DENVER— The Buffs had a dominating performance on National Television Friday Night on ESPN routing the Colorado State Rams 44-7. Colorado jumped up to the quick 14-0 lead and never looked back.
Colorado's first touchdown of the season came when Quarterback Sefo Liufau fumbled the football into the end-zone, only to have Senior Offensive Center Alex Kelley fall on the football to make it 7-0.
Don't Miss: Henderson's 10 Takeaways from Colorado's win over Colorado State
The Buffs took action during the Rams first drive and forced a three-and-out and from there the defense played lights out.
They forced a total of six three-and-outs in the first half. This defense played like a veteran team that wanted to come out and make a statement.
They did just that.
In the first half of the game Colorado State only had 79 total yards (22 passing, 57 rushing). Josh Tupou took the double teams in the middle and handled them very well.
The Buffaloes secondary played lights out. With pass break ups and interceptions, they gave Nick Stevens trouble all night.
Both Chidobe Awuzie and Tedric Thompson had interceptions.
It was clear to see tonight that the Colorado front seven on defense is a force to be reckoned with. They find the ball fast and have greatly improved on their tackling. On the offensive side of the ball, the Buffs came out swinging.
On the first drive of the night for the Buffs, Sefo Liufau broke CU's all-time passing yardage record and the drive was topped off by Alex Kelley’s first ever touchdown, a fumble recovered in the end zone.
From there the Buffs kept rolling. They then drove 70 yards in six plays and ended with a Devin Ross 17 yard touchdown reception from Liufau.
Ross has proved tonight that he has improved his catching. He had three amazing catches in the first half and that continued throughout the rest of the game.
The Buffaloes offensive line came out pushing tonight and opened a lot of big holes for Phillip Lindsay. In the first half Lindsay had 92 yards total (72 rushing, 20 receiving) and two touchdowns.
Afolabi Laguda came out tonight with a chip on his shoulder, starting at free safety for the first time in his career at Colorado and making his name known during the game. At the end of the first half he was tied with Awuzie in total tackles, both clocking in with four.
Diego Gonzalez also looked money tonight has he hit three field goals and five extra points. Gonzalez also took kick-offs tonight instead of Chris Graham and nailed everyone of them out of the end zone, a much improved area compared to last year.
After losing Juwann Winfree earlier this season, the Buffs were left with questions at wide receiver, but those questions were answered tonight. Bryce Bobo had himself a game with five receptions for 99 yards. He wanted to prove there is only room for one Bobo in Colorado.
Last year the Buffs only had 364 total yards at the end of the their quarter they racked up 474.
Although Colorado State may not be the best team Colorado will see this year they definitely proved they have what it takes to compete at a high level.
Read: Henderson's 10 Takeaways from Colorado's win over Colorado State
Scoring Summary By Quarter
1st Quarter
Alex Kelley recovers touchdown in endzone - Colorado 7, Colorado State 0
Sefo Liufau throws 18-yard touchdown pass to Devin Ross - Colorado 14, Colorado State 0
Phillip Lindsay with 1-yard touchdown run - Colorado 21, Colorado State 0
2nd Quarter
Diego Gonzalez hits 30-yard Field Goal - Colorado 24, Colorado State 0
Phillip Lindsay two-yard touchdown run - Colorado 31, Colorado State 0
3rd Quarter
Diego Gonzalez hits 29-yard Field Goal - Colorado 34, Colorado State 0
Diego Gonzalez hits 22-yard Field Goal - Colorado 37, Colorado State 0
4th Quarter
Faton Bauta touchdown pass to Marcus Wilson - Colorado 37, Colorado State 7
Kyle Evans 1-yard touchdown run - Colorado 44, Colorado State 7
Team Statistics:
Colorado
28 First Downs
260 Net Rushing Yards
318 Net Passing Yards
Sefo was 23-33
578 Total Offensive Yards
Colorado State
12 First Downs
162 Net Rushing Yards
63 Net Passing Yards
CSU was 12-29 with two interceptions
225 Total Offensive Yards
Key Quotes:
Coach Mike MacIntyre:
"We got off to a really fast start, which is what we wanted to do, so I was really proud of those guys and how they played."
"It's just one game, we had two many turnovers, we haven't done that in the past, fumbling the ball we gotta fix that, and will fix it this week, I promise ya."
