BOULDER – After four years of hard work and determination, the seniors of the Colorado Buffaloes football team have been able to turn the program around. Saturday night against the Utah Utes was their night to be honored and the seniors and their efforts came to a culmination in spectacular fashion.
“I can’t say enough about these seniors,” head coach Mike MacIntyre said after the game. “They’re my heroes, that’s the best way to say it. Some of these guys should be CU legends, that’s how much they’ve done for the CU football program.”
The best player from this senior class over the past four years has undoubtedly been cornerback Chidobe Awuzie. He got things rolling for the Buffs after a huge sack on third down during the first drive of the game. He also had a crucial fumble recovery when Utah was in the red zone. Awuzie ended the game recording a total of eight solo tackles.
The defensive line is led by seniors Josh Tupou, Jordan Carrell and Samson Kafovalu and they were able to put together one of their better games of the season. Tupou, Carrell and Kafovalu finished the game with a combined ten tackles including two for loss. They continuously were able to clog up the middle and make star Utah running back Joe Williams run on the outside.
Tedric Thompson, like we have seen most of this year, continued to make plays in Colorado’s secondary. He, somehow, was able to snag a hail mary out of the air at the end of the second half and then had an incredible interception with ten minutes left in the fourth quarter. He is now leading the Pac-12 in interceptions with seven. He also tied Colorado’s single-season mark.
The biggest factor in the game against the Utes was senior cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon. the senior was consistently put on an island to cover the Utes receivers one-on-one and play after play he was able to shut them down. Witherspoon finished with a total of four pass break-ups.
Senior Kenneth Olugbode was able to make the play of the game with a fumble recovery for a touchdown with 10:56 left in the 4th quarter.
The offense struggled to get anything going really all game but Sefo Liufau deserves all of the praise in the world on a senior night. Liufau’s final stat line was 23-of-44 for 270 yards and he also added 81 yards on the ground.
This football team is good because of the experience and leadership they have with the seniors. And on their night, the seniors were able to prove that once again — They will be carrying that experience and leadership all the way to the Pac-12 Championship.
