No. 16 Colorado 49, Arizona 24


Posts Tagged ‘Devin Ross’

Colorado ran its record to 8-2 with a harder-than-it-looked 49-24 victory on the road against Arizona. The Buffs were out-gained by the Wildcats, 412 yards to 388, but costly penalties (13 for 138 yards) and three missed field goals kept the Wildcats from making it a game.

The Colorado offense did produce a 100-yard rusher (Phillip Lindsay, 25 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns), and a 100-yard receiver (Shay Fields, six catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns), but the Buff offense seemed out of sync for much of the evening. Sefo Liufau had his first three-touchdown pass game since the Michigan contest in September, finishing with 19-of-27 passing for 213 yards.

The Colorado defense struggled at times as well. The Buffs came into the game surrendering only 117.6 yards per game rushing (17th in the nation), but gave up 186 yards rushing to the Wildcats in the first half alone (and 262 yards for the game). The 412 total yards surrendered were over 100 yards over the 296.9 yards per game the Buffs had posted in the first nine games of the season.

The victory gave the Buffs an 8-2 overall record, 6-1 in Pac-12 play. The eight wins represented the highest total since 2004, with the team’s first four game winning streak the longest since 2002.

“It was a good win for us”, said Mike MacIntyre. “Rich Rod(riguez) does a heck of a job and they’ve beat us three years in a row now and we finally got them. The last time we were here, we got beat pretty good, so I am excited about what we have done and we are going to get some In-n-Out Burger after this.”

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No. 21 Colorado 20, UCLA 10

//posted 11.4.2016

Isaiah Oliver returned a punt 68 yards for a score with 5:27 remaining and No. 21 Colorado overcame eight personal-foul penalties to beat UCLA 20-10 on Thursday night.

Oliver caught the punt on the right side of the field, cut back to the left and went untouched for the decisive score. It was the first punt return for a touchdown in 11 years for Colorado, giving the Buffs a guaranteed winning season since 2005 … the last time the Buffs had a punt return for a touchdown (Stephone Robinson v. Kansas).

The game featured a combined 25 penalties for 224 yards, two blocked kicks and five turnovers.

Mike MacIntyre: “We found a way to win”

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Colorado 10, Stanford 5

//posted 10.23.2016

Colorado became bowl eligible for the first time since 2007 with a hard-fought 10-5 win over Stanford. Buff field goal kickers missed three of four field goal attempts, making the game tense throughout, but four turnovers by the defense preserved the victory.

Sefo Liufau connected with Shay Fields on a 15-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, providing the game’s only touchdown. Otherwise, Liufau was largely held in check, hitting 12-of-25 for 135 yards, but was picked up by running back Phillip Lindsay, who had 12 carries for 131 yards.

In holding the Cardinal out of the end zone, the Buff defense had three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Tedric Thompson had two interceptions, the second coming midway through the fourth quarter, setting up the Buffs’ field goal. Linebacker Kenneth Olugbode recovered a fumble at the Buff five yard line to snuff out Stanford’s drive to take the lead, with Isaiah Oliver collecting his interception in the final minutes to seal the victory.

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USC 21, No. 21 Colorado 17

//posted 10.9.2016

The Colorado defense forced four USC turnovers, but also allowed 540 yards of total offense as the Trojans defeated the Buffs for the 11th-straight time, 21-17.

In a battle of freshman quarterbacks, USC’s Sam Darnold won the day. Darnold went 25-for-37 for 358 yards and three touchdowns … with all three scoring passes going to tight ends. Steven Montez, meanwhile, was held to 192 yards passing, completing 24-of-39 passes, with one touchdown and one interception.

Bryce Bobo was in line for player of the game, with a career-high ten catches, going for 83 yards and a ten-yard touchdown. Bobo was also in on the Buffs’ other touchdown, with the junior receiver throwing a 67-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Lindsay to help keep Colorado in the game.

“We didn’t play Colorado football,” Mike MacIntyre said. “We didn’t play hard and fast like we’re capable of doing. They (the Trojans) are a good team and had something to do with that, but we didn’t play as well as we could have.”

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Colorado 41, Oregon 38

//posted 9.25.2016

Red-shirt freshman quarterback Steven Montez threw for 333 yards and three touchdowns in his starting debut, leading Colorado to a 41-38 victory over Oregon. Montez also ran for 135 yards and a score as the Buffs raced out to leads of 23-7 and 33-17 before needing an Ahkello Witherspoon interception in the end zone with 48 seconds remaining to preserve the victory.

Devin Ross had 153 yards and a touchdown receiving, with the Buffs rolling to 593 total yards overall. The victory was the first for the Buffs over the Ducks since joining the Pac-12, and the first overall since defeating Oregon in the 1998 Aloha Bowl.

“I would say this is a signature win,” said MacIntyre, whose team was 0-5 against the Ducks since joining the league. “These kids believe they can beat anybody.”

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Colorado jumped out a to a 14-0 lead on Michigan in the first five minutes, but special teams mistakes and an injured quarterback prevented the Buffs from coming up with an upset, falling on the road to the 4th-ranked Wolverines, 45-28.

Sefo Liufau went 16-for-25 for 246 yards and three touchdowns, but left the game in the third quarter with a right leg injury. After Liufau left the game, the Buff offense faltered, allowing the Wolverines to turn an close game into a 17-point victory.

Shay Fields had seven catches for 99 yards and a score, with Devin Ross collecting seven receptions for 77 yards and two scores. The Buffs, though, were held to just 64 total yards rushing on 33 carries, a 1.9 yard average. Overall, Colorado had 325 yards, holding Michigan to 397. The Buffs, who were 4th in the nation in third down conversion offense coming into the game (66.2%), were held to 1-of-13 in third down conversions by the Wolverine defense.

