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BOULDER – Colorado football isn’t just back to prominence in 2016 but so is Folsom Field. As a close to capacity crowd thundered Saturday night in Boulder, the Colorado Buffaloes cruised to a dominating 40-16 victory over Arizona State.
As the second half began with the Buffs already up 23-10, running back Philip Lindsay broke the game open. On the Buffs very first play of the half, Lindsay took the ball through the hole, escaping two defenders and then bouncing out to the left to outrun the rest of the ASU ‘D’ who seemed to have an angle on him (almost as if he was playing Maden) for a 75-yard touchdown.
Just like that in the blink of an eye, the Buffs were rolling, Folsom was rocking and all was good with the Buffs in Boulder. 30-10 Colorado and they never looked back.
However there were anxious moments earlier as CU started off strong by going up early but allowed the Sun Devils to quickly tie things up at seven apiece. With Sefo Liufau back in the starting lineup for the first time since the Michigan game, the offense ran smoothly with Liufau taking care of the ball and finding his talented receivers in space.
In the second quarter with the teams tied up at 10, Liufau made his presence felt. With pressure bearing down he spun out of the tackle, ran into space and then threw to a wide open Bryce Bobo who made his way inside the opposing 10-yard line for a 66-yard gain. A few plays later Liufau would close off the drive by running the ball in for a score himself.
After conceding a touchdown in the first quarter the Buffs defense would completely shut down the ASU attack. Quarterback Manny Wilkins was under constant pressure and took his share of big hits from Jimmy Gilber Jr. and Addison Gilliam who terrorized the opposing QB for most of the match.
“Making CU Great Again is a big thing for us,” said Gilliam. “This our mission statement, that’s what this year is about.”
“I feel like this was our most dominant defensive performance,” added Gilbert.
On top of the pass rush, the Buffs corners didn’t allow any space on the outside blanketing the opposition all night long and forcing an eventual interception.
“We’re taught very well, I’ll give our coaches that,” said Ahkello Witherspoon about the secondaries ability to shut down the outside. “Above everything, we play with great technique. With athletes of this caliber week in and week out you put yourself in a position to be successful.”
One of the big concerns defensively for Colorado coming into the game was stopping the opposing run and ASU’s talented running back tandem. But the Buffs ‘D’ was effective in stopping the Sun Devils ground game, limiting the visitors to only 50 yards on the night.
After Lindsay’s career run to start off the third quarter, the Buffs slowed down a bit. One of the few negatives in the game were a missed field goals and an extra point by the Buffs who left points on the table and let ASU hang around at 33-16 for too long.
While the Buffs missed field goals and had to settle for three points when they should have had seven, ASU was able to capitalize on their field goal opportunities putting home three different 50-plus yard field goals.
Again it was Philip Lindsay who stepped up and put an end to the game with a four-yard touchdown that finished off a drive in which the Buffs runner played a big part. As Lindsay had a career day with 219 rushing yards and three TDs, it was the offensive line group that bounced back after a disappointing outing against USC, their worst of the year.
“It starts up front with the o-line,” said Lindsay. “They don’t say anything, nobody talks to them but they’re a huge reason for or success.”
CU has now beat their first south division opponent under Mike MacIntyre and also, their first opponent with a winning record. After a heartbreaking loss last week, the Buffs were back to rolling and so was Folsom in a spectacular Saturday night of college football.
