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Arizona QB runs over Buffs
Oct 27th
BOULDER – Colorado’s hopes of exiting October with a statement win in the Pac-12 Conference were flattened Saturday night by Arizona’s potent ground game. The Wildcats – specifically their quarterback – ran and ran some more, and the Buffs had no place to hide.
Behind a career-high 192 yards rushing by QB B.J. Denker and another 119 by tailback Ka’Deem Carey, low by his standards, the Wildcats waltzed to a 44-20 win at Folsom Field.
Denker ran for 192 yards against CU
Arizona (5-2, 2-2) amassed 670 yards in total offense – the third most in school history – with 405 of it on the ground. CU (3-4, 0-4) dropped a game below .500 and left its homefield still looking for its first conference win of the Mike MacIntyre Era.
“We just have to keep fighting and keep moving forward,” a disconcerted MacIntyre said. “It’s disheartening for the kids. They’re battling and just (short) a few plays here and there.”
The Buffs open November with a pair of difficult road games – at UCLA next weekend (5:30 p.m. MDT, Pac-12 Networks), followed by a trip to Seattle to play Washington on Nov. 9.
Denker, a senior who debuted as Arizona’s starter last season against CU, also completed 21 of 32 passes for 265 yards and a touchdown, giving him 457 yards in total offense – the sixth-highest output in school history. His 192 yards rushing is believed to be a school record for a QB.
“We couldn’t tackle the quarterback . . . we must have missed him seven times. Probably 200 yards of offense off of missed tackles on the quarterback,” MacIntyre said. He also said Denker “threw the ball better than I’ve ever seen him throw in every game I’ve watched him play . . . he came through, he did a great job.”
Arizona coach Rich Rodriquez said Denker’s performance “was big . . . they were loading the box to stop Ka’Deem and were going to have to take the ball up high. Obviously, B.J. running was a key.”
“I think we just weren’t keyed in to some of our responsibilities,” said CU defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe of Denker’s performance. “It was a big thing to make sure we don’t get him running, but obviously we allowed him to run.”
Carey, a junior who rushed for a conference record 366 yards last November in a 56-31 rout of the Buffs, scored four touchdowns Saturday night, giving him nine against CU in their last two meetings. He entered the night as the nation’s leading rusher, but his 119 yards were 42 below his average (161.0).
“We stopped Carey pretty good,” MacIntyre said. “He ran over us a few times, but he’s going to do that against everybody.”
Carey had a long run of 30 yards, but Denker’s long jaunt of 54 was a career-best, and Carey’s backup – Daniel Jenkins – had a 56-yarder en route to a nine-carry, 87-yard performance.
Slowing Carey was of little solace to MacIntyre, who said he was “very concerned” about his defense. “We played as hard as we can play. We just have to keep coaching them . . . there’s some good offenses in this league.”
CU freshman quarterback Sefo Liufau, making his first Pac-12 start, finished 17-for-32 for 212 yards and a 75-yard touchdown to Paul Richardson, who made seven catches for 132 yards. The Buffs managed 349 yards in total offense, 137 of them on the ground.
MacIntyre said Liufau “missed a couple of guys he could have hit (but) I thought he did some good things. He has to keep improving.”
Buffs placekicker Will Oliver kicked a pair of field goals, including a career-best 53-yarder. Oliver said his long kick “was the worst kick of the three . . . it’s always good to break PRs, but I missed the 52 (yarder), so it kind of takes away from it. It still feels good; I’m glad they trust me.”
But on this night, with the Wildcats running free and largely unchallenged, the Buffs needed sixes rather than threes against an opponent their coach believed they could not only compete against but defeat.
“We should have won the game,” MacIntyre said.
Indeed, the Buffs played the Wildcats toe-to-toe through the game’s first 271/2 minutes, even taking a 13-10 lead on Liufau’s 75-yard TD pass to Richardson and a pair of Oliver field goals that were set up by Arizona turnovers.
CU linebacker Woodson Greer recovered an Arizona fumble that led to Oliver’s 53-yard field goal – a career long – and tied the score at 10-10 with 14:50 left in the second quarter. Just under 5 minutes later, after Oliver was wide left on a 52-yard attempt, Denker was intercepted by Buffs safety Jered Bell, who returned the pick 26 yards to the Wildcats 49.
Seven plays later, CU had to settle for another Oliver field goal – this one a 48-yarder that pushed the Buffs in front for the first time, 13-10, with 5:07 left before halftime.
But the first half ended with CU failing to finish what had been a promising start and setting a disastrous tone for the second half.
