Colorado at Houston
I know it’s still early but after watching Colorado lose 36-20 on the road to Houston I think getting anywhere near last year’s 9-4 overall record and 7-2 conference record is going to be a hill way too high to climb. But, I’m hopeful they can win enough to become bowl eligible and keep the momentum going in Boulder. With Wyoming on the schedule next Saturday they should be 2-2 before taking on BYU at home and then going on the road to take on Texas Christian. If they can win both of those, big if, they’ll host No. 14 Iowa State at home and then hit the road to take on a very resurgent No. 20 Utah. If they can be 4-4 after all that, I think they stand a good chance of making a bowl game this year.
The Buffaloes got off to a really slow start in this one, getting the ball first but then bogging down. After eight plays and just 28 yards Colorado was forced to punt. Houston took the early lead on their first possession at the end of a 10 play 63 yard drive and 52 yard field goal by Senior Place Kicker Ethan Sanchez. Holding Colorado to back-to-back three and outs, the Cougars would put seven more points on the board to go up 10-0 on a 5 play 79 yard drive including a 49 yard quarterback keeper by Junior Conner Weigman and 4 yard TD run by Senior RB Dean Connors. Holding Colorado to another three-and-out Houston would extend their lead by three on another Ethan Sanchez field goal—this one for 43 yards. After three-and-outs by both teams, Colorado would finally break the ice with a 10 play 93 yard drive and 38 yard TD run by Senior RB Simeon Price to make it 13-7. Using up almost six minutes of the clock the Cougars would find way their down to the Colorado 29, sitting 4th and 13, where Sanchez would hit another field goal—this one from 47 yards out to go up 16-7. With just 1:39 left in the half, the Buffaloes only needed 1:13 to find the end zone again, this time on a TD run by Junior TE Zach Atkins to make it 16-14 at the break.
Colorado was held scoreless in the 3rd Qtr while Houston put up 10 more points and then threw an interception on their first possession of the 4th Qtr. After being held to a three-and-out on their second possession of the half the Cougars would put seven more points on the board on a three play drive that included a 54 yard pass to Senior WR Stephon Johnson and another TD run by their QB Conner Weigman to go up 33-14. With just a little less than seven minutes left in the game the Buffaloes would tighten up the score, aided by a face mask penalty, and a 37 yard TD pass from Sophomore QB Ryan Staub to Sophomore WR Joseph Williams. But it was too little too late. Ethan Sanchez would kick another field goal of 49 yards to make it 36-20 with the Buffaloes throwing an interception on their last possession of the game.
For Colorado, Sophomore QB Ryan Staub had a rough night connecting on just of 50% of his passes for 1 TD, and 2 interceptions. On the ground the Buffaloes rushed 23 times for 96 yards and 2 TD’s. For Houston, Weigman was 15-of-24 for 222 yards in the air while also rushing 17 times for 83 yards and 2 of the 3 TD’s on the ground. Senior RB’s Dean Connors and Stacy Sneed combined for another 124 yards of their 213 yard total with Connors picking up their only other rushing TD. Houston led in first downs, 21-15; total yards, 435-300; had about 13 more minutes time-of-possession and had no turnovers compared to a couple for the Buffaloes.
Kansas State at Arizona
Arizona got the ball first and after the kick-off worked the ball 46 yards downfield. But after a holding penalty and an incompletion found themselves 4th and 14 at the KSU 29 yard line. Unfortunately, their Sophomore PK Michael Salgado-Medina missed the 47 yard field goal attempt. He’s been money from inside 40 yards but so far this year is 2-for-5 on any attempt 40 yards and greater which is probably going to be a problem all year long. Halfway through the period Kansas State was in the same boat only further out. But their Sophomore PK, Luis Rodriguez, hit the longest field goal of his career from 51 yards out and gave Kansas State the early 3-0 lead. But just five plays later, thanks to a 60 yard run by Senior RB Ismail Mahdi down to the KSU 15 yard line and a 15 yard TD run by Junior QB Noah Fafita, Arizona would go on top 7-3.
After bogging down and sitting 4th at 10 at the Arizona 39 after an 11 play drive, an incomplete pass would turn the ball back over to the Wildcats who nine plays later would increase the lead to 10-3 on a successful Salgado-Medina 31 yard field. After holding Kansas State to a three-and-out on their next possession Arizona would increase their lead to 14 on another Noah Fafita TD run, this one for 2 yards at the end of a 10 play 72 yard drive to go into the locker room at halftime up 17-3.
But back-to-back TD’s by Kansas State—the first on a 75 yard TD run by Jayce Brown on their first play from scrimmage in the 3rd Qtr—would tie the ball game up at 17-17 with less than five minutes gone in the quarter. Arizona would blow their chance to go ahead with an interception but dug in and held Kansas State to a three-and-out on their subsequent possession. Eleven plays and five plus minutes later Salgado-Medina would hit his second field goal—another one from 31 yards out to put the Wildcats up 20-17. After back-to-back three-and-outs to start the 4th Qtr Arizona would connect on yet another field—this one from 41 yards out—to go up 23-17. Kansas State would not get another chance to score having to hand the ball back on their next two possessions while Arizona’s Salgado-Medina got his fourth opportunity of the game but missed from 46 yards out.
