A two-year-old child attempting to eat spaghetti with no bib would have been less sloppy than the No. 21 Colorado Buffaloes’ 20-10 victory over the UCLA Bruins Thursday night at Folsom Field.
The Buffs and Bruins combined for an eyebrow-raising 224 yards of total penalty yards in the contest. If there was a medal to win for leading in such a category, CU would have won the gold, as the Buffs registered an uncharacteristic 12 penalties for 128 yards. Four of those were 15-yard personal foul calls.
“Our personal fouls were selfish things that we’ll definitely get corrected,” head coach Mike MacIntyre said after the game. “We haven’t had that in the past and we will not have that in the future.”
But a win’s a win. The Buffaloes (7-2, 5-1 Pac-12) now hold the sole first place slot within the Pac-12 South. The Bruins (3-6,1-5 Pac-12) now find themselves up against the wall, with bowl hopes fading away as the days go by.
Throughout the game, the Buffaloes’ offense struggled to muster points and move the ball downfield. And when solid plays happened, