Offensive lineman Tim Lynott takes on Arizona to defend the Buffs. Oct. 7, 2017. (Bailey Miclette/CU Independent)
In a game that truly embodied the switched narrative of this year’s Colorado Buffaloes football team from 2016, CU allowed 567 total yards of offense to the Arizona Wildcats and dropped an intense and high-scoring affair, 45-42.
Last year the Buffaloes saw scores and results such a 10-5 win over Stanford, a 20-10 victory over the UCLA Bruins and a down-to-the-wire 27-22 win over Utah with the Pac-12 South title on the line.
In those games, Colorado’s highly experienced defense kept the team in the game and in many instances, the offense failed to deliver knockout punches to enemy teams.
In Saturday’s loss to the Wildcats at Folsom Field, it was Colorado’s offense that fought valiantly to keep pace with an Arizona offensive 11 that truly had its way with the Buffs’ defenders.
On Arizona’s first offensive drive of the game, starting quarterback Brandon Dawkins looked good; he repeatedly scrambled from a collapsing pocket and gained big chunks of yardage.
But in Colorado territory, Dawkins ran the ball and was hit late out of bounds by Colorado junior linebacker, Drew Lewis. The late hit resulted in Dawkins leaving the game. He did not return. The 15-yard penalty from the hit contributed to the Wildcats’ first touchdown of the game.
Entering the game in his place was backup quarterback Khalil Tate. Tate’s 327 yards on the ground, 142 yards passing and five total touchdowns do more than speak for themselves on the Inglewood, California, native’s impact in the game.
The Buffaloes simply could not find an answer for him all night. He repeatedly made use of his legs to torch the Buffs for huge gains. After the game clock read all zeros, Tate boasted a 23.4 yards per carry average, with his longest rush of the day being 75 yards.
“We just couldn’t tackle him,” head coach Mike MacIntyre said. “We had him hemmed up, made him change direction, stopped the original play multiple times, and he just [outran] us … we missed him a few times.”
After the Wildcats took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter, the Buffaloes answered with a 10- play, 75-yard drive capped off with a 5-yard touchdown run by senior tailback Phillip Lindsay.
Lindsay’s evening is indicative of the insufficiency of incredible personal effort; he left it all on the field for the Buffaloes in the loss, carrying the ball 41 times for 282 yards and three touchdowns.
After tonight’s game, Lindsay became Colorado’s all-time leader in all purpose yards. His 4,989 yards surpassed the 4,669 gained by Rodney Stewart, who played for CU from 2008-2011.
The same could be said of sophomore tight end Chris Bounds, whose two receptions in the game were both touchdowns.
On Arizona’s ensuing drive, Tate scored the second of his four rushing touchdowns, evading CU’s defenders for a 28-yard run that concluded in the back of the endzone.
Lindsay matched Tate again, however, scoring his second touchdown of the day on a 1-yard run. The 19-play drive took 9:34 off the clock and was arguably Colorado’s most impressive sequence on offense. Of those plays, 14 of them were handoffs to Lindsay.
“Really? I didn’t even notice,” Lindsay said of the drive at halftime.
With the score tied at 14, just over two minutes left before halftime and Colorado set to receive the ball in the second half, Tate led Arizona down the field on a quick and critical touchdown drive.
Tate began the Wildcats’ possession by breaking out into the open field and gaining 37 yards on a run. In just three plays, Arizona covered 68 yards in only 56 seconds as Tate found wideout Shun Brown in the endzone and like that, the ‘Cats went up 21-14.
The Buffs attempted to punch back before the half, but their drive stalled at the Arizona 33-yard line and a 50-yard field goal attempt from freshman placekicker James Stefanou missed the mark.
Colorado’s first drive of the second half resulted in a punt. Arizona committed no such failure on its ensuing drive. Tate had another date with the endzone, this time scoring on a 47-yard run to put the ‘Cats up 28-14.
If Saturday’s loss accomplished one thing, it was overshadowing the efficiency with which Colorado’s offense played with.
Sophomore quarterback Steven Montez’s night was not error free; he overthrew junior wideout Shay Fields, Jr. a few times on what likely could have been long touchdowns, but he finished the night going 19-of-32 with three touchdowns and 251 yards through the air.
“The offense did everything they could,” MacIntyre said. “Everything was four-down territory because we weren’t going to stop [Arizona].”
Down 28-14, Montez found senior wide receiver Bryce Bobo for a 7-yard touchdown to get the Buffs back into the game. But in continuation of the trend on Saturday, everything CU’s offense could do, Arizona’s could do better.
Five minutes later, the Wildcats were up 35-21.
The Buffaloes offense kept pace while their defense repeatedly failed to plug the holes in the ship.
“Execution wasn’t there on my part [and] execution wasn’t there as a defense,” senior defensive back Ryan Moeller said after the loss. “We’re out there to tackle, make plays and [make] stop[s] and we didn’t do it.”
Despite finally holding the Wildcats to a field goal in the fourth quarter and outscoring Arizona 21-10 in the final 15 minutes, 551 yards of total offense was not enough for the Buffaloes, who fell to 3-3 (0-3 Pac-12) in the aftermath of the loss.
“Going 0-3 in the Pac-12 is not what we set out to do at all,” Montez said. “We just have to stay together as a unit and not let any outside factors break us apart.”
Forcing Arizona to kick a 24-yard field goal made the score 45-35 in favor of the ‘Cats. With 8:06 left in the game, the Buffs marched down the field in just under three minutes and Lindsay scored his third and final touchdown of the day from 11 yards out.
Down 45-42, the majority of the 49,976 fans that stayed at Folsom Field that long stood up and began a long and powerful roar of encouragement for the Colorado defense. But the show of support was not enough.
With time dwindling and the Wildcats facing a 3rd-and-7 at CU’s 48-yard line, Arizona ran what likely was a run play designed to further eat the clock. But in his final act in Boulder, Tate did his best Harry Houdini impression, somehow evading legions of Buffaloes and turned the play into a 31-yard gain.
From there, all hope of a Colorado victory exited Folsom Field. Time expired and the Buffs, who did not lead for a single second in the game, lost their third consecutive game.
“We won’t play like that on defense again,” MacIntyre said. “We’ll be able to make some hay here. That’s what we need to do. We can’t start pointing fingers and griping and moaning.”
Colorado hits the road next week for a game against the Oregon State Beavers on Saturday, Oct. 14. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.
Contact CU Independent Head Sports Editor Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @TheHungry_Hippo.
