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The Buffs are going bowling!!!
For the third time in 17 years and the first time since 2020, your Colorado Buffaloes are going bowling! With CU’s 34-23 win over the Cincinnati Bearcats, the Buffs move to a record of 6-2 (4-1 in Big 12 play) to reach bowl eligibility in only 8 games. What happened late Saturday night at Folsom Field to get Colorado over the hump? We’ll break it down for you:
Quarter 1:
Early on in this game, it was all Buffs. After forcing a three and out, it took Colorado no time to get on the board. First, a big play broke open and Jimmy Horn Jr. took the ball to the house, but a taunting call after Horn flashed the peace sign while strolling into the endzone would bring the ball back and force the Buffs to score a second time. A few players later, a crossing route in the back of the endzone to Travis Hunter would put the Buffs on the board with seven.
On Cincinnati’s second drive, they found the weakness of the Buffs' defense, which has consistently been their overreliance on man coverage. The Bearcats utilized motion to create confusion and found guys on man coverage beaters all the way down the field. The Buffs realized they needed to throw in some zone coverage looks in this game to keep this Cincinnati passing attack honest.
Colorado’s second drive was just as productive as the first. They leaned heavily on the run game and even incorporated some delayed RPO reads that we’ve seen around the nation, but not from these Buffs yet. Yards came in bunches and everything seemed to work as Colorado marched down the field. The drive ended with an improvised scramble from Shedeur that put the Buffs up 14-7 to end the quarter.
Quarter 2:
Cincinnati’s first drive of the quarter was a slow methodical drive, which ended up being 10 plays and resulted in a touchdown. Cincinnati seems determined to stick to the ground game, despite their limited success to that point. Preston Hodge shut down the attack a big-time interception, but it was nullified on a ticky-tack pass interference call. Cincinnati would go on to score a 13-yard rushing touchdown on the next play.
Colorado followed that up with a 13-play drive, that resulted in just a field goal and 6 minutes of clock chewed. Buffs fans would argue that this drive should’ve resulted in a touchdown after Will Sheppard had a defender beat but got held in the back of the end zone. This was a brutal no-call, especially after Cincinnati’s last drive resulted in a touchdown right after they benefited from a questionable pass interference call on Preston Hodge’s pick.
Colorado’s next drive would start in plus territory after a big stand and a turnover on downs forced by CU’s defense. With the game nearing halftime, it seemed like a sure field goal situation, until Travis Hunter blew by his man and caught a wide-open touchdown to put the Buffs up 24-14 going into the half.
Quarter 3:
The third quarter was a little bit slower than the rest of this game, with only seven points being scored in total. We saw four punts this quarter, two from each team and after Colorado moved out to a 17-point lead, they seemed to be playing not to lose.
The Buffaloes ripped off a touchdown drive this quarter that was capped off by an Isaiah Augustave touchdown. The Buffaloes went into the fourth quarter with a 17-point lead, with the score being 31-14.
Quarter 4:
The Bearcats made a valiant effort to come back in the fourth quarter, after a very slow third quarter. They were able to score a field goal on their first drive and brought the game within a score on their very next drive.
With the Buffs playing not to lose, it came as no surprise that they only scored three points in the fourth quarter. These three points came from a 47-yard kick from Alejandro Mata, which extended the lead to 11 points and sealed the deal with about two minutes left.
Key Takeaways:
- There won’t be any opponents the rest of the year that will be able to keep up with Colorado’s high-scoring offense. Barring any injuries, there is a real possibility for the Buffs to win out and have a shot at the Big 12 conference championship game.
- This defense is improving every week and looks good even without their best pass rusher in Dayon Hayes. The secondary looks as solid in coverage as they ever have, and the run defense has stepped up since their miserable performance against Kansas State two weeks ago. With this kind of continuity, this defense will be able to compete against anybody in the Big 12.
- Travis Hunter should still be in the Heisman conversation, even after missing the last two weeks. His two touchdowns on the day and multiple pass breakups will keep Travis in the conversation as he continues to look like the best player in the nation.
Outlook for the Buffs:
With Colorado moving to 6-2 and 4-1 in the conference, they have a real shot of being ranked after the bye next week. The Buffs moved to fourth in the Big 12 with this win and will look forward to their next conference match-up against Texas Tech in Lubbock on November 9th. Look for the Big 12 to announce this game’s time slot on Monday, and be sure to enjoy the bye week Buffs fans!
by Jacob.Thompson
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