One of my writers at the CU Independent, Drew Sharek, was on hand in Palo Alto for the game. Here's his game report from yesterday.
After a dominating win against Arizona State at Folsom Field last week, the Colorado Buffaloes came into the Golden State with a mindset to finally clinch their first bowl game since 2007.
In order to achieve that, they needed to get past the defending Pac-12 Conference champions, the Stanford Cardinal.
It was a tight game to say the least, but the Buffaloes (6-2,4-1 Pac-12) defeated the Cardinal (4-3,2-3 Pac-12), 10-5.
In the first half, Liufau and the Colorado offense played with their trademarked fast and furious mentality, but were only able to get seven points through 30 minutes of football. It’s the second lowest total amount of points through one half for the Buffs this season, the lowest being zero against USC.
But the finger shouldn’t be pointed at Liufau or Lindsay, rather toward the sloppy field goal kicking.
Chris Graham, Colorado’s junior third-string place kicker, needed to take charge due to Davis Price’s illness. And he couldn’t handle the responsibility to the fullest.
Graham would go on to miss two field goals, one from 42 yards, and the other from a whimsical 28 yards. After missing the two attempts, head coach Mike MacIntyre decided to put in punter Alex Kinney, but that still didn’t get the job done as he missed a 31-yard attempt which would have put the Buffaloes up by four points in the third quarter.
“We’re not gonna play perfect,” mentioned Coach MacIntyre.“We’re gonna make some mistakes, we’ve got to kick our field goals better no doubt about that.”
Anything after that could have happened. But the real hero today was the Colorado defense.
“The defense, the way they played was phenomenal,” remarked MacIntyre. “Our corners like I’ve said, they’re ballers, they’ve always been.”
The Buffs’ defensive 11 held Stanford to three points, the lowest amount of points they’ve given up this season. Before Kinney’s missed field goal, Tedric Thompson extended Colorado’s unbelievable streak of 21 straight games with a forced turnover via an interception.
Later in the second half, Colorado would go on to force a turnover on downs. Thompson recorded his second pick of the game, and sophomore cornerback Isaiah Oliver’s recorded his first career interception, which was a game-saver.
The other obstacle that the Buffaloes had to face today was the Colorado-native, Heisman runner-up, tailback that was Christian McCaffrey.
But he was truly overshadowed by junior tailback Phillip Lindsay. The Aurora native was electric. He carved up the Cardinal defense for 131 yards on 12 carries. Lindsay did not play much in the second half and was reported to have sprained an ankle.
McCaffery finished with 92 yards on 21 carries, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. But thanks to the strong defensive effort from the Buffaloes, he did not find the endzone.
“Christian made us miss some tackles,” said MacIntyre. “Which we knew we would, but we kept rallying to him, and that was impressive.”
One of the key “ralliers” was Kenneth Olugbode, the senior linebacker who led the team with 11 tackles for the day was a main component in preventing McCaffery from making some big plays.
“He’s got all that hype,” mentioned Olugbode. “He’s got all the press and everything that are behind him, supporting him. It’s just awesome to play someone like that.”
Senior quarterback Sefo Liufau was a bit off in Saturday’s game. He made some ugly passes and overthrew a few targets. He finished his lackluster day with 135 passing yards and a touchdown to junior wideout Shay Fields, Jr. Liufau went 12-of-25 on the day.
Fields, Jr. was the Buffs’ leading receiver on the day. He finished with 51 receiving yards on four catches to go along with his touchdown.
With this win, the Buffaloes have obviously come a long way since their last bowl appearance in 2007.
“It’s the resiliency of our kids and the coaching staff,” said MacIntyre. “We’ve been through fire, we’ve rose from the ashes, so when you’ve done that and you’ve been in those situations and you can taste it and see what you’re doing, we’re not gonna fold anymore.”
But despite Colorado clinching bowl eligibility, the Buffs realize that “The Rise” is far from being accomplished.
“Our kids have one goal in mind, and that’s to win a Pac-12 championship,” said MacIntyre. “This is just one more step that way, it’s exciting to see that.”
Next week, the Buffaloes will have a bye, but Colorado’s next game will take place at Folsom Field against the UCLA Bruins. The game will be aired at 7:00 pm. MST.