Allowing the Wildcats two touchdowns in the first half’s final 2:28, the Buffs found themselves trailing 24-13 at intermission. Arizona got the first of those two scores on a 7-yard run by Carey, capping a nine-play, 75-yard march. Then, after Arizona’s defense forced a CU three-and-out, Carey ran 30 yards and Denker connected with slot receiver Nate Phillips, who got a step on Bell, for a 44-yard TD pass.
Those two late TDs were the Wildcats’ lone hints of offense after they had marched 88 yards on their opening possession and taken a 7-0 lead on Carey’s 1-yard dive – the 14th play of the drive.
CU tied the score on the long Liufau-Richardson scoring pass, then Jake Smith’s 37-yard field goal sent Arizona up 10-7 with 4:34 left in the first quarter. From then until their surge to end the half, the Wildcats were relatively tame – but the Buffs couldn’t take advantage.
Arizona ended the first half with a season-high 361 yards in total offense (210 rushing, 151 passing). Meanwhile, CU mustered 189 and converted only four of 11 third-down attempts. After rushing for just nine yards in the first quarter, the Buffs finished the half with 42. Carey’s first half work: 97 yards on 17 carries and two TDs. Denker added 44 yards on seven rushes but was just discovering his stride.
Needing a defensive stop to open the second half, the Buffs got a partial stop. Three plays – two of them runs by Denker that netted 65 yards – put the Wildcats inside the Buffs’ 10 with first-and-goal. But CU held Arizona to a field goal – a 26-yarder by Smith – then responded with its own 75-yard drive (nine plays) and pulled to within seven (27-20) on Michael Adkins II’s 1-yard plunge and Oliver’s PAT.
Back came the Wildcats . . . Carey scored his third TD of the night – another 1-yard dive – and Smith kicked Arizona ahead again by two touchdowns (34-20) with 7:55 left in the third quarter.
Back came the Buffs . . . just not far enough. Liufau, with the help of a personal foul (facemask) on Arizona cornerback Jonathan McKnight that nullified an interception, drove CU to the Arizona 4-yard line but no further. Liufau’s fourth-down pass to the end zone fell incomplete.
“The coaches have the best interest and know what’s best for the team,” Liufau said of the fourth-down gamble. “You never question the coach; you know, if they want to go for a field goal, onside kick, whatever the call may be. I think it was a great decision.”
After it was made, just over 3 minutes later, the fourth quarter began with the Buffs still trailing by 14 points.
And the end was beginning . . . CU attempted a fake punt at its own 15-yard line, with punter Darragh O’Neill trying to skirt left end but being hammered after a 3-yard gain to the 18. Carey needed two runs to cover that distance, scoring his fourth TD on a 6-yard run up the middle.
MacIntyre defended the fake punt call “because if you saw us playing defense, we couldn’t stop them and I thought it was a good place to try . . . he (O’Neill) was supposed to read it. We’ve had five on this year and we’ve punted all five. We thought we had a chance, he thought he had a chance and we didn’t get it.”
After Smith’s extra point the Wildcats were cruising, 41-20, with 14:30 remaining. He added a 28-yard field goal to make it 44-20 with 9:10 to play, and Arizona needed no more points to put this one away.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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CU soccer socks it to USC ladies of Troy
Oct 26th
BOULDER – In a hard-fought, aggressive game, the University of Colorado soccer team took down the Southern California Women of Troy 2-1 in this season’s penultimate game at Prentup Field.
In a game that saw 34 total fouls and five yellow cards, the Buffaloes came out the victor behind goals by two freshmen. Brie Hooks proved that sitting out for four games due to an injury wouldn’t slow her down. In the 66th minute, she netted her eighth goal of the season to give the Buffs a 1-0 lead. Hooks was at it again in the 72nd, assisting classmate Alyssa Herwatt to her first goal as a Buff.
“It was definitely tough not being able to play for a while, and just watching the games was kind of hard,” Hooks said. “But, then coming back in I was a little bit nervous just because it’s a knee injury and those are a little bit sketchy. Definitely as the game went on I started to get my confidence back, especially with that goal, it really helps to get my feet back on the field, so it was a good way to come back.”
With less than three minutes remaining in regulation, the Trojans found the back of the net, with Marlee Carrillo heading on in off her goalkeeper Caroline Stanley’s free kick, but it wouldn’t be enough to push the game to extra minutes.
