nd). Liufau eclipsed the old record of 35, set by Darian Hagan;
— The Buffs forced one turnover against the Wildcats, extending the nation’s best streak to 23 straight games;
— Jay MacIntyre posted his first career touchdown with his 40-yard reception in the second quarter;
— Phillip Lindsay had 119 yards rushing on 25 carries, with three touchdowns. His 119 yards gave him 937 for the season, edging him closer to becoming the first 1,000-yard rusher for the Buffs since Rodney Stewart in 2010. With 1,981 career rushing yards, Lindsay moved to within 19 yards of becoming CU’s 20th player with over 2,000 career rushing yards;
— The loss dropped Arizona to 2-8, 0-7 in Pac-12 play. The Buffs improved to 8-2 against the Wildcats in games played in Tucson, with a 14-5 overall lead in the series.
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Stuart
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November 12th – at Arizona No. 16 Colorado 49, Arizona 24
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Colorado ran its record to 8-2 with a harder-than-it-looked 49-24 victory on the road against Arizona. The Buffs were out-gained by the Wildcats, 412 yards to 388, but costly penalties (13 for 138 yards) and three missed field goals kept the Wildcats from making it a game.
The Colorado offense did produce a 100-yard rusher (Phillip Lindsay, 25 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns), and a 100-yard receiver (Shay Fields, six catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns), but the Buff offense seemed out of sync for much of the evening. Sefo Liufau had his first three-touchdown pass since the Michigan game, finishing with 19-of-27 passing for 213 yards.
The Colorado defense struggled at times as well. The Buffs came into the game surrendering only 117.6 yards per game rushing (17th in the nation), but gave up 186 yards rushing to the Wildcats in the first half alone (and 262 yards for the game). The 412 total yards surrendered were over 100 yards over the 296.9 yards per game the Buffs had posted in the first nine games of the season.
The victory gave the Buffs an 8-2 overall record, 6-1 in Pac-12 play. The eight wins represented the highest total since 2004, with the team’s first four game winning streak the longest since 2002.
“It was a good win for us”, said Mike MacIntyre. “Rich Rod(riguez) does a heck of a job and they’ve beat us three years in a row now and we finally got them. The last time we were here, we got beat pretty good, so I am excited about what we have done and we are going to get some In-n-Out Burger after this.”
—
On the opening kickoff, which went for a touchback, Arizona was called for a personal foul … setting the tone for the rest of the game. The Wildcats’ first possession, after a holding call, quickly stalled, giving the Colorado offense its first opportunity.
The Buffs then pieced together a 16-play, 81-yard drive to take the lead. The Buffs converted four third down conversions on the drive … a five-yard pass from Sefo Liufau to Jay MacIntyre on third-and-four; a 16-yard pass from Liufau to Devin Ross on third-and-six; a Liufau run for seven yards on third-and-one; and a Liufau run for four yards on third-and-two.
The final Liufau run gave the Buffs a first-and-goal at the one, with Phillip Lindsay taking it in from there. The methodical drive took over five minutes off the clock, giving CU a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
Instead of laying down, however, the 2-7 Wildcats responded. The Arizona offense launched an 11-play drive of their own, but the drive stalled when the Wildcats were called for a leg whip at the Buff 20-yard line, pushing the ball back 15 yards. Arizona kicker Josh Pollack was called upon three plays later for a 44-yard field goal attempt, but Pollack hooked the attempt, keeping it a 7-0 game.
After a Colorado punt, Arizona put together its first scoring drive of the half. A 20-yard run by quarterback Brandon Dawkins was quickly followed by a 50-yard completion from Brandon Dawkins to wide receiver Shun Brown. The eight-play, 85-yard drive was culminated by three-yard touchdown run by Samajie Grant, tying the score at 7-7 early in the second quarter.
The game didn’t remain tied for long.
On the third play of CU’s ensuing drive, Sefo Liufau hit Shay Fields for a 47-yard gain down to the Arizona four yard line. Phillip Lindsay scored on the next play, and, after just 53 seconds of game clock, the Buffs were back in the lead, at 14-7.
Presented with a second opportunity to fold, the Wildcats instead responded with another long drive. A 45-yard run by Samajie Grant was the highlight of a 69-yard effort. The Arizona offense, though, ranked 112th in the nation in red zone offense, stalled inside the CU ten yard line. Pollack connected this time, from 23 yards out, to make it a 14-10 game midway through the second quarter.
On CU’s next drive, a 22-yard run by Phillip Lindsay put the Buffs inside Wildcat territory. The drive appeared to come to an end on a completion from Liufau to Bryce Bobo for no gain on third-and-six at the Arizona 31 yards line … but … the Wildcats were called for a late hit on the play, keeping the drive alive. Two plays later, Liufau hit Shay Fields for a 15-yard touchdown. With 5:45 to play before the break, the Buffs had their first two-score lead, at 21-10.
When the Buff defense forced a fumble on Arizona’s next possession (fumble forced by Ryan Moeller, recovered by Rick Gamboa), the opportunity for the Buffs to make the game into a rout again presented itself. Instead, the Buff offense went three-and-out.
The Wildcat offense responded with a three-and-out of its own, and, this time, the Colorado offense took advantage. On the fourth play of the CU drive, Sefo Liufau hit Jay MacIntyre for a 40-yard touchdown. MacIntyre’s first career score finally gave the Buffs some breathing room, at 28-10, with less than 90 seconds before the break.