“The message to our team was that we got a good football team”, said Mike MacIntyre, who fell to 0-19 against ranked teams (0-12 at Colorado). “We have to correct a few things. When you are playing another good football team, you have to do some of those things better so we will go back and correct them and move forward to the next game.”

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Colorado 56, Idaho St. 7

//posted 9.11.2016

Sefo Liufau passed for 204 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 54 yards and another score in less than a half as Colorado routed Idaho State, 56-7.

Phillip Lindsay ran for two scores as the Buffs built a 49-0 halftime lead on its way to a second straight blowout win.

Liufau, who had 384 yards of offense in the 44-7 win over Colorado State in the 2016 opener to earn Pac-12 Player of the Week honors, had another big game with touchdown passes of 15 and 4 yards. He ended his day with a 19-yard touchdown run late in Colorado’s 35-point second quarter that made it 42-0.

Liufau’s backup Steven Montez connected with Kabion Ento for two more touchdown passes.

Jakori Ford scored for the Bengals (1-1), who had just seven first downs and 96 yards total offense.

“I was very impressed with what our staff did with our guys, I liked how focused they were”, said CU coach Mike MacIntyre. “Our upperclassmen did a good job of staying focused in practice and they kept working. That’s what we talk about all the time, it’s to worry about Colorado and nothing else. I’m seeing that in this group of guys”.

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Colorado wanted a fast start to the first game of the 2016 season.

The 2015 opener against Hawai’i opened with a three-and-out and a blocked punt from the Colorado offense, and the Buffs never really recovered … in that game, or really, the entire season.

Against Colorado State in the 2016 opener, though, the Buffs got off to a fast start, storming out to a 21-0 first quarter lead, never looking back in a 44-7 domination of the Rams.

Sefo Liufau went 23-for-33 for 318 yards and a touchdown, also contributing 66 yards rushing on 14 carries. Phillip Lindsay had 20 carries for 95 yards and two touchdowns to lead a 260-yard rushing attack. The receiving corps also failed to post a 100-yard effort, but were more than happy to settle for Bryce Bobo’s 99 yards on five catches, and the 97 yards and a touchdown from Devin Ross.

In all, Colorado went for 578 yards of total offense, holding Colorado State to 225 yards (including only 63 yards passing). The Buff defense forced four turnovers, and surrendered only 12 first downs.

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No. 24 UCLA 35, Colorado 31

//posted 11.2.2015

The Colorado offense was on the field for a school record 114 plays, ran up 554 yards of total offense, and held the ball 41:05 of game clock … and still lost to No. 24 UCLA, 35-31. The Buffs had twice as many first downs as the (34-16), but red zone mistakes could not be overcome, with a Sefo Liufau interception in the final minute ending CU’s final hope.

Sefo Liufau went 37-for-57 for 312 yards, but a 96-yard interception for a touchdown turned what could have been a 7-7 game into a 14-0 deficit in the second quarter. Two Buffs went over the century mark in offensive production, with freshman running back Patrick Carr going for 100 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, while Devin Ross had nine receptions for 101 yards. Nelson Spruce, who became the Pac-12’s all-time receptions leader during the game, finished with 11 catches for 90 yards.

“I thought the overall effort, intensity, fight was good (and well as) the game plan by our coordinators on both sides”, said CU head coach Mike MacIntyre. “We had a good game plan to attack and be aggressive, which we needed to, and we executed that. A couple balls bounced the wrong way, but the kids are still fighting.”

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Arizona State quarterback Mike Bercovici threw for 260 yards and five touchdowns as the Sun Devils took advantage of Colorado mistakes to cruise to a 48-23 victory in Tempe. Sefo Liufau threw for 389 yards for the Buffs, but his one touchdown pass was more than offset by an early interception and a fumble which led to ASU points.

The Buffs were close in yardage – 491 yards to 450 – and first downs – 21-to-19 – but fell behind 14-0 midway through the first quarter and never fully recovered. The loss left the Buffs with an 0-7 all-time record against Arizona State, together with a 13-game conference losing streak (dating back to November of 2013) and a 13-game road conference losing streak (dating back to September of 2012).

“Everything we’re doing, we’re just going to keep doing it”, said Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre, who fell to 1-19 in Pac-12 games. “Keep pushing with them, keep working with them, keep loving them, keep caring for them, keep believing in them. That’s what you do.  Find a way to uplift them and keep pushing them, but they’ve got to go out there and make the plays”.

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Oregon 41, Colorado 24

//posted 10.4.2015

In a game delayed over an hour due to lightning concerns, Oregon ran for 361 yards in pulling away from Colorado late, winning 38-24 in a game which ended after midnight. Two Ducks ran for over 100 yards, with Royce Freeman going for 163 yards and two touchdowns and Taj Griffin adding 109 yards and a score.

The Colorado offense, which struggled to run the ball all night (77 yards) relied on its passing game to stay with the Ducks. Quarterback Sefo Liufau went 25-for-42 for 230 yards and a score, but he also threw an interception and had a crucial third quarter fumble which led to Oregon’s first two-score of the night in the third quarter.

The Buffs (3-2,0-1), who had been out-scored by an average score of 54-10 in their four previous Pac-12 encounters with the Ducks, held leads of 14-7 and 17-14, and were tied at 17-all at the break, but were not able to keep up with the Oregon offense in the second half. For the game, Oregon posted 537 yards of total offense, to just 307 for the Buffs.

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Hawai’i 28, Colorado 20

//posted 9.6.2015

GAME STORY … September 4th, Honolulu … The Buffs make mistakes early and often, with comebacks successfully thwarted as Colorado falls to Hawai’i in a game which ended after 3:00 a.m. Mountain time …

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