“I think the first half was sluggish,” said CU head coach Danny Sanchez, who earned his 20th win with the Buffs on Friday. “I don’t think we were sharp in the attack, but we defended fine. I thought in the second half as the game started to get stretched, we created more opportunities. We’re happy with the win. USC – don’t be fooled by their record – is a very good team, but we know we have big challenges coming our way. We need to be sharper and play better.”
The win marks the first time the Buffs have gotten two wins over a single Pac-12 Conference opponent (the Buffs beat the Trojans 1-0 in double overtime in Los Angeles last season). The victory improved the Buffs’ record to 12-3-1 overall, 4-2-1 Pac-12. The Buffs have recorded 12 wins for the first time since 2008 and four conference victories for the first time since 2010 (when CU was a member of the Big 12). Goalkeeper Annie Brunner has now recorded 31 victories in the net for the Buffs, making her the second-most winningest keeper in program history.
USC falls to 6-8-2 overall, 1-5-1 Pac-12. The Trojans are looking to return to their unbeaten streak ways that saw them tying then-No. 8 California and defeating then-No. 5 Stanford.
The game began with a defensive battle. In the ninth minute, Katie Johnson, who tied for a team-high two shots and one on goal, got the Trojan offense going. She rushed the net and sent her shot at Brunner, who picked up her first and only save of the game.
Anne Stuller led the Buffs with six shots and four on goal. She dominated the offense in the opening 21 minutes. In the 12th minute, she edged up the left side and took a quick shot that hit the post. Two minutes later, she was in a similar spot, with Olivia Pappalardo close behind, sliding one at USC’s Stanley. The Buffs remained tight on offense, but a strong Trojan pressure made it hard for the Buffs to get a good look at the net.
In the 21st minute, the Buffs had their best opportunity of the half. Stuller once again approached the net from the left, causing Stanley to dive for another save. While the keeper was still down, Pappalardo swooped in but was unable to get her shot past Stanley. Despite some contact in the box, the Buffs were forced to get back on defense.
USC was finally able to respond in the 27th minute with Johnson hitting the ball wide this time. Multiple fouls on the Trojans helped the Buffs make the Trojans play from behind, despite the game remaining scoreless. Following two more shots by the Buffs, the Trojans were able to get their best look in the closing minutes of the half, with Tanya Smarzich beating Hayley Hughes in the backfield, but hitting the right post to close out the second half.
The game only got more physical in the second half. In the first minutes, USC made the Buffs’ defense work for stops. The Women of Troy got a corner kick in the 47th minute, and capitalized with back-to-back shots, though the first was blocked and the second went wide.
In the same span that the Buffs took two shots, the first a Pappalardo header that forced a save and the second a Stuller free kick that blasted just high, the Trojans got called for five fouls and received their first of four yellow cards. Despite their foul trouble, USC was able to answer with three consecutive corner kicks, though none would help them to a shot at the goal.
The Buffs were able to grab the upper-hand in the 66th minute. A free kick by Alex Huynh found Hooks near the net. From 10 yards out, she beat the keeper down low and shot to the far corner to give the Buffs the 1-0 lead.
“(Coach Sanchez) was definitely holding me off, and then I came in and he just wanted me to go in there with all the effort I had and help us get a good start to the second half,” Hooks said. “So, when I went in there all I was thinking about as the ball was coming over was just, ‘I need to finish this, and get the half going so we can hopefully get more goals after that.’”
USC was able to get a shot of its own in the 70th minute, with Carrillo hitting one wide, but the Trojans couldn’t control the ball for long. In the 72nd minute, the Buffs were hungry for more. Hooks connected with Herwatt, who from 25 yards out chipped the ball to the net. The ball bounced off the cross bar and fell in to give the Buffs’ a solid 2-0 lead.
“I was definitely scared I was offsides at first, that’s why I kind of hesitated, but I was just like, ‘why not take it,’” Herwatt said. “I’ve had a couple of opportunities throughout this season that haven’t gone in, so I was really excited this one finally got in. It felt great to have my first goal.”
With a goal and an assist in the game, Hooks continues to shine in the freshman offensive record books. She ranks third with eight goals and fourth with 18 points.
Following their goal, the Buffs were only able to get one more shot off, with Stuller hitting one at the keeper. USC managed just two shots in the final 20 minutes, but their last helped tighten the score. At 87:06, Carrillo netted her third of the season, heading the ball in off a free kick from her keeper.
“They’re a good team, (USC’s Marlee Carillo) had scored a couple goals late against Arizona as well,” Sanchez said. “So, it was a great ball and I don’t think there was anything cheap about it, we had numbers we just didn’t get it, but that’s why we had a two-goal lead. It made the last couple minutes a little antsy for us, but I was happy how we killed off the game after that.”
