Buffaloes Escape With First Win Of The Season
By Alissa Noe
Talk about winning ugly. After four quarters with virtually no defense on either side of the ball, Colorado pulled off a narrow victory at Massachusetts, 41-38. In the end, the Buffs’ passing offense was what really won them the game.
After Colorado’s disappointing loss to the Colorado State Rams last week, they had high hopes of going into Massachusetts and starting a football revolution on Saturday. But, just like during the first Revolution in Boston, the Minutemen came out fighting for a win.
Going into the game, the Buffaloes were 17-point favorites despite their lackluster performance last week. I hoped they would tighten their run defense in practice this past week, but if anything it got worse. Massachusetts’ quarterback Blake Frohnhapfel came out and completely dismantled Colorado’s defense in the 1st half as he threw 165 yards for three touchdowns. The Buffs couldn’t even defend against their passing game.
Liufau passed the ball a lot more for 180 yards, but he only managed to throw one touchdown. Tony Jones rushed 5 yards for Colorado’s second touchdown, and Will Oliver improved upon a couple bad possessions with two field goals. Massachusetts led at halftime with a 21-20 edge over the Buffs.
Things looked grim for the Buffs at the start of the second half when UMass’s Frohnapfel came out and threw for 41 yards right off the bat. They managed to move the ball to Colorado’s 16-yard line, but the Buff’s defense forced them to go for the field goal. 24-20 UMass with 13:11 left in the third.
On the Buffaloes’ next possession, UMass’s Randall Jette took the ball out of Colorado wide receiver Shay Fields’ hands and returned it to the 2-yard line. UMass scored on the next play, and the Buffs’ hold on the game was spinning out of control as the Minutemen gained an 11-point lead, 31-20.
The Buffs answered with two consecutive touchdowns before the end of the third and regained the lead and the momentum. They never lost it after that. The Buffs managed to score 41 points by the end of the night, but they almost blew it when they gave up a touchdown to UMass with three minutes remaining.
In the end, the Buffs snuck away with their first victory of the season, 41-38.
What the Buffs did well:
- Passing: Liufau finished the night with 318 yards passing out of their 474 total yards gained. In the second half specifically, he repeatedly found his marks and kept the ball moving during most Colorado possessions.
- Receiving: Liufau did a good job spreading the ball around to several of his teammates. Spruce stole the show again this week with 145 yards off of 10 receptions and Fields was right there with him with 93 yards of his own off of 6 receptions. Bryce Bobo even got in the mix with 6 receptions and 54 total yards.
What the Buffs need to work on:
- Defense: This was the Buffs’ biggest weakness on the field by far. Not only did their D give up 38 points, but they also gave up 371 yards (267 passing). Half of the time, the Buffs left players wide open and allowed the Minutemen to run past them too much.
- Special Teams: Again, this was a defensive problem. On nearly every punt return, the Buffs allowed the Minutemen to run the ball around 30 yards before they finally stopped them.
Let’s hope the Buffs will be able to tighten up their defense a lot in the next week, or the Arizona State game won’t be pretty at all. Tip off for that game is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. MST on Saturday, September 13 at Folsom Field, and will be broadcast on ESPNU and Watch ESPN.