Buffaloes are Bowling

Outside of Boulder, the C-Unit, and Buff Nation, there were very few people who believed the Colorado Buffaloes would be headed to a bowl game at the end of the 2016 season. Here we are after 8 weeks in the season, and the Buffaloes are going bowling. After an ugly, hard fought 10-5 victory at Stanford on Saturday, Colorado sits at 6-2, and has an inside track to the PAC-12 South title.

Colorado’s offense didn’t look good all day on Saturday, but it didn’t matter, as the defense was stifling. Starting quarterback Sefo Liufau didn’t throw the ball well, going 12/25 for 135 yards. He did throw the lone touchdown pass of the game, a 15-yard strike to Shay Fields in the 2^nd quarter that gave the Buffaloes a 7-3 lead. In a game that showcased Heisman finalist Christian McCaffrey, he was outshined by Colorado running back Phillip Lindsay, who rushed for 131 yards on just 12 carries. Special teams was a serious issue for Colorado, as 3^rd string kicker Chris Graham went 1/3 on field goals, and punter Alex Kinney went 0/1. Starting Kicker Davis Price, who has filled in for the injured Diego Gonzalez didn’t make the trip in hopes of recovering from Mono.

Defensively, Colorado frustrated Stanford all day, only giving up one field goal and 263 total yards. Cardinal quarterback Ryan Burns went 16/29 for 170 yards, but threw 3 interceptions as the Buffaloes secondary played tough man coverage all day long. The biggest defensive play of the day, however, came near the Colorado goal line late in the 4^th quarter. With under 13 minutes to go in the game, and the Buffaloes clinging to a 7-3 lead, Stanford had the ball 1^st and goal at the 4. Burns fumbled the snap, and Kenneth Olugbode recovered, giving Colorado the ball and the momentum back. Later in the fourth, Tedric Thompson intercepted his second pass of the game, took it deep into Stanford territory, and Graham was able to tack on a field goal to give the Buffaloes a 10-3 lead. After giving up an intentional safety, Colorado was able to stop the Cardinal on one final play, and hold on for the 10-5 victory.

Coach McIntyre left his post game interview early to celebrate with the team, as they sang the fight song in front of the Colorado faithful who made the trip to Palo Alto. Afterwards, McIntyre fulfilled his promise, buying the entire team In-N-Out burger before the flight back to Denver. Colorado has tons of momentum, and gets their first bye week since 2014 this upcoming Saturday. The Buffaloes next game is on Thursday, November 3^rd at Folsom Field against the UCLA Bruins.