USC continued to press in the closing minutes, grabbing another yellow card. Though the Trojans continued to fight, the Buffs’ 2-1 lead was too much to overcome.
Next up for the Buffs is No. 2 UCLA. Stuller says playing in her final game at Prentup Field will be “surreal,” but she wants to leave the field on a good note.
“They’re a good team, definitely a favorite in the College Cup this year,” Stuller said. “But, I think the way we’ve been playing we can definitely hang with them and we’re going to try to get a win, we’re not going for anything less.”
Come out to Prentup to celebrate Senior Day on Sunday, Oct. 27 at noon with your CU soccer team. Make sure to stand in the Buff Brigade cheering section and cheer the Buffs to victory as they take on No. 2 UCLA in the last home game of the season!
—
Marlee Horn
Graduate Assistant SID
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Broncos lose first game of the season to the Colts
Oct 21st
Manning loses shootout to Andrew Luck
INDIANAPOLIS — It almost seemed right. Just as he had done so many times before, quarterbackPeyton Manning had the opportunity to engineer a game-winning drive at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Only this time, it would be for the opposing team. But on the first play of the pivotal fourth-quarter series, his team down just six points, Manning threw an interception after his arm was hit when he released the ball.
Manning loses QB duel to Luck
That allowed Indianapolis to pull out to a nine-point lead, and by the time Denver pulled back to within one possession, it was too late, as an onside kick attempt failed with 12 seconds remaining in the game. Colts quarterback Andrew Luck took a knee to seal a 39-33 victory, dropping the Broncos to 6-1 on the season.
“We still had a chance there at the end,” Manning said. “We did fight and hung in there. We can learn from it. We certainly have to improve from this game because we weren’t as sharp execution-wise as we’d like.”
The Broncos had their chances.
Even after Manning’s interception allowed the Colts to make it 39-30, the Broncos offense responded quickly, driving all the way down to the Indianapolis 2-yard line. But a Ronnie Hillman fumble — the third turnover of the evening for the team — gave the ball back to Indy and allowed the Colts to run 1:35 off the clock and force Denver to use all three of its timeouts.
A 47-yard Matt Prater field goal moved the Broncos back within six, but the ensuing onside kick with just 12 seconds left on the clock failed.
“Anytime you turn the ball over (three) times, especially on the road, it’s going to be tough,” Head Coach John Fox said.
Earlier in the game, Manning fumbled when his arm was hit, but the ball was recovered out of bounds in the end zone — which meant it was a safety, but didn’t count against the turnover margin.
“That one was, among others, a couple of plays where we gave them some points and some field position,” Manning said. “Ultimately that was just too tough to overcome.”
The Broncos fell behind by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, but were able to claw back into the game thanks to key defensive stops down the stretch.
“I thought defensively we settled down,” Fox said. “We started playing smarter, tougher football and executed better in the second half.”
Key in the comeback was a forced fumble by safety Duke Ihenacho. He ripped the ball away from Colts running back Trent Richardson and recovered it himself, a takeaway the Broncos offense converted into a touchdown.
In the first half, the Colts scored 26 points. In the second, they were held to half that.
But the Broncos couldn’t quite get all the way back on top, and mistakes were costly. What stood out to Manning is the fact that, even with the mistakes, the team “still somehow had a chance to win that game.”
“I’d like to have seen it go to a two-point game down there toward the end and seen what would have happened,” Manning said. “Never quite got to that point.”
The Broncos got the Sunday Night Football scoring started when Manning found wide receiver Eric Decker — who finished with a game-high 150 receiving yards — for a 17-yard touchdown strike.
Denver fell behind 10-7, but a 12-yard score from Manning to tight end Julius Thomas put the club back ahead 14-10. Even after the safety, the Broncos still led, but a 20-yard touchdown from Luck to his fullback Stanley Havili in the second quarter gave Indianapolis a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Six three-and-outs didn’t help Denver’s cause.
“I think they kind of kept us off balance a little bit and we weren’t able to get into a rhythm for a while,” Thomas said. “That’s not us, that’s not our identity and we have to clean that up.”
Linebacker Von Miller — who made his regular-season debut in the contest and finished with two tackles, a tackle for loss and two quarterback hurries — said the toughest part is knowing the team didn’t put its best foot forward.
“I think all phases of the ball, we could have done better,” he said. “We could have had a better effort, but that’s part of it. Get back in the lab, start working and get ready for Washington coming up.”
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