Knowing it would be their last game as Colorado Buffaloes, a quartet of seniors left their hearts out at Folsom Field.
“This might be my last time ever playing football, so I was just going to go out there, have fun and be remembered for what I did for the last game,” senior cornerback Cha’pelle Brown said. “I was happy to go out there, have a good game and try to get a win for the team.”
Brown succeeded in his attempt to have a good game Friday as he notched a game-high 11 tackles, two for a loss, and had a third-quarter sack in the Buffs 28-20 defeat to their archrival, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Brown’s teammates acknowledged his efforts.
“Cha’pelle definitely had one of his best games on tackles,” senior strong safety Benjamin Burney said. “He was hogging them!”
Burney had a good game himself. He recorded nine tackles, one for a loss, and a first-quarter sack. Notching the Buffs’ final sack was senior linebacker Marcus Burton as he sacked Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee the play before Burney got his sack.
But the senior contributions weren’t limited to defensive players. Senior fullback Jake Behrens made his mark by scoring Colorado’s first touchdown of the game in the second quarter. It was his first touchdown of the year.
“It was great,” Behrens said. “I was pumped and we got the momentum going the other way. It was awesome to be able to score and to have all that red in the corner be silenced. It was a pretty good experience.”
Despite the quartet’s efforts, Burton said he thought it wasn’t enough because they lost their final collegiate game.
“Ultimately, we didn’t make enough of them to win the game or get the defensive stops when we needed them,” Burton said. “But I definitely think it helped.”
However, Burney said the sad ending to their careers will not be what the seniors will remember from their time at CU.
“There’s always disappointment,” Burney said. “You always want to beat Nebraska, especially at CU, but the moments we had out there is what I’m going to take. I won’t even remember the score. I’ll remember that we lost, but I’ll remember being out there next to Cha’pelle, Jalil [Brown], Jimmy [Smith], Marcus and Jeff [Smart]. We tried playing well and so you can’t ask for more.”
The seniors leave with a 3-9 blemish, but they exit CU knowing the younger players next year will lead the team and try their best to ruin the Cornhuskers’ Senior Day.
“I think [the team] is in good hands,” Brown said. “The whole offense will be back, and with the defense and the defensive line, mostly everybody will be back. I think they will be all right coming in next year.”
The seniors also left their last game knowing it wasn’t just about them, but the team as a whole, which some said they felt played their best against Nebraska.
“You could tell everyone was playing really hard and I was really happy to see that,” Burney said. “It made me emotional to see everyone trying so hard for us on defense and I know I was trying my hardest too.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Kayla Cornett at Kayla.cornett@colorado.edu.