Contact CU Independent Sports Staff Writer Drew Sharek an andrew.sharek@colorado.edu
After a dominating win against Arizona State at Folsom Field last week, the Colorado Buffaloes came into the Golden State with a mindset to finally clinch their first bowl game since 2007.
In order to achieve that, they needed to get past the defending Pac-12 Conference champions, the Stanford Cardinal.
It was a tight game to say the least, but the Buffaloes (6-2,4-1 Pac-12) defeated the Cardinal (4-3,2-3 Pac-12), 10-5.
In the first half, Liufau and the Colorado offense played with their trademarked fast and furious mentality, but were only able to get seven points through 30 minutes of football. It’s the second lowest total amount of points through one half for the Buffs this season, the lowest being zero against USC.
But the finger shouldn’t be pointed at Liufau or Lindsay, rather toward the sloppy field goal kicking.
Chris Graham, Colorado’s junior third-string place kicker, needed to take charge due to Davis Price’s illness. And he couldn’t handle the responsibility to the fullest.
Graham would go on to miss two field goals, one from 42 yards, and the other from a whimsical 28 yards. After missing the two attempts, head coach Mike MacIntyre decided to put in punter Alex Kinney, but that still didn’t get the job done as he missed a 31-yard attempt which would have put the Buffaloes up by four points in the third quarter.
“We’re not gonna play perfect,” mentioned Coach MacIntyre.“We’re gonna make some mistakes, we’ve got to kick our field goals better no doubt about that.”
Anything after that could have happened. But the real hero today was the Colorado defense.
“The defense, the way they played was phenomenal,” remarked MacIntyre. “Our corners like I’ve said, they’re ballers, they’ve always been.”
The Buffs’ defensive 11 held Stanford to three points, the lowest amount of points they’ve given up this season. Before Kinney’s missed field goal, Tedric Thompson extended Colorado’s unbelievable streak of 21 straight games with a forced turnover via an interception.
Later in the second half, Colorado would go on to force a turnover on downs. Thompson recorded his second pick of the game, and sophomore cornerback Isaiah Oliver’s recorded his first career interception, which was a game-saver.
The other obstacle that the Buffaloes had to face today was the Colorado-native, Heisman runner-up, tailback that was Christian McCaffrey.
But he was truly overshadowed by junior tailback Phillip Lindsay. The Aurora native was electric. He carved up the Cardinal defense for 131 yards on 12 carries. Lindsay did not play much in the second half and was reported to have sprained an ankle.
McCaffery finished with 92 yards on 21 carries, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. But thanks to the strong defensive effort from the Buffaloes, he did not find the endzone.
“Christian made us miss some tackles,” said MacIntyre. “Which we knew we would, but we kept rallying to him, and that was impressive.”
One of the key “ralliers” was Kenneth Olugbode, the senior linebacker who led the team with 11 tackles for the day was a main component in preventing McCaffery from making some big plays.
“He’s got all that hype,” mentioned Olugbode. “He’s got all the press and everything that are behind him, supporting him. It’s just awesome to play someone like that.”
Senior quarterback Sefo Liufau was a bit off in Saturday’s game. He made some ugly passes and overthrew a few targets. He finished his lackluster day with 135 passing yards and a touchdown to junior wideout Shay Fields, Jr. Liufau went 12-of-25 on the day.
Fields, Jr. was the Buffs’ leading receiver on the day. He finished with 51 receiving yards on four catches to go along with his touchdown.
With this win, the Buffaloes have obviously come a long way since their last bowl appearance in 2007.
“It’s the resiliency of our kids and the coaching staff,” said MacIntyre. “We’ve been through fire, we’ve rose from the ashes, so when you’ve done that and you’ve been in those situations and you can taste it and see what you’re doing, we’re not gonna fold anymore.”
But despite Colorado clinching bowl eligibility, the Buffs realize that “The Rise” is far from being accomplished.
“Our kids have one goal in mind, and that’s to win a Pac-12 championship,” said MacIntyre. “This is just one more step that way, it’s exciting to see that.”
Next week, the Buffaloes will have a bye, but Colorado’s next game will take place at Folsom Field against the UCLA Bruins. The game will be aired at 7:00 pm. MST.
Contact CU Independent Sports Staff Writer Drew Sharek an andrew.sharek@colorado.edu