Posts tagged CSU
Buffs wallop Charleston Southern 43-10
Oct 19th
Game Story by B.G. Brooks CUBuffs.com contributing editor
BOULDER – Stepping away from their Pac-12 Conference schedule on a perfect mid-October Saturday, the Colorado Buffaloes eventually stepped out of Folsom Field with a 43-10 romp past overmatched Charleston Southern.
The Buffs’ Big Stepper was tailback Michael Adkins II.
Adkins, a true freshman from San Diego, accounted for a freshman school record four touchdowns on runs of 23, 5, 33 yards and 34 yards. Entering Saturday’s game, the Buffs had scored one rushing TD in their previous five games.
“We always say we want to be about 50-50 (run-pass), it depends on how the game goes,” said Adkins, who finished with 137 yards on 13 carries. “But running today definitely was a factor.”
And how. Tailback/fullback Christian Powell also scored on a 2-yard run as the Buffs enjoyed their most productive running afternoon of the season (218 yards). Adkins’ four TDs eclipsed the school freshman record set by Herschel Troutman in 1994 and equaled by Powell last season.
The Buffs’ top rushing effort this season had been 154 yards in a 44-17 loss at Oregon State. In the two games before Saturday, they had totaled 94 yards against Oregon and 99 against Arizona State. Adkins’ carries had steadily risen in the three previous games, with his 98 yards on 14 attempts at OSU the previous high mark for a CU back this season.
“My carries have been increasing every week so I just took advantage of the carries I got,” Adkins said. “Our line blocked well and I just kept grinding and kept finding the holes . . . it gave me a lot of confidence. I didn’t score in my first two games, so scoring today gives me a lot of confidence moving forward.”
The Buffs broke a three-game losing streak, evened their record at 3-3 and won their first game under first-time starting quarterback Sefo Liufau. CU returns to Pac-12 competition and remain at home next weekend, hosting Arizona (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network) in a game that suddenly looms as perhaps the schedule’s most pivotal.
With Saturday’s win, CU’s goal now becomes to win its first Pac-12 game under first-year coach Mike MacIntyre next week and exit October 4-3 overall. That leaves five conference games in the season’s final month for the Buffs to get two wins and reach six for bowl qualification – something that hasn’t happened since the 2006 season.
“If we get the one next week,” said MacIntyre, “it means November matters in Colorado.”
A true freshman from Tacoma, Wash., Liufau made his college debut last weekend at Arizona State, replacing junior Connor Wood in the first quarter of CU’s 54-13 loss. Liufau finished 18-of-26 for 169 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions, in that game.
In his first start Saturday, he was 14-of-20 for 198 yards. Liufau’s TD pass covered 60 yards, most of them courtesy of fleet junior Paul Richardson in the second quarter. Richardson finished with eight receptions for 122 yards.
“It feels good,” Liufau said of his home debut and first start. “It was fun being out there with the guys and just playing and having fun.” He called he confidence gained from the win “a tribute to the team – the O-line blocking, the receivers running the routes. Paul had a great play there . . . I definitely got confidence as I kept going.”
The game against previously unbeaten CSU, the FCS’ No. 24-ranked team, was arranged last month to replace Fresno State on the CU schedule. The Fresno State contest was postponed due to the mid-September floods that ravaged Boulder and Boulder County.
“I’m thankful that Charleston Southern wanted to play us,” MacIntyre said. “Or we couldn’t have played today.”
CSU, which entered the afternoon 7-0, was without its first two quarterbacks and started freshman Kyle Copeland, who was playing in only his third game and had thrown two incompletions in his only two attempts. Copeland’s final passing stats: 7-of-14 for 48 yards, one TD, one interception.
CU outgained CSU 416-196 in total offense, with the Buffs adjusting to the Buccaneers’ option attack and holding them to zero points and 46 total yards in the second half.
“(CU) is just a better team than us,” said CSU coach Jamey Chadwell. “We had seven wins before today and I don’t think that’s going to change. The only difference is that won’t play quite as good of a team. They made some good adjustments during the second half, and as for us, we’re going to keep doing what we do.”
The Buffs got out of the first half with a 22-10 lead largely made possible by a timely fumble recovery by Nate Bonsu and Richardson’s runaway speed.
Bonsu got the loose ball following defensive end Chidera Uzo-Diribe’s strip of CSU quarterback Kyle Copeland at the Buccaneers’ 12-yard line in the second quarter. Two plays later, Adkins took a handoff headed off left tackle, weaved to his right and scored from 5 yards out.
