Buffs bowl a strike, win at Stanford

 

“The Rise” continues. The Colorado Buffaloes will be going to a bowl game for the first time since 2007, securing eligibility on Saturday with a 10-5 win over the Stanford Cardinal. They’ll be ranked next week, they control their own destiny but most importantly the Buffs took a monumental step in rebuilding their program.

Despite massive struggles with the field goal unit today, Colorado was able to hold on while on the road, getting a crucial field goal late and an unbelievable effort from their defense.

A three-and-out for Stanford on the first drive of the game set the tone for what would be a day-long defensive stand by the Buffaloes. The defense was the key to success today, holding Stanford to just a field goal through four quarters.

After a short handful of downs and a punt for Colorado, Stanford drove 66 yards down the field to score their only offensive points of the game, kicking a field goal near the end of the first quarter. It was the only lead that Stanford would hold all day.

On the first drive of the second quarter, the Buffaloes collected 73 yards, scoring the lone touchdown of the game.

Both offenses struggled for the remainder of the second quarter. Tedric Thompson ended the first half with a huge play, nabbing a pick on Stanford’s QB to take the teams into halftime.

Colorado got the ball to start the third quarter, putting together a drive that resulted in a missed field goal. Those special teams’ issues continued to plague the Buffs for the remainder of the game. An offensive pass interference call on Shay Fields later in the third quarter negated a Bryce Bobo touchdown, and the Buffs’ settled for another field goal, which they missed as well. Punter Alex Kinney missed yet another later in the game.

This gave Stanford the perfect opportunity to come back. They drove 60 yards all the way to the Colorado four. They had a first in goal. They fumbled. A botched snap recovered by Colorado’s Kenneth Olugbode inside the Buffs’ red zone was the defense’s main game-changing play. It shifted the momentum and kept Stanford off the board with roughly ten minutes remaining on the clock. Colorado’s resulting drive would eventually stall but gave way to kicker Alex Kinney’s monster 59-yard punt, corralling Stanford at their own five-yard line. The fumble recovery by Olugbode would be perhaps the most pivotal turnover of the game, preventing a potentially game-tying touchdown for Stanford and allowing the Buffs another set of downs.

The Thompson-led defense continued. The safety produced yet another big play, grabbing his second interception of the game in the fourth quarter. An Isaiah Oliver interception near the conclusion of the fourth, the Buffaloes’ third of the game, allowed Colorado to hold on for the win. Trying to run out the clock, the Buffs were boxed into their own end zone and Stanford managed to force a safety to end the game. But bowl berth was already sealed by then.

Sure there were issues like the Buffs’ offense stalling repeatedly today, particularly in the red zone where they continually had to settle for field goal attempts. QB Sefo Liufau commented, “we moved the ball well, we just didn’t punch it into the end zone.”

Sure the special teams’ issues also continued to hurt the Buffs today, with three missed field goals keeping the game tight throughout.

But the end result was a Colorado victory, which is huge for their final goal of a Pac-12 Championship.

The final score misrepresented the lopsided nature of the matchup, as Colorado commanded both offensive and defensive sides of the ball today but only managed a five-point margin of victory. This perhaps says the most about their once lofty goal. Going toe-to-toe and physically dominating the Rose Bowl winners from just a season ago.

“When you beat the Rose Bowl Champs from last year at their place,” Mike MacIntyre said postgame to KOA, “it shows our guys’ mental toughness.”

The Buffaloes came away with a big win on the road, earning eligibility for a Bowl Game and moving closer to their goal of a Pac-12 Championship.

Jimmie Gilbert downplayed the importance of their qualification, claiming to KOA, “It means nothings, our goal is Pac-12 champs.”

This theme seems to ring true for the entire team, as player after player expressed similar sentiments. Coach Mike MacIntyre chimed in as well, saying, “our goal is to be Pac-12 champs, everyone laughed at me when I first said it.”

“The work isn’t over,” Sefo Liufau told KOA. “Our task isn’t over until the end of the year, our goal is Pac-12 Champs.”

Well, they took a huge step Saturday. Now all they have to do is take care of business at Folsom Field until their season-ending bout with the Utah Utes.

As much as everyone can make about, “The Rise,” “No conflict, no story,” was perhaps the better motto against the Cardinal. The Buffaloes had not beaten Stanford since joining the Pac-12, this week’s game turned out to be more of a dog fight than expected but the Buffs took their conflicts, fought and now they have a story.

“No conflict, no story, they took conflict and now they understand the story,” Mike MacIntyre said.