The University of Colorado football team painlessly dammed the Oregon State Beavers Saturday afternoon at Folsom Field. The Buffs, who now ride a two-game Pac-12 Conference game winning streak, defeated OSU 47-6. It was the largest margin of victory in a conference game since CU’s 54-7 win over Kansas State in 1992.
The stage could not have been more set. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Boulder and the crowd of 46,839 Buffalunatics was the largest crowd to fill Folsom Field since head coach Mike MacIntyre took charge of the program in 2013.
“I want it to be standing room only,” MacIntyre said after the game. “We’ve only won two [conference games]; we’ve got to get a bunch more.”
Freshman quarterback Steven Montez got the call to start in lieu of senior Sefo Liufau, who’s dealing with a lingering ankle sprain that he sustained during the loss at Michigan two weeks prior. Montez’s day likely silenced all doubters who believed his performance at Oregon last week was a fluke.
Montez, a 6’5″, 225-pound force from El Paso, Texas, had himself one heck of a game. He was pulled before the fourth quarter in favor of senior Jordan Gehrke, but Montez completed 19 of 27 passes for 293 yards and three touchdowns. Montez has now passed for 626 yards and thrown six touchdowns in his first two collegiate starts.
All three of his touchdown tosses on Saturday were caught by junior wide receiver Shay Fields, Jr. He led the Buffs with seven catches for 169 yards. He is just the fourth CU receiver to have three touchdowns in a game.
After winning the opening coin toss and deferring, the Buffs forced a quick three-and-out from the Beavers.
The only blemish of Montez’s day came on Colorado’s first offensive possession of the game. He overthrew a few passes and the Buffaloes were forced to punt.
OSU capped a 12 play, 39-yard drive with a field goal on its next possession to score the opening points. It would be the only Beavers lead of the game, as the rest of the contest was dominated by Colorado.
On the Buffs’ next drive, Montez found Fields downfield for a 51-yard touchdown, putting the Buffs up 6-3. Special teams issues continue to persist, as junior placekicker Chris Graham’s extra point attempt was blocked following the score. It was a minor incident, but one that players and coaches alike realize simply can’t happen during potential close games down the line.
The Beavers would kick another field goal in the second quarter to make the score 20-6, but after that, Oregon State failed to score again. The Buffaloes defense did not give up a single touchdown.
“Teams get into the endzone because [of] blown coverage, missed tackles [and] not filling the gaps right,” said senior linebacker Jimmie Gilbert. “By keeping them out, it lets us know that we did what we were supposed to.”
Montez continued to shine in the second quarter. With 13 minutes remaining in the half, he tossed a quick pass to Fields, Jr. on the sideline. A solid block by junior wide receiver Devin Ross allowed Fields, Jr. to snake his way up the sideline, which turned into a 61-yard touchdown reception.
“I just give him a decent ball and he goes out there and makes amazing plays,” Montez said. “All of our receivers do. He got absolutely loose on a five-yard fish route. [It was an] easy throw for me and he just turned it into a highlight reel play.”
CU’s receiving core continues to be a major strength of the team. Five of the Buffaloes’ wideouts caught more than one pass during the game Saturday.
The ground game wasn’t all that bad too. Junior tailback Phillip Lindsay enjoyed success during the game. He rushed for 90 yards on 16 carries, good for a 5.6 yards per carry average. He found the endzone on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
“The running game is extremely important for us to set up,” MacIntyre said. “It allows us to be able to do some of our play action passes and hit the stuff over the middle. Once we get them running, we go so fast that they get tired.”
The Buffs and Beavers exchanged punts to open up the third quarter. After the Buffs punted again and OSU began its second drive of the quarter, senior defensive back Tedric Thompson picked off the Beavers’ Conor Blount. Freshman kicker Davis Price would kick a 22-yard field goal to increase the lead, 40-6.
Blount, a true freshman, replaced OSU’s Darell Garretson, who left the game in the second quarter. The two Beavers quarterbacks combined to complete 13 of 32 attempted passes for 100 yards.
“Obviously, Colorado was the far superior team today,” OSU head coach Gary Anderson said. “We got thoroughly beat today.”
The 22-yarder was hardly Price’s main highlight of the day. Late in the second quarter, MacIntyre sent Davis to attempt a 54-yarder, which he converted on a line drive kick. It’s the longest field goal ever made by a freshman kicker at CU.
With less than a minute left in the half and the Beavers deep in their own territory, a pass from Blount was intercepted by sophomore linebacker Rick Gamboa, who promptly turned it into a pick six, hammering another nail into Oregon State’s coffin.
On the day, the Buffaloes put up 563 yards of total offense compared to OSU’s 226. The Buffs managed 26 first downs, averaged 6.7 yards per play and went 9-17 on third down.
Gilbert led the team with seven tackles and two sacks. Junior defensive back Ryan Moeller and senior linebacker Kenneth Olugbode were second on the team with six tackles a piece.
The 2016 Buffaloes (4-1, 2-0 Pac-12) will travel to Los Angeles, Calif. next week to take on the USC Trojans. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. MST and the game will be broadcasted live on Pac-12 Networks.
Contact CU Independent Head Sports Editor Justin Guerriero at Justin.guerriero@colorado.edu.