For Arizona, Fifita was 16-of-33 for 178 yards without finding the end zone or throwing an interception. On the ground, RB Ismail Mahdi rushed 22 times for 189 of the team’s 234 yards on the ground with Fafita responsible for the only two rushing TD’s. In spite of the misses, Salgado-Medina would connect on 3-of-6 field goals and 2 extra points to add 11 to the scoreboard. The Kansas State Junior QB, Avery Johnson, struggled and connected just 44% of the time without finding the end zone in the air but did account for one of their rushing TD’s. Junior WR Jayce Brown, who also doubles as a running back, picked up 68 yards on six receptions, while also leading the team on the ground with 75 yards and 1 TD. Even though they came close to loosing this game in the second half, Arizona dominated the team stats with a 21-8 lead in first downs; a 219 yard advantage in total yards of offense, 412-193; a thirteen minutes time-of-possession advantage while also converting their third down attempts twice as often as Kansas State. Although they have a 3-0 start, they’re going to have to be a lot better against their next Big-12 opponent, No. 14 Iowa State. Fortunately, they get a week off before they hit the road to Ames, Iowa to take on the Cyclones. If you ever get to Ames don’t forget to check out Hickory Park Restaurant for everything BBQ’d and smoked.
No. 20 Utah at Wyoming
The only surprise for me in this one was why did it take Utah so long to crank it up with a three point Dillon Curtis 43 yard field goal the only points in the half by either team. After making that one they missed the next two, were held to a three-and-out, and then fumbled on their last possession of the first half. And then there was, I’m sure, a Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham come-to-Jesus moment in the locker room at half-time. Well, whatever he said worked as they came out and scored back-to-back TD’s in the 3rd Qtr and then another after picking off the Wyoming QB to start the fourth to go up 24-0. Wyoming would come back with a TD of their own late in the period to make it 24-6 after a failed two-point conversion. But the Utes would add another seven to the board on an 11 yard TD run by Freshman TE Hunter Andrews to finish up the scoring for the day at 31-6.
For Utah, Junior QB Devon Dampier connected on 27-of-41 for 230 yards, 2 TD’s—1 each to Freshman Tight End JJ Buchanan and Junior Wide Receiver Larry Simmons—and no interceptions while also carrying the ball 13 times to lead the team in rushing yards with 86. On the ground Dampier, along with Sophomore RB Wayshawn Parker, Freshman Tight End Hunter Andrews, and Senior RB Naquari Rogers collectively rushed 42 times for 288 of the team’s 311 total yards on the ground with Andrews and Rogers picking up a TD each. Although this one should have been a blowout from start-to-finish I have a feeling that Whittingham and his Utes can’t wait to get back home to start Big-12 play against the highly touted Texas Tech Red Raiders who are putting up 58 points a game while holding their opponents to less than twelve.
Texas State at Arizona State
It took a minute for Arizona State’s Sophomore QB Sam Leavitt, favorite target Junior WR Jordyn Tyson, and RB Raleek Brown to spool up the offense, but once they did they had no problem dispensing with the Texas State Bobcats. After holding Texas State to a turnover on downs on their first possession and a three-and-out on their second the Sun Devils finally got onto the scoreboard with a Jesse Gomez 47 yard field goal about half-way through the quarter to go up 3-0. The Bobcats would tie it up at three each on their next possession with a Tyler Robles 39 yard field goal at the end of a 13 play 54 yard drive to close out the scoring in the 1st Qtr. The Wildcats started the 2nd Qtr with a familiar connection as Leavitt hit WR Jordyn Tyson with a 30 yard TD pass 10 plays into a 70 yard drive to go up 10-3 and then 17-3 on a Sam Leavitt QB keeper after a Bobcat fumble on their possession just 11 yards outside their own red zone. Arizona State would score on their third consecutive possession of the quarter with another field goal by their Senior Place Kicker Jesse Gomez, this one for 26 yards to go up 20-3. With the Bobcats being held to a three-and-out on their next possession and missing a field goal with time expiring in the 2nd Qtr that was all the scoring before the break,
After outscoring Texas State 17-0 in the 2nd Qtr, Arizona came out in the third and scored a TD on both of their possessions—one on a Sam Leavitt 27 yard pass to Senior Tight End Chamon Metayer and the second on a kick-off return for TD by Junior RB Raleek Brown to go up 34-9. With the Bobcats scoring one as well that made it 34-9 at the end of three. The Wildcats had a chance to increase the margin after a Texas State fumble inside the ASU red zone on the 12th play of their first possession of the 4th Qtr but were held to a three-and-out. Texas State would follow that defensive stop up with their second TD of the game, a 3 yard TD pass to Kylen Evans from Brad Jackson to give us the final 34-15 score after another missed 2-point conversion. With just a little over five minutes left the Wildcats would run the clock out to finish up their pre-conference schedule at 2-1 with their next game on the road to start their Big-12 conference play against Baylor.