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BOULDER — We astir apt won’t cognize until that Oct. 23 sojourn to Cal arsenic to whether CU shot is genuinely “fixed.”
But for 1 sunny afternoon, astatine least, the Buffs took their frustrations retired connected a Pac-12 programme that’s far, far much breached than they are.
CU (2-4, 1-2 conference) scored touchdowns connected peculiar teams, defence and successful the passing crippled successful the 3rd 4th connected Saturday to demolish winless Arizona astatine Folsom Field, 34-0, earlier a assemblage of 49,806 astatine Folsom Field.
Freshman wide receiver Brenden Rice, lad of NFL fable Jerry Rice, posted a collegiate-best 111 receiving yards, including a 62-yard people successful the 2nd half, to assistance the Buffs drawback a four-game losing streak.
Rice, a 6-foot-3 Arizona native, racked up a combined 120 full yards rushing and receiving connected the day, different idiosyncratic high.
CU backmost Brendon Lewis threw for a career-high 248 yards and 2 scores arsenic the Buffs posted their largest borderline of triumph implicit a Pac-12 foe since a 47-6 triumph against Oregon State successful Boulder successful 2016.
In a conflict of 2 struggling offenses and 2 teams looking for their archetypal wins of the play implicit FBS competition, it was a special-teams play that yet broke the crippled unfastened for the Buffs.
With 6:54 near successful the 3rd 4th and CU clinging to a 6-0 lead, the Wildcats (0-6, 0-2 Pac-12) lined up to punt connected 4th-and-10 adjacent midfield. CU freshman information Trevor Woods broke done the extortion to deflect Kyle Ostendorp’s kick, scooped up the carom and ran it backmost for a touchdown.
Woods’ people was the Buffs’ archetypal disconnected a blocked punt since Sept. 11, 2004, against Washington State.
The amusive continued for the hosts connected Arizona’s adjacent drive. Now down 13-0, the impotent Wildcats felt compelled to spell to the aerial much aggressively with freshman backup backmost Gunner Cruz, and the Buffs made them pay.
On 3rd-and-3 astatine the Arizona 46, Buffs linebacker Carson Wells jumped a Cruz walk and returned the interception 50 yards for the hosts’ 2nd touchdown of the day. The pick-6, which pushed the CU pb to 19-0, was the Buffs archetypal successful 3 seasons.
Once the Buffs got up 3 touchdowns, Lewis and the dormant CU passing crippled got into the act. When the ‘Cats jumped offsides connected a 3rd-and-11 play from the Buffs 38, Lewis took vantage of the escaped play and deed Rice up the close bound for a 62-yard touchdown, 26-0 pb and an emphatic exclamation point. It was the longest scoring play by a CU wide receiver each play and Rice’s 2nd big-gainer of the afternoon.
On the Buffs’ 2nd violative play, the freshman outjumped his defender up the near bound for a 31-yard summation to the Wildcat 38.
CU drove to the Wildcats’ 1-yard line, but connected 4th-and-goal, Dorrell elected for the harmless points and called retired the tract extremity unit. Cole Becker’s 19-yard conversion gave the Buffs a 3-0 pb — CU’s archetypal since holding a 7-3 vantage implicit Texas A&M astatine Empower Field connected Sept. 11.
It was besides the archetypal clip the Buffs’ game-opening thrust produced points this season.
The stalemate continued until the 8:28 people of the 2nd quarter, erstwhile Lewis escaped pressure, rolled close and spotted moving backmost Alex Fontenot wide unfastened 41 yards downfield. Lewis launched a floater and the CU inferior tailback came backmost connected it for different Buffs detonation play that gave them the stone astatine the Arizona 24.
The thrust stalled astatine the Arizona 19, though. Another Becker tract goal, this 1 from 37 yards out, pushed the CU pb to 6-0.
That cushion appeared to teeter connected the Wildcats’ ensuing possession. Two penalties by Buffs cornerback Mekhi Blackmon brought the shot to the CU 24 with 4:10 near successful the half. That Buffs’ cushion was successful superior jeopardy erstwhile Arizona tailback Jalen John broke escaped of a mates CU limb tackles earlier being ruled down astatine the 1.
How past chooses to justice adjacent 4 plays volition beryllium connected your idiosyncratic loyalties. From a CU standpoint, the mentation of events is that the Buffs’ D stiffened, turning distant the ‘Cats connected 4 consecutive plays to sphere the shutout. A backmost sneak nether halfway went nowhere. The Wildcats tried a handoff to John retired of a shotgun look, which besides got stuffed. On 4th and 1, Cruz was chased to his close by linebacker Nate Landman and fired wildly into the extremity portion for an incompletion and turnover connected downs.
The 2 teams had the shot wrong each other’s 20-yard enactment combined, conscionable 3 times, moving 10 plays successful the reddish zone. They managed each of 12 yards connected those 10 plays — and each 12 of those came connected 5 Buffs snaps midway done the archetypal quarter.
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