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November 8th – at West Virginia West Virginia 29, Colorado 22
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In a battle of true freshmen quarterbacks, West Virginia’s Scotty Fox Jr. got the best of it, with the Mountaineers holding off Colorado for a 29-22 victory. Fox threw a touchdown pass, while converted running back Curtis Jones had two short touchdowns for West Virginia. Julian Lewis threw two touchdown passes in his first career start, finishing the game with 22-of-35 passing for 299 yards.
West Virginia running back Diore Hubbard’s 69-yard reception in stride down the left side line set up tight end Ryan Ward’s first touchdown catch, a 3-yarder from Fox for a 16-3 lead late in the second quarter. Both teams then moved quickly down the field for scores before halftime. Lewis hit Joseph Williams with an 8-yard touchdown strike, and Kade Hensley followed with a 41-yard field goal as time ran out to give West Virginia a 19-9 halftime lead.
But Fox threw interceptions on consecutive pass attempts in the third quarter to give Colorado a chance at a comeback. The Buffs got within a field goal twice in the second half, then within a touchdown with a late field goal, but never led in the game.
“This is not who we are,” Coach Prime said after the game. “We’re better than this. They [fans] deserve better than this. I want better than this. I feel like I coach better than this. I feel like we have players that are so much better than the production that we’re putting out. It starts with me. I feel like we have the nucleus inside the locker room, that we should be getting it done. I don’t think we’ve played a team that’s athletically and physically better than us. I really don’t.”
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Game Story … The Colorado offense started the game with a new quarterback, but with similar results. The Buffs went three-and-out, with a two-yard completion from quarterback Julian Lewis to wide receiver Quentin Gibson the yards gained.
A fumble by the Mountaineers, coupled with a sack of quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. by Buff defensive lineman Brandon Davis-Swain, forced a punt right back to the Buffs on West Virginia’s first possession.
A 16-yard completion from Lewis to Omarion Miller gave CU its first first down of the game, but three more plays, including a sack of Lewis, lost nine yards, forcing CU’s second punt of the opening quarter.
Surprisingly enough, the CU defense forced a three-and-out on WVU’s next possession, with the Buff taking over at their 29-yard line.
The Buffs then went three-and-out – make that four-and-out – on their next opportunity. After an eight-yard completion from Lewis to Sincere Brown, the Buffs faced a fourth-and-one at their own 38-yard line. Going for a first down, running back Micah Welch got the ball, but no yards, with West Virginia taking over at the CU 38.
A 15-yard completion gave the Mountaineers a first down in the red zone, but the West Virginia offense would go no further. Buff defensive lineman Brandon Davis-Swain forced a fumble from running back Cyncir Bowers, with safety Ben Finneseth recovering at the CU 19.
The Buff offense then rewarded their defense … by going backwards. A sack pushed the ball back to the CU 13. There, on fourth down, CU punter Damon Greaves had his third punt of the first quarter blocked out of the end zone. West Virginia 2, Colorado 0, with just under five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Taking over at its 25-yard line after CU’s free kick, the West Virginia offense put together the first sustained drive by either team on its ensuing possession. The Mountaineers marched 75 yards in 12 plays, with Curtis Jones scoring from two yards out on fourth-and-goal. West Virginia 9, Colorado 0, in the waning seconds of the first quarter.
On CU’s first possession of the second quarter, the Buffs went forward … then back. On third-and-12, Julian Lewis found Omarion Miller for a 42-yard gain to the WVU 34-yard line. After that, the Buffs went backward, with two penalties and a sack leaving CU with a third-and-40 … which the Buffs didn’t convert.
After the Buff defense forced a three-and-out, the CU offense put together its first sustained drive of the game. A 14-yard run on a direct snap by Dre’lon Miller, followed by a 19-yard completion from Lewis to Sincere Brown, set the Buffs up in Mountaineer territory. A 13-yard completion from Lewis to Joseph Williams gave the Buffs a red zone opportunity, but the Buffs couldn’t take advantage. With 6:02 left in the half, Buff kicker Alejandro Mata got CU on the board with a 23-yard field goal.
