It wasn’t a thing of beauty, but at least they made a game of it. However, a great effort from the CU D-line was not enough to shut down Caleb Hanie and the CSU Rams. 14-10 was the final score at Invesco field, much better than most had predicted.
A lot of in game commentary and post game wrap up focused on the “big surprise” that Dan Hawkins pulled by starting Bernard Jackson at quarterback instead of James Cox. Clearly it was only a surprise to those who didn’t keep up with his stats from the Montana State game. (oh yeah, while we are on the subject, Montana State lost to Chadron State on Saturday) Even Sonny Lubick missed the memo. “They came out and shocked us, surprised us, which was smart” he said after the game. So Jackson got his first NCAA start and immediately composed a seven-point drive in 9 plays, taking the bootleg in from the 3-yard line for all the glory.
Jackson finished the day with a disappointing 70 yards on at 8-13 passing game, and 30 yards in 18 carries. It was great to see Bernard [Jackson] out there,” Thaddaeus Washington (LB) told reporters. “He brings a different dimension to our offense, and did some good things out there. He had a few good drives and had our offense running well. We are right there, a few little mistakes; we just need to get over the hump.”
It was a good day for the Buffalo D. Hanie completed 20 for 23 passes fro CSU, but he was sacked six times. Abraham Wright came away with three sacks for the Buffs, and Jordon Dizon had two sacks and a game-high 12 tackles.
The Buffs need to spend some time working through the details. Cox’s timeout call with 1 second left in the quarter and Jackson’s long snap count on the spike that could have set up a last minute field goal attempt in the first half, had the clock not expired, were both small elements that had a big impact on the potential of the game.
All and all, there is not a lot to get excited or disappointed about right now. The Buffs are improving, and coach Hawkins appears to be operating in a plan for growth. It helps that everyone seems to like the guy. “We’re working on restoring the confidence level of the entire University of Colorado,” Hawkins said after the game. “If you are a man of character and a man of integrity you survive, you thrive and you march on.”
Stats of interest:
CU is 0-2 for only the 17th time in its history (117 seasons), last doing so in 2000 and 1986 before this year… Including the last four games of last year, CU has dropped six straight games, the longest losing streak since CU opened 0-7 in 1980… Mason Crosby’s 61-yard field goal, wiped out by a late timeout allowed CSU, would have been a school record (he owns the mark with a 60-yard effort)… The Buffs have scored all 20 points this season in the first half and have struggled in the second half, as in addition to not scoring, CU has just 93 yards of total offense (including 18 plays for 28 yards today)… Colorado scored in its 212th straight game today (last shutout: 7-0 at Nebraska in 1988), adding to the sixth longest active streak in the nation and the 13th longest all-time… CU has just one turnover in its first two games, and no interceptions; the last time CU did not suffer a pick in its opening two games was in 2003
Rushing Defense: Colorado’s rushing defense has answered the bell in the first two games, as the opponent has just 65 yards on 69 attempts this season; take out sacks, computed as rushing in the NCAA, and the number is still 128 yards on 60 true rushing attempts, or 2.2 per. It is the third straight year that the Buffs have held their first two opponents under the century mark.
Frosh Long: The 73-yard punt by redshirt freshman Matt DiLallo to open the second quarter was the longest-ever by a CU freshman (true or redshirt) and tied for the 12th longest in school history. It was the longest kick since Nick Pietsch launched a 76-yard effort at Kansas on Oct. 19, 1996.
DE Abraham Wright: He had three quarterback sacks today, which if hold up in coaches film review (CU uses those stats), will be the first three-sack game by a Buffalo since DE Alex Ligon had three against Washington State in Seattle two years ago this weekend (Sept. 11, 2004). Wright now has four sacks on the season and 13½ in his career, which is tied for the 15th most in school history with Garry Howe (1989-90).
Series: Colorado State snapped a three-game losing streak in the series to make it 57-19-2 in favor of the Buffaloes; the last five games in the series have been decided by a total of 22 points, easily the most contested quintet of games in the 78 year old rivalry and the second closest five-game series run in school history to a 1996-2000 run where five games against Nebraska, all Husker wins, were decided by 15 points.
Stats courtesy CUBuffs.com

Related posts:

  1. Odds and Ends
  2. Texas Tech Post Game
  3. Buffs 34 – Bears 0