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BOULDER – Thursday’s primetime bout between the Colorado Buffaloes and UCLA Bruins was a tale of penalties and turnovers for the two Pac-12 opponents. Though the Buffs’ maintained the upper hand in both times of possession and first downs, they were neck and neck with the Bruins throughout much of the matchup. Ultimately Colorado came out on top 20-10, despite their errors.
The Buffs had several opportunities to create or extend a lead but struggled to finish drives. While they appeared to have the advantage on both sides of the ball, turnovers and penalties repeatedly kept UCLA in the game.
Colorado turned the ball over four times on Thursday. Quarterback Sefo Liufau fumbled once in Bruins’ territory and tossed two interceptions, and backup Steven Montez threw an interception as well. The turnovers were costly, but the real issues were the 12 flags thrown against Colorado, amounting to 128 yards on the night.
The first few drives set the tone for a penalty-ridden matchup, as Jimmie Gilbert was ejected within five minutes for targeting. It was the first of several game-altering penalties that Colorado would be charged with throughout the night. Gilbert’s ejection was immensely impactful for the Buffs, who were forced to overcome the loss of one of their most disruptive defensive talents. The personal foul and unsportsmanlike conduct calls continued to roll in for Colorado, and they finished with eight in all.
Perhaps most importantly, the Buffs penalized themselves out of the Bruins’ end zone, when an unnecessary roughness call on Bryce Bobo backed them up out of the red zone, leaving the Buffs to settle for a field goal. While the drive allotted Colorado a narrow lead, it kept the game close and was not the only missed touchdown opportunity of the night.
“We will fix it,” quarterback Liufau said after the game. “Either I will fix it or one of the captains will fix it because we will not let this season be taken away from our own misdoing.”
Coach Mike MacIntyre echoed his sentiment, appearing equally bothered by the nature of the penalties. “The late hits, the pushing and the taunting, that’s not what we’re going to do in our program,” he said sternly.
Despite the evening’s offensive struggles, Colorado managed to come away with a win. The victory was largely thanks to the play of the Buffs’ championship-caliber defense, who have stymied opposing offenses and bailed Colorado out time and time again. It’s part of what makes the Buffs so dangerous, that when one part of their team stumbles, the other side is there to pick up the slack.
“Sometimes [the] offense is going to struggle to get points… and sometimes we might struggle and give up a couple of points kind of like the Oregon game,” Isaiah Oliver said. “It just goes both ways and that’s what makes us a team.”
Special teams were also there to help the Buffs out this week, as Oliver returned a punt for a touchdown late in the second half. “We knew if we could get one more touchdown or a few more points that we could pretty much solidify the game,” Oliver said. “So that’s just what we were looking to do. We didn’t expect it to happen on a punt return, but however you can get in the end zone, we’re happy with that.”
Special teams have been an area of weakness for the Buffs this season, and being able to count on them Thursday night helped to turn the tide.
“I think our punt return team did better than their punt return team,” MacIntyre said. “That was the difference in the game.”
The nail in the Bruins’ coffin was, fittingly, another penalty flag. As Colorado attempted to run the clock down, UCLA’s defense was called for offsides, granting the Buffs a fresh set of downs and a shot at victory formation.
Both teams struggled mightily on Thursday night, but while the Bruins were buried by the weight of their mistakes, Colorado kept fighting. “We had a lot of opportunities to blink tonight,” MacIntyre said, but the Buffs never did. After a flurry of penalty flags in the first three quarters for Colorado, the Buffs found their composure and made a stand in the fourth while the Bruins continued to falter. This correction by Colorado would widen the divide between the two teams and seal a victory for the Buffs.
Colorado overcame a lot of ugly football on Thursday to hold on to their divisional lead, and to secure a winning season for the first time since 2005. Penalties and turnovers were costly for both the Buffs and the Bruins this week, but it was the Buffs who were able to survive their mistakes and come away with a win.
Colorado’s resilience was shown through their errors as displayed against UCLA. Despite playing an awful game, filled with mistakes the team came out on top. It speaks volumes to where the Buffaloes are headed in 2016. The errors the Buffs made against the Bruins reveal just how good this team is.
