During a game this season on Sept. 19, sophomore tailback Rodney Stewart dives for the endzone during the third quarter against Wyoming. Stewart scored twice for the Buffs, leading them to a 24-0 victory. Stewart scored Saturday, giving CU its only lead against Kansas State. The Buffs lost on the road 20-6. (CU Independent file/Molly Maher)
Questionable calls and self-inflicted wounds were the Colorado Buffaloes football team’s downfall.
CU (2-5, 1-2 Big 12 Conference), which turned the ball over four times and attempted a fake punt from inside its own 10-yard line in the fourth quarter, fell 20-6 to the Kansas State Wildcats (5-3, 3-1) on Saturday in Manhattan, Kan.
Buffs junior quarterback Cody Hawkins, whom many thought lost his job permanently to sophomore Tyler Hansen, entered the game late in the second.
Hawkins threw two interceptions, both of whom went to sophomore defensive back Emmanuel Lamur, and accounted for half of the Buffs’ four turnovers. Lamur’s second pick came late in the game when CU was on the Wildcats’ 2-yard line.
Hawkins completed 10-of-23 passes for 95 yards while Hansen was 7-of-14 for 89 yards.
Trailing 20-6 early in the fourth and facing fourth-and-10 from its own 9-yard line, CU elected to try some trickery. Senior punter Matt DiLallo rushed for 8 yards but stepped out-of-bounds two yards shy of the first down. Luckily for the Buffs, KSU senior quarterback Grant Gregory coughed up the ball three plays later to senior linebacker Jeff Smart.
CU’s lone touchdown came on its first possession. With a mix of running and passing plays, the Buffs advanced the ball 71 yards in 13 plays. Sophomore running back Rodney Stewart gave CU its only lead with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 6-3. Junior kicker Aric Goodman’s extra-point hit the right upright, though.
Wildcats kicker Josh Cherry had made a 25-yard field goal moments earlier for a 3-0 KSU advantage.
Wildcats junior running back Daniel Thomas capped a bruising drive with a 4-yard burst to push KSU back ahead 10-6 with 13 minutes, 19 seconds to play in the first half. KSU ran the ball on every play in the drive.
On the first play of the Buffs’ next possession, Hansen was sacked and fumbled the ball to senior linebacker Ulla Pomele. The Wildcats settled for a Cherry 27-yard field goal.
Later, CU forced the Wildcats into a punting situation after holding KSU to a three-and-out. Buffs sophomore punt returner Jason Espinoza put the ball on the turf, though, and it was scooped up by junior Corey Adams. Four plays later, the Wildcats were in the end zone again, complements of a 5-yard rush by Gregory.
CU’s rushing attack only netted 60 yards. Stewart accounted for 49.
The Buffs will host the Missouri Tigers for homecoming at 11:30 a.m. on Halloween.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Alex K.W. Schultz at Alexander.schultz@colorado.edu.