Will Oliver’s PAT staked CU to a 15-3 lead that ballooned to 22-3 after a three-and-out CSU series and a 60-yard pitch-and-catch executed by Liufau and Richardson.
Credit Liufau with keeping the play afloat; he fielded a bouncing center snap, collected himself and spotted Richardson crossing right to left in front of the formation. “P-Rich” took the short pass, reversed his field and outran two Buccaneers in pursuit to the right pylon.
Oliver again kicked the extra point and CU seemed comfortably ahead 22-3. The Buffs had opened the game with a 65-yard, six-play scoring drive, getting 52 yards on the ground – the last 23 by Adkins. They went ahead 8-0 when holder Darragh O’Neill ran for the two-point conference.
But after CU had surged in front 22-3, CSU collected itself for its second 9-plus minute drive of the half – the first ended with a field goal when an apparent TD pass on a well-designed pitch was reviewed and overruled – and scored on a 7-yard Copeland to Colton Korn with six left before intermission.
The disallowed TD proved pivotal. The play initially was reviewed and not overturned, but MacIntyre called a time out to allow another look and said he was told by an official that the ball being bobbled by tight end Nathan Prater was missed on the first look.
Chadwell said he was upset because “they took a time out, they reviewed the play (and) it was fine. Then the other review took an hour. They (officials) didn’t go by their protocol . . . I just felt like it was huge deal momentum-wise, because that could have meant a touchdown for us.”
CU, which was leading 8-0 at the time, finished the half with 164 yards in total offense, while CSU had 150. Liufau attempted only six first-half passes, completing four for 74 yards – Richardson’s long TD was for 60 – and being sacked once. Copeland, playing in only his second game and 0-2 in passing, was five-for-eight for 27 yards and a TD. The Buccaneers controlled the ball for 21:51 to 8:09 in the opening half.
The Buffs scored on their first possession of the second half, opening a 29-10 lead after a 13-play, 64-yard march capped by Christian Powell’s 2-yard run. Exactly 3 minutes later – at 4:11 – Liufau and his offense failed to capitalize on a Jered Bell interception near midfield, and the quarter ended with CU clutching its 19-point lead.
With 11:22 to play, Adkins’ 33-yard jaunt and Oliver’s extra point sent the Buffs comfortably ahead 36-10. Just over 5 minutes later, Adkins broke loose again and broke three tackles en route to his record-setting fourth rushing TD.
Wood replaced Liufau and Tony Jones replaced Adkins with just over 3 minutes remaining, with CU taking possession near its 15-yard line and ending the game near midfield.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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Fresno State replaced with Charleston Southern University
Sep 30th
BOULDER — The University of Colorado has secured Charleston Southern University as the opponent to replace the Sept. 14 Fresno State football game which was postponed due to the record rainfall and subsequent flooding in Boulder, CU athletic director Rick George announced Monday.
The game has been scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 19; the kickoff time will be determined once the Pac-12 Conference sets the television schedule for that day next Monday.
CU and Fresno State officials couldn’t come up with a workable scenario to make up the game this season and will discuss future options; the series is a “two-for-one” (two in Boulder, one in Fresno) as the Buffaloes played on the road at Fresno last year and the two are scheduled to meet in Boulder on Sept. 14, 2019.
“The Fresno State athletic department leadership, their president and their fans have all been very supportive and cooperative in our efforts to reschedule this contest,” George said. “We are also most appreciative of Fresno State’s student-athletes collecting donations to aid those victims of the flood.”
Over the last two weeks, George and CU officials contacted nearly three dozen schools on both the FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) and FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) levels, exploring all options available to find an opponent, preferably for Oct. 19, which was the second open date on CU’s 2013 schedule. The only other possible date would have been the first Friday or Saturday in December, but those were fraught with complications.
Last Friday, Colorado received a waiver from the NCAA for it to be bowl eligible if it gets to six wins this season but if two were to come against FCS teams. Under the current rules, schools are allowed one win over an FCS opponent to count toward the minimum six required for postseason eligibility; the Buffaloes already had played an FCS school, Central Arkansas, winning that game 38-24 back on Sept. 7.
Fans can use the tickets and parking passes dated Sept. 14 with Fresno State for admission to the game; if ticket holders are unable to attend the make-up game on Oct. 19, they can make an exchange for any of CU’s other four home games (Oregon, Arizona, California or Southern California). Those doing so would be on a value for value, best available seating basis which would need to be done before the final home game against USC on Nov. 23.
(The complete ticket policy can be found here:
http://www.cubuffs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=600&ATCLID=209272661).
