Colorado took care of business on Saturday night, comfortably dispatching Cincinnati to clinch bowl eligibility for the first time since 2020. Deion Sanders and the Buffs can now rest up in the bye week and get ready for the final four weeks of the season.

All of the Buffs’ goals are still in front of them. They’re currently in a tie for third place in the Big 12 (a tiebreaker that they lost against Kansas State), and only trail Iowa State and BYU in the league standings. CU will need a little help to squeeze into the conference title game, but winning out against a pretty cushy schedule would be a good start.

As the Buffs take a vacation, let’s look back at Saturday night and what went right and wrong for Colorado in the win.

The biggest story of this one for the Buffs was Isaiah Augustave and the running game. Colorado ran for 123 yards in the game and Augustave tallied 91 yards on the ground on 22 carries. That’s not the most explosive statline, but he has become the ideal back for the Buffs to get what they want out of the running game.

Augustave is a patient runner, but he also gets downhill as soon as he can and hits the hole. As a result, he almost always gets the yards that are blocked up by the offensive line, which helps the Buffs stay ahead of the sticks. Augustave also almost always falls forward when he is tackled, which tacks a yard or two onto his runs.