Frustration has set in as the bowl possibilities are slipping away from the Colorado Buffaloes.

“I think definitely now, our backs are against the wall,” senior strong safety Ben Burney said. “It’s no joke now. What happens when you put a Buffalo against the back of the wall? It’s got to charge out. That’s how we have to be every single play in everything we do. There’s nothing else for us except the next four games.”

The Buffs dropped their sixth game this season as they fell to Missouri 36-17 Saturday in front of 45,634 at Folsom Field. With the loss, the Buffs fell to 2-6 overall and 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference.

With four games remaining, the Buffs will need to win their remaining games to become bowl-eligible.

It was a tale of two halves for the Buffs, and unfortunately, the clock ran out on them.

Wasting no time, Missouri marched down for scores on their first two drives. The first touchdown came on a 2-yard carry from tailback Derrick Washington, capping off an 11-play, 80-yard drive.

Following a Colorado punt, Missouri made the end zone its own as quarterback Blaine Gabbert found wide receiver Danario Alexander on a crossing route, which he turned into a 73-yard catch-and-run touchdown.

Before the end of the first quarter, Missouri mustered one more touchdown coming on a 2-yard completion from Gabbert to Alexander to go up 21-0.

A majority of Missouri’s ability to get up early came from Colorado turnovers.

“We had four turnovers,” sophomore quarterback Tyler Hansen said. “That killed us. We can’t do that.”

Hansen lost three fumbles, two of which came in the first half, and threw an interception.

Slow starts seem to be a common theme for the Buffs as they were only able to generate a 48-yard Aric Goodman field goal in the first half.

Part of the slow start can be attributed to Missouri’s pass rush not allowing Hansen to get comfortable in the pocket. The Tigers sacked Hansen eight times, four in each half.

“They were definitely bringing the heat and they were doing some things on defense that worked for them,” Hansen said.

In the second half, the Buffs looked like a different team, allowing only three points after giving up 33 in the first half.

However, a majority of the defensive success in the second half was a matter of execution.

“We cleaned a few things up, but it wasn’t massive,” head coach Dan Hawkins said. “Towards the end of the first half, we were able to stop them so we went to some of that stuff in the second half.”

CU opened the third quarter with an 8-play, 58-yard scoring drive. The Buffs scored their only offensive touchdown on a 3-yard Rodney Stewart run.

The next Colorado touchdown came later in the third as Burney returned an interception 78 yards to cut the deficit to 33-17. It was Burney’s first career interception returned for a touchdown.

The remainder of the game was a combination of stalled drives from both teams. The Buffs were stopped on a fourth-and-1 at Mizzou’s 13 and later, Hansen threw an interception at the Tigers’ 23. Missouri kicker Grant Ressel iced the game on a 33-yard field goal with 3:57 left in the game.

If Colorado has any shot at turning the season around, they need to get off to quicker starts.

“A lot of it is a momentum thing and guys making more plays,” Hawkins said. “But again, I think it is part of them growing up and learning.”

As frustrated senior linebacker Marcus Burton vented to the media, one thing became clear in his mind.

“We need to get clicking on the same cylinder, and that’s just not happening right now,” Burton said.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Richard Londer at Richard.londer@colorado.edu.