"You always want to win your first game, but its one out of the next, we have 11 more regular season games. It's one of the first but yes its always good to come out, start out good, theres no doubt about it. It gives a lot of momentum to those young men."
"We were moving the football, we haven't been in that situation a lot, theres still 14 minutes to go in the game and theres still a whole fourth quarter. We've working with him sliding, I guess he just won't slide, so I need to get him out of there," on why Sefo was left in.
"This is the best football team we've had since I've been here and we have good depth and we have good football players, we gotta keep them healthy and working in the right direction."
“I thought that was really good, we’ve been working on that, we’re reaching for the end zone, we need to keep it high and tight and get in the end zone. We were very very fortunate there that we came away with that football,” on Alex Kelley scoring the first touchdown of the season.
“Number one keep playing like its 0-0, you always say that but the other thing is to find a way to finish the game, go head and put them away and we had a chance there, a little quicker than we did, I’d like us to be able to do that, we had a couple opportunities where we could of scored touchdowns and we had to kick field goals. Keep finishing every play.”
Mike Bobo:
"First of all, I'd like to give Colorado credit, they were very well prepared, they were very well coached, they were ready to play this game and we were not and that starts with me, I didn't have this team ready to play. They were ready, they came out hot and had the momentum and we were unable to do anything to slow it down and it's one of those things where its embarrassing, I told them we embarrassed our name but theres only one thing we gotta do, we gotta go back to work."
Sefo Liufau:
"It's a surreal feeling to be able to put one of those games out there like that but theres also a lot of things we need to work on especially coming out of the second half, I think our offense dropped especially, I think we could have put up a lot more points up on the board. Even though CSU is a great defense I just think we were not executing as well as we could have."
"It means a lot to be able to go out there and put up a performance like that, you can do all the talking that you want as a team, offense, defense but once the real bullets start flying its really put up or shut up. I think for the most part tonight we did a really good job of going out there, putting our best foot forward."
"Yeah definitely, especially in the first quarter, they couldn't really handle our tempo and we got to a really quick start, 21-0, it all comes down to getting the first, first down. We need to be able to sustain that tempo throughtout the whole game, cause teams really haven't seen that kind of tempo especially out of us, if we can keep that tempo up, I think a lot more good things are gonna come."
Chidobe Awuzie:
"We're kind of sad that we let them score seven points, they are a great team but we have high goals for ourselves and high expectations."
"It means a lot, especially cause its my senior year so its my last time playing Colorado State, they are a heck of a team, they got us two years ago and we won the last two. Coming out there and being dominate like that, being able to go out my senior beating Colorado State like that made me proud of my teammates."
"I think our front seven got after them, theres been a lot of talk about our front seven we got some guys back and last year our run defense wasn't that good but I think this game they really showed what they can do, a glimpse of what they can do and how great they can be."
"I think two years ago we only had about three picks, I think we got two interceptions today and two forced fumbles, its really good to see that going on and Coach Leavitt, Coach Tumpkin, Coach Jeffcoat, Coach Clark really emphasize turnovers everyday in practice. Going into the game and being able to actually execute that and catch the ball and get the ball out of the quarterbacks hands really meant a lot to us."
Devin Ross:
"Drop are like my biggest pet peeve and it makes me so mad every single time, it's just a matter of focus. It's just all focus, it just motivated me for the next play just to get my focus back and just get all the excitement out and get back to the game."
"It always feels good to play against CSU and beat them of course but our motto is the rise right now and that was just a good statement to start the season. It's good to show what we've been working on and what's to come. That's just a little start its not even anywhere close to where were going."
Phillip Lindsay:
"It means a lot, it means we came along way, we've been working strenuously for the summer and fall camp. Coach Chiaverini has been hard on us, Coach Lindgren been hard on us and its paid off. We won the game and everything but now its time to clear our heads and go 1-0 again next week."
"The tempo is a lot faster, the goal and the key is to get the first, first down, you get the first, first down then were able to rise the tempo and it starts to mess with the defense because now you can't sub people out, we have all these talented receivers and its great to have Sefo back cause Sefo is a born leader."
"Continue to practice, I'm not much of a fumbler and I let a couple go today, that's on me. Coach Mac believes in me and will continue to work on it. I'll probably go around school with a football in my hand now."
Stats from ESPN
Shoulder To Shoulder
