Colorado Football Earns Measure Of Redemption Against WSU

Colorado 35, Washington State 34

It looked like the season was going to be an absolute abomination for Colorado fans after their 0-3 start in non-conference play. The gimme rivalry loss to Colorado State, the painful home shocker to Sacramento State, the absolute railroading by Fresno State--suddenly 0-12 was very much in play. With so many strong teams coming up in the Pac-12, how would the Buffaloes fare?

It was looking like Washington State would be the most winnable game; the Cougars had looked like the most beatable team along with the Buffs in conference play. But after some encouraging early moments, it looked like Colorado wasn't going to make it happen.

And then the magic. Jon Woods of the Ralphie Report has the details.

At the point the Colorado offense seemed to have had fired all of it's bullets and couldn't get out of it's own way but big plays, a beautiful 70-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Webb to tight end Nick Kasa and an 84-yard touchdown scamper by Tony Jones, got the Buffaloes right back into the game. Washington State kicked off to the Buffaloes after a field goal with 3:18 to go and Colorado took the ball down the field for a final fourth down play on the Cougars four-yard line. Five wide receivers, empty backfield. Jordan Webb runs the quarterback draw up the middle to give Colorado their first win of the 2012 season. To give Colorado a 1-0 record in the Pac-12 South. To give Colorado a return to respectability and Buffaloes fans everywhere one hell of a Saturday afternoon.

Colorado might be turning a corner. They might not be. But for now, in a season where they were predicted to do less than nothing, the Buffs no longer have to worry about getting blanked this season. They might not end up making a bowl or even winning another football game, but they will avoid the ultimate embarrassment a college football program will endure. And they can start coming together like an actual football team and try and grow and develop with the guys they've got.

That's good enough for Jon Embree and the Buffs today. That's good enough for Buff Nation.

SB Nation snippet

DavidAGerhardt, Ralphie Report:

How about that second half by our Buffs? We outscored Mike Leach and his Cougars 28-13, and 21-6 in the 4th quarter. We payed them back for their comeback victory last season in Boulder. I remember thinking in the middle of the 4th, that it felt eerily similar, but with the roles reversed. This was an exciting game (at least in the second half), and one that was actually fun to watch. We still have problems all over the field, but we looked better this week than we have at any point yet this year. We have a long way to go before we can hope to muster up any other wins in 2012, but this was a definite step in the right direction.