Three takeaways from the Buffs' 16-13 win over Stanford

BOULDER — The Colorado Buffaloes beat the Stanford Cardinal 16-13 Saturday afternoon at Folsom Field.

The win stops the bleeding of a five-game losing streak. Prior to Saturday, Colorado gave up at least 30 points in 14 consecutive games.

Here’s what we know:

Evan Price is the hero

The freshman came through.

Freshman Evan Price moved in front of his brother, senior Davis Price, on the place-kicking depth chart this week. All of a sudden, he was the primary backup to James Stefanou.

On Thursday, Price learned that Stefanou was too injured to play against Stanford, so the freshman became the starter.

“We have a tremendous amount of faith in our players and in our preparation,” head coach Mel Tucker said after the game. “When they are called upon, they can step up and make plays for us.”

Price first saw the field late in the first half, when he drilled a 34-yarder to put the Buffs up 10-6. Then, halfway through the fourth quarter, the freshman tied the game with a 23-yarder.

When Colorado took possession at the Stanford 10 with six minutes on the clock in a tie game, the path to a Buffs victory seemed to flow through Price’s leg. Twelve plays later, quarterback Steven Montez took the snap, ran toward the middle of the field and called a timeout.

The clock read 0:02. The ball was spotted at the Stanford 19. The game was on the line.

The freshman drilled the ball down the center of the uprights as time expired to win the game.

“That was my first game-winner,” Price said. “I just went out there and wanted to pretend it was just a practice kick, just do what I normally do; trust my holder, trust the snapper, trust the line. Everything just went right.”

Price’s range wasn’t tested on Saturday, but based on what he put on display Saturday afternoon, there isn’t too much reason to worry if a bye week isn’t enough for Stefanou to return to health.

Laviska Shenault (mostly) did his thing

Star receiver Laviska Shenault isn’t having the Heisman-caliber season expected of him in 2019 but, on Saturday, he took a step in the right direction. Mostly.

Shenault was targeted eight times on Saturday and he caught all eight of the passes. He picked up 91 yards, his third-most receiving yards this season, and added five more on his lone rushing attempt.

The numbers are solid, to say the least.

But early in the game, Shenault took a jet sweep outside and just before stepping out of bounds, he lowered his shoulder and dropped a Cardinal defensive back. Then Shenault went to the ground on the sideline and trainers attended to him. A few minutes later, Shenault was taken to the locker room.

“I’ve said it every week; he is a tough kid,” Tucker said. “He is a tough kid and cares about this team. He is going to give us what he’s got, and he is going to show up for us. That was a prime example.”

Shenault came back for the second half and didn’t look like he missed a beat, but the way play-caller Jay Johnson used him seemed cautious. In short-yardage, high-leverage situations, Shenault didn’t line up in the wildcat. Not even once.

Shenault took a fourth-down sweep five yards to keep the eventual game-winning drive alive, but the playcall wasn’t actually for Shenault. After the game, Shenault said Tony Brown was originally supposed to line up in the slot and run the sweep motion of the option, before Brown asked Shenault if he wanted to trade.

“You know me, I’m a big competitor,” Shenault said. “I want to do stuff when there’s pressure and stuff on the line… I live for moments like this.”

It was another strange game for the Buffs’ star, but one that seemed to be a step in the right direction. Some extra time off may be exactly what he needs.

The Buffs showed out for the recruits

There were 85 high school football players on the Buffs’ sideline before Saturday’s game.

That’s a lot.

Only four were on their official visits, where the Buffs’ coaching staff can have the recruits stay with current players, and relaxes other regulations. The other 81 were on unofficials.

“There were a lot of really good players in attendence, guys that we want,” Tucker said. “Our fans are extremely hungry. Buff nation deserves a winner. We are going to accomplish that through developing the guys we have on our roster, and cotinuing to coach those guys, and through recruiting. It is impressive to our recruits and their parents when they come to Boulder and they take in a game and see what we have to offer.”

Perhaps the biggest name on the visit sheet was that of Ashaad Clayton. Clayton is the fourth-ranked running back in the 2020 class, per the 247Sports composite, and is on the verge of making his decision.

He’s just one of many potential Buffs who could make an on-field impact in as few as 10 months.

Wide receiver commit Brenden Rice was in attendance, as well. He, as well as a few other 2020 Colorado commits, have worked to sway some potential Buffs to move to Boulder.

After the game, Rice hinted on Twitter that things went well.

#GoBuffs 😁I believe i have a few surprises for y’all

— Brenden Rice (@BrendenRice) November 10, 2019

Could that be Clayton? Who knows.

But winning a conference game in front of the biggest audience of recruits in 2019 can’t hurt Colorado’s future.