Colorado Beats Colorado State After Forcing 4 Turnovers

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The Colorado Buffaloes (2-1) traveled to Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, Colo. to beat Colorado State (1-2) 28-9 in a bounce-back game on Sept. 14. In the first seven combined drives, five of those drives ended in punts and one was a missed field goal by Colorado and a made field goal by Colorado State. The Buffaloes were the first offense to find their footing in this game with two straight touchdown drives before halftime to take a 14-3 lead to the locker room. The Colorado defense—for the first time this season—played to its potential forcing 4 turnovers and stifling the Rams' offense.

Game Summary

The Colorado offense was led by quarterback Shedeur Sanders who piled up 419 yards of offense and had only one turnover. Wide receiver Travis Hunter had 13 catches for 100 yards and 2 touchdowns. Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi had a rough night throwing 2 interceptions and losing a fumble. Star wide receiver Tory Horton went down with an injury taking away one of the Rams' biggest weapons. Penalties were an issue for both teams as Colorado had 12 penalties for 112 yards and Colorado State had 10 for 94 yards.

Turning Point For Colorado

Coming out of halftime the Rams' defense forced Colorado to punt down 14-3 bringing life to the possibility of a comeback. Two plays later Colorado's cornerback Preston Hodge picked off a Fowler-Nicolosi pass returning it to the 12-yard line. Two plays later Sanders connected with Hunter on a 2-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 21-3 putting the game out of reach for Colorado State.

What It Means

Colorado needed a strong showing after what happened to them last week at No. 24 Nebraska (3-0). The Buffaloes needed to show better offensive line play which they did accomplish by giving up only 1 sack and averaged 5.7 yards per carry. The next thing the Buffaloes need to get more consistent on is the offensive line to have a shot at being competitive in the Big 12 Conference. Colorado opens up Big 12 play next week at home against Baylor (2-1).

Colorado State had a rough time against Power Four opponents this season with a 52-0 loss at No. 2 Texas (3-0) then this game against Colorado. The silver lining to the bumpy start to the season is they won't face teams with nearly as much talent as their past two opponents. Fowler-Nicolosi will not have many nights like he did against the Buffaloes. Colorado State should still be in the upper half of the Mountain West Conference this fall. Next Saturday, the Rams welcome UTEP (0-3) to Fort Collins with a chance to have a bounce-back game and gain momentum for conference play.