2020 in Review: Jarek Broussard runs for 300 yards as Colorado beats Arizona

BOULDER — Week 5 was the “prove-it” game for Colorado.

The Buffs were sitting on a 3-0 record with two games to play, but not everybody was sold on CU. USC and Arizona State, the two favorites in the Pac-12 South had both canceled on Colorado because of Covid-19 outbreaks, leaving the Buffs with a couple of wins over middle-of-the-road conference opponents and the Mountain West Conference’s San Diego State. A 4-0 start would further validate Colorado’s success.

It would also bring one step closer to a Pac-12 Championship Game appearance.

With games against Arizona and Utah standing between CU and a perfect record the Buffs were in good position, but didn’t control their own destiny. The aforementioned cancellations meant that a USC team with a perfect record would have the edge over a perfect CU team, thanks to an additional conference win. Still, Colorado was closing in on its second Pac-12 title game since joining the conference.

Arizona, on the other hand, was struggling. Its starting quarterback went down the previous week and the Wildcats’ backup was set to start for the first time in his career. Plus, Arizona hadn’t won a game in over a year. And that win was in Boulder, continuing a three-game winning streak against the Buffs.

Colorado pulled out a 24-13 win over the Wildcats in Tucson. It wasn’t without a few hiccups though, which included giving up 13 straight points to start the game.

Here’s what went down:

Jarek goes for 300

Coming into this game, Jarek Broussard was the story of the season. He’d put up 432 yards in the first three games of the season, but none of them compared to what he did to the Wildcats.

Broussard ran for 301 yards in Tucson.

301.

And he did it on 25 carries, his fewest of the season.

That’s 12 yards per carry. And he averaged over 10 yards after contact per carry.

The Arizona game was the highlight of Broussard’s Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year campaign and, of course, earned him conference player of the week honors. It was also the second-most rushing yards in one game in CU history.

As surprising as this may sound, it wasn’t always easy though.

Of Broussard’s 301 yards, 235 came on four carries. On the other 21 carries, there were plenty of stuffs. Seven different Wildcats registered tackles for loss in the run game. Colorado’s run game was incredibly boom-or-bust, but there were more than enough booms to win the game.

Broussard’s performance almost felt like revenge for the previous three seasons, when former Arizona quarterback Khalil Tate put up monster numbers to beat Colorado. In his first career start, Tate ran for 327 yards in Boulder, then he threw for 250 the next season and then he threw four 404 in 2019.

Sorry for bringing up the bad memories, but there’s now a four-year streak of an otherworldly individual performance deciding the winner in this series.

The defense is leaky

Over and over in 2019, Colorado’s defense would put together a great performance, except for a few big plays that would often lose the team the game. For the first time in 2020, we saw something similar from the defense against Arizona.

For the most part Colorado’s defense was fast and mean. The front seven was flying around and making plays in the backfield. There were tackles for loss, sacks and big hits. But there were just a few too many runs where the back got loose.

Will Plummer, the quarterback, had runs of 17 and 16 yards. Gary Brightwell, the starting running back, had multiple runs over 25 yards. His backup, Michael Wiley, had runs of 29, 33 and 45 yards on just seven attempts. Overall, Arizona averaged 7.5 yards per attempt.

One reason for the missteps could have been the absence of starting linebacker Akil Jones. While Jones wasn’t one of Colorado’s impact players, he was one of the cogs in one of the top run-stuffing defense in the conference. Jon Van Diest and Quinn Perry split his reps.

For the most part though, Colorado’s defense was outstanding.

Nine different Buffaloes registered pressures on the opposing quarterback, with Carson Wells, Terrance Lang and Isaiah Lewis leading the way. All three earned spots in the sack column, as did Nate Landman and Mustafa Johnson. Plummer threw for 154 yards and an interception with 19 completions on 32 attempts.

Colorado also registered 12 tackles for loss and held the Wildcats to 3-of-16 on third- and fourth-down conversion attempts.

Sam struggles… but makes some key plays

Look at Sam Noyer’s passing stat line and you’d rightfully be disappointed; he completed 12 of 19 passes for 92 yards with two interceptions.

But even though the Buffs’ passing game felt non-existant, Noyer still contributed some big plays, including a 54-yard run that set up a touchdown, a crucial 3rd & 4 run where he broke multiple tackles, and a  short touchdown run.

While Noyer probably grades out to a net negative, it’s hard to say definitively when he also came through in the clutch.

After falling behind 13-0 to start the game, Colorado rattled off back-to-back touchdown drives in the final five minutes of the first half to take a one-point lead. Noyer didn’t complete a pass on either drive.

After receiving the second-half kickoff, Noyer threw an interception on the second play of the series.

After a pair of punts on the next two possessions, Colorado got the ball back at midfield early in the fourth quarter. In three rushing attempts, the Buffs managed three total yards, but a screen pass to Dimitri Stanley went for 32 yards, getting the Buffs into the red zone. But Noyer threw another interception. It was similar to the first one, where Noyer either didn’t see the linebacker sitting underneath or thought the ball would get by him. But, again, Anthony Pandy picked it off.

This led to the infamous yelling match between Noyer and Karl Dorrell on the sideline.

In total, Noyer completed one pass on the four drives that resulted in points for Colorado, combined.

But where would the Buffs have been without him?