Instead of folding, the Arizona offense put together yet another drive. A 20-yard run by Brandon Dawkins put the ball at the CU 17-yard line with 44 seconds still left on the clock. There, the Buff defense stiffened, with Dawkins called for intentional grounding on third-and-10. The resulting 16-yard loss pushed the ball back to the 33-yard line, with kicker Josh Pollack missing a 50-yarder to end the threat.
Halftime score: No. 16 Colorado 28, Arizona 10
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The Buffs had a three-score lead at the break, but were far from comfortable. Arizona had out-gained Colorado, 271 yards to 228, and the Buff defense, giving up 117.6 rushing yards per game coming into the contest, had surrendered 186 yards in the first half. If not for nine penalties (for 87 yards) and two missed field goals, it would have been a game.
The Wildcats looked primed to make it interesting as the third quarter opened.
After forcing a quick three-and-out from the Colorado offense, Arizona launched a methodical 14-play drive. Once again the Wildcats made into the Buff red zone … and once again came up empty.
On third-and-three at the CU 18, quarterback Brandon Dawkins was sacked by linebacker Jimmie Gilbert. The loss of nine yards brought Josh Pollack in for a 44-yard attempt. Pollack’s third miss of the night, though, left the Wildcats with nothing other than more an additional accumulation of yards on the stats sheet.
On CU’s second drive of the third quarter, the offense clicked. Aided by a pass interference penalty on a third-and-seven, the Buffs put together a seven-play, 73-yard scoring drive. The drive was culminated on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Sefo Liufau to Shay Fields, pushing the lead to 35-10 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.
After a quick three-and-out from the Arizona offense, the Buffs looked to put the game away. Three runs by Phillip Lindsay went for 26 yards, setting the Buffs up inside Wildcat territory.
Later, on third-and-six at the Arizona 13, Liufau hit Bryce Bobo for ten yards and a first-and-goal at the three. Two plays later, Sefo Liufau did the honors himself, scoring from two yards out.
Colorado 42, Arizona 10, with less than a minute remaining in the third quarter.
The Arizona players would have been forgiven for giving up with a 32-point deficit and a quarter to play before a mostly empty home stadium. Instead, the Wildcats continued to fight. Anu Solomon came in at quarterback, and sparked the Arizona offense.
It took the Wildcats only seven plays – and only 2:10 of game clock – to score. Samajie Grant scored his second touchdown of the game, this time from three yards out, to make it a 42-17 game early in the fourth quarter.
Instead of back onto the field to restore order, the Colorado offense instead fueled the Arizona fire. On the second play of the drive, a Sefo Liufau pass attempt was tipped, with the ball intercepted by Brandon Rutt at the CU 33-yard line.
Three plays later, Arizona was on the board again.
A 29-yard run by Shun Brown on a reverse gave the Wildcats a first-and-goal at the four. Two plays later, Zach Green took it in from two yards out. Colorado 42, Arizona 24 … with still over 12 minutes remaining.
The Buff offense responded … with a three-and-out, giving the Wildcats new life.
The Arizona offense, though, could not move the ball, also going three-and-out.
The Buff offense, with another opportunity to close the door on the contest … went three-and-out once again.
The Wildcat offense, with one last chance to make it a game … went three-and-out again.
The Buffs offense, again, went three-and-out … except that the Wildcats were called for a personal foul after Sefo Liufau was stopped on third down. Given a second chance, the Buffs finally capitalized, with Phillip Lindsay taking it in from 34 yards out. The run put Lindsay over 100 yards for the night, and finally put the game to bed, with CU taking a 49-24 lead with 3:34 to play.
Final score: No. 16 Colorado 49, Arizona 24
The Wildcats had the better of it on the stats sheet, out-gaining the Buffs, 412-388. Several stats were telling, however. Arizona committed 13 penalties for 138 yards, with several penalties keeping alive Colorado scoring drives.
Then there was the red zone.
Arizona had six opportunities in the redzone against Colorado, while the Buffs had only four. The Wildcats, though, scored only three touchdowns in those six chances inside the 20, while the Colorado offense scored touchdowns on all four trips.
“I think it was really important for us as an offense to get back on track, and go out there and put up points on the board, because we’ve really been leaving our defense out to dry these past couple of weeks,” said Sefo Liufau, who had 213 yards passing (19-of-27, three touchdowns and one interception) to go with 56 yards rushing and a fourth touchdown. “And so I think for the most part we did very well in terms of scoring points. There’s a couple things we could have done better, and that all falls back on me. So I’ll look at those mistakes and make sure we’re better for Washington State.”
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… Game Notes …
— Sefo Liufau made his 36th career start at quarterback for the Buffs, another CU record for the senior quarterback (his 82nd). Liufau eclipsed the old record of 35, set by Darian Hagan;
— The Buffs forced one turnover against the Wildcats, extending the nation’s best streak to 23 straight games;
— Jay MacIntyre posted his first career touchdown with his 40-yard reception in the second quarter;
— Phillip Lindsay had 119 yards rushing on 25 carries, with three touchdowns. His 119 yards gave him 937 for the season, edging him closer to becoming the first 1,000-yard rusher for the Buffs since Rodney Stewart in 2010. With 1,981 career rushing yards, Lindsay moved to within 19 yards of becoming CU’s 20th player with over 2,000 career rushing yards;
— The loss dropped Arizona to 2-8, 0-7 in Pac-12 play. The Buffs improved to 8-2 against the Wildcats in games played in Tucson, with a 14-5 overall lead in the series.
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Stuart
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