CU stayed within a score for only a short time, though. A 69-yard catch and run by running back Diore Hubbard put the ball at the Buff four yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Scotty Fox Jr. hit wide receiver Ryan Ward for a three-yard touchdown and a 16-3 WVU lead.
Rather than fold, though, the Buff offense responded. A 24-yard run by Dallan Hayden opened up the drive, with an 11-yard run by Kam Mikell setting the Buffs up at the WVU 12. Two plays later, Julian Lewis connected with Joseph Williams for a nine-yard touchdown. With 45 seconds remaining, the Buffs were back within a touchdown, at 16-9, after kicker Alejandro Mata missed his first extra point attempt as a Buff.
Aided by a face mask penalty on what would have otherwise been a sack, the Mountaineers were able to cover 44 yards in 45 seconds, with WVU kicker Kade Hensley hitting a 41-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
Halftime score: West Virginia 19, Colorado 9
A quick three-and-out by the West Virginia offense gave the CU offense an attempt at regaining momentum. After a six-yard run by Julian Lewis on third-and-five kept the drive alive, Lewis hit Omarion Miller on a pass. The 19-yard gain, though, went for naught as Miller fumbled the ball back to the Mountaineers.
Six plays later, though, the Buffs had the ball back. A fourth-and-six pass attempt by Scotty Fox Jr. was intercepted by Buff safety Preston Hodge at the CU 33.
The Buff offense went three-and-out, but the Mountaineers gave the ball right back. On WVU’s first play, Mountaineer threw a second interception in as many passes, with Buff defensive back John Slaughter intercepting the ball at the WVU 42, with a 22-yard return giving the ball back to the CU offense at the WVU 20-yard line.
This time, the Buff offense took advantage. After a three-yard loss on a run by Dallan Hayden, Julian Lewis hit Omarion Miller for a 23-yard touchdown. West Virginia 19, Colorado 16, midway through the third.
An 11-yard completion on third-and-three, followed later by a five-yard run on fourth-and-four at the CU 33, gave the Mountaineers an opportunity to extend their lead. After a defensive holding penalty set up the WVU offense at the CU 14, at touchdown appeared to be imminent. A sack of Fox by Buff defensive lineman Arden Walker, though, ended the drive. A 37-yard field goal was good, but the Buffs were still within a touchdown, at 22-16, late in the third quarter.
A 42-yard pass from Lewis to Joseph Williams set the Buffs up at the WVU 30, giving CU an opportunity for its first lead of the game. After trading penalties, though, the Buff offense failed to convert another first down, with a 35-yard field goal by Mata making it a 22-19 game on the first play of the fourth quarter.
After the CU defense forced another punt, the Buff offense took the field with a chance to take the lead. A five-yard run by Dallan Hayden gave the Buffs a first down, but from there CU went backwards. A sack and a penalty left CU with a fourth-and-26 at its own nine yard line, forcing a punt.
Taking over near midfield, the Mountaineers took 10 plays and over five minutes of fourth quarter clock to make it a two-score game once again. With just 4:15 left to play, a four-yard touchdown run by Cyncir Brown made it a 29-19 game.
The Buffs then covered 55 yards to kick a field goal to make it a one score game again, but the drive took 14 plays and too much game clock. There was the good – a 11-yard completion to Dallan Hayden, a 14-yard run by Julian Lewis, and a 32-yard completion from Lewis to Dre’lon Miller – which was offset by several sacks along the way. The net result was a 38-yard field goal by Mata, making it a one-score game again.
The new score was 29-22, but only 1:16 remained. An onside kick by Mata was recovered by the Mountaineers, with the WVU offense able to run out the remaining clock.
Final score: West Virginia 29, Colorado 22
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17 Replies to “West Virginia 29, CU 22”
“This is not who we are,” Coach Prime said after the game.
“You are what your record says you are”
– Bill Parcells
Deion and this team will be just fine. Right here in Boulder.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=nJErBkcSDX0
Go Buffs
He’ll be here. That’s true.
I saw Julian Lewis on second and seven take off. He puts his shoulder down, he gets the first down. Instead, he slides three yards short of the line. I’ll take Staub. Thanks.
Staub’s career ended against Arizona with a stat line of 0-for-2, two interceptions.