Charleston Southern (which also goes by CSU) is a member of the Big South Conference and is currently 5-0 on the season; the Buccaneers are ranked just outside the Top 25 in the FCS. To date, they have played and won four games on the road (at The Citadel, Campbell, Norfolk State and Appalachian State) with a win over Shorter at home. They also received a waiver from the NCAA, one that allowed them to play a 13th game, eight of which will be away from Charleston.
“We really appreciate (CSU athletic director) Hank Small and Charleston Southern working with us to schedule this game and we look forward to hosting the Buccaneers on October 19,” George said.
The Buccaneers will be the first school from South Carolina to play a football game in Boulder; CU has played Clemson twice, both in bowl games, and has never faced the University of South Carolina or other FCS schools who have traditionally played schools one division higher, including Coastal Carolina, Furman, Presbyterian or the Citadel.
There are five Pac-12 conference games on Oct. 19, along with one non-league affair, USC playing at Notre Dame; the conference and its television partners make their selections Monday mornings, so the game time will be known on Oct. 7
David Plati
Associate AD/Sports Information
University of Colorado Buffaloes
357 UCB / Fieldhouse Annex #50
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CSU fell to in-state rival CU, 41-27 on Sunday
Sep 2nd
By Katie O’Keefe
CSU Collegian
CSU fell to in-state rival CU, 41-27 on Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, giving first-year CU head coach Mike MacIntyre his first win as a Buffalo.
In the opening game of the season, CU equaled their entire number of wins from last year (1-11). The Buffs were able to beat the Rams with explosive plays from receiver Paul Richardson and their ability to capitalize on the Rams’ mistakes.
CU was lead by quarterback Connor Wood in his second start for the Buffaloes. He finished the game with 400 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions.
“He played like a grown man,” said Richardson. “I couldn’t even tell you how proud I am of him.”
Richardson, who was forced to sit out all of last season because of a torn ACL, was a weapon CSU could not contain. He finished the game with ten catches for 208 yards including an 82-yard touchdown run on CU’s first possession of the game to put the Buffs ahead of the Rams, 7-0.
After a quarterback battle that lasted until game day, CSU quarterback Garrett Grayson was picked to lead the Rams. Grayson finished the game with 201 yards and zero touchdowns.
McElwain said his decision to play Grayson over junior Connor Smith and freshman Nick Stevens was based on Grayson’s preparation for the game.
“I think he was ready,” McElwain said after the game. “I’m not putting this loss on Garrett by any stretch of the imagination.”
The score was 10-0 at the end of the first quarter after the Rams defense held CU to a field goal.
A 49-yard field goal by kicker Jared Roberts put the Rams on the board with 14:17 left in the half.
The Rams receivers struggled to catch the ball throughout the game. The offense finished the game 2-of-14 on third down conversions.
“Offensively we didn’t do a very good job of keeping our defense off the field (by) sustaining drives,” McElwain said.
CU added to their lead after a 17-yard touchdown pass from Wood to receiver D.D. Goodson, making the score 17-3 Buffs with 3:56 left in the first half.
The Rams completed their first third-down conversion on their final drive of the half after previously going 0-for-6. With less than two minutes to go in the half, CSU running back Kapri Bibbs ran the ball for 7 yards and the score to give the Rams their first touchdown of the game and Bibbs’ first touchdown of his career as a Ram.
After a CU field goal, the Buffs were up 20-10 at the half.
Coming out of the half, CSU seemed to have found a second wind. Big plays by the special teams kept CSU in the game during the third quarter.
After going three and out on their first possession to start the second half, CU punted the ball to CSU punt returner Joe Hansley who returned the ball 74 yards for the touchdown.
After CU was forced to settle for a field goal, CSU punt returner Thomas Coffman got in on the action and returned the punt 84 yards . Moments later, Bibbs scored his second touchdown of the game giving CSU its first lead, 24-23. Bibbs was given more carries after running back Donnell Alexander went down in the first half with an upper body injury, said to be a hand injury after the game.
In the fourth quarter, though, Bibbs made a costly mistake when he fumbled the ball which was recovered by CU and returned for the touchdown, giving CU a 31-26 lead and momentum back in favor of the Buffs.
The Rams would not lead again in the game.
A 75-yard pitch and catch from Wood to Richardson gave CU a 41-27 lead over the Rams after the successful extra point and the icing on the cake.
CU will take the Centennial Cup and year-long bragging rights back to Boulder after the Rams earned both in a win over the Buffs a year ago. CSU hasn’t had back-to-back wins over CU since the 1999 and 2000 seasons, a stat that will remain at least until 2015.
Football Beat Reporter Katie O’Keefe can be reached at sports@collegian.com
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