Indeed. He wouldn’t be my first choice. But out of the three, I’ve seen more toughness out of him.
Wow. Julian made the right choice there, in sliding. Toughness? He has plenty. Along with many things no other qb on the roster has. And I love me some Ryan staub, and hoped Kaidon was the guy. We saw how that worked. How were you as a kid who should’ve been a high school senior? I was high. Really fucking high.
Go Buffs
Right choice is to get the first down. That’s kind of the point of football. You are right. It’s unreasonable to rely on a true freshman quarterback. Perfect world he shouldn’t be playing. I don’t know him from Adam. Probably a great kid and he’s a scholarship quarterback and you have to be a hard worker to be that (particularly a kid his size). But that freshman at Cal puts his shoulder down. If the goal is to win a football game, I personally think Staub is the better choice (of poor choices). But with this coaching, probably doesn’t matter. Can’t even figure out timeouts.
I hear ya. Yes, the goal is to move the chains. Didn’t they get the first down on the next play? I’d have to go look again. Either way, juju is a little undersized still. And had two guys converging on him. I think he chose wisely (unlike drelon who lost sight of the marker and stepped out to stop the clock a step too early). Isn’t that cal qb about the same size as wvu’s, 6’3”, 225? That gives a guy a little different attitude, I reckon.
Go Buffs
I DIDN’T SEE MUCH IMPROVEMENT IN THE PLAY CALLING….VERY PREDICTABLE ON 1ST DOWN.
ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN, I DID SEE LEWIS GET INTO A RHYTHM AND MAKE SOME SURPRISING THROWS…AND COMPLETIONS WITH TIGHT COVERAGE (THANKS TO THE RECEIVERS).
I THINK LEWIS HAS “THE MOJO” NEEDED TO EXCEL. GIVE HIM HIS CHANCE TO MATURE AND DON’T BURN HIS RED SHIRT, THEN GET SOME MEAN OL’S TO PROTECT HIM AND BLOCK FOR THE RB’S. YA’ NEED THE RUNNING GAME OR THE PIG CAN’T FLY.
Is burning his redshirt that big of a deal in today’s NIL, transfer portal and early declarations for the NFL draft? Lewis reclassified to enter college a year early, if successful do you think he’d not enter the draft early too? Maybe you save his redshirt and he still goes to the draft a year early if the next three years are successful.
Couldn’t playing and developing Lewis help in his his retention? Rather than worry about four years from now, maybe Prime is thinking about the player and winning tomorrow with him because he burned his redshirt this season. IF he doesn’t declare early, you get three good/great years out of your five star QB with this year aiding his development for next year.
Three winning years with a good QB will bring in another good QB, they got Lewis because Prime convinced him he could be the next Shedeur. Win wash repeat.
A sloppy, poorly coached football team. Plenty of talent. Top 25 level talent. Undisciplined. Sloppy. Looks like a Jon Embree team but they have enough talent to be less embarrassing. That time out at end of game was coaching malpractice. Literally gave him the game. Deion Sanders is a poor football coach. He’s good at a lot of things. But he’s a poor football coach.
Hard agree.. Possibly the worst timeout I’ve seen in years.
Entire offensive staff needs to go.
I didn’t want JuJu to play because he is like, what, 170? But he threw some real strikes today, something that has been sorely missing. I saw improvement, that is what matters. I was about to throw in the towel, now I’m looking forward to the next two games. They need to find better assistant coaches.
One thing is becoming clear for highly touted QB’s…..they need to play and the more they play the faster they will get better. Arch Manning is a perfect example of a highly touted QB who sits for two years and comes out flat for half a season. Play Juju the rest of the way, well, maybe not the last game and save a redshirt.
Couldn’t agree more, play the damn kid period… it’s his show now. But please build an OL around him before he gets killed.
The progression from the Delaware game to the 1st series to the 4th quarter are miles apart.
And for the love of god, someone please tell CP to either take Timeout/ clock management classes or hire someone to stand next to him and advise. The man CAN NOT manage TOs to save his fricken life!!!
Agree! These last three games are Lewis’ preseason to next year. There are some really good freshmen QBs this season like Bear at BYU; but, he has a much better O-line to play behind and was a replacement for the starter who unexpectedly left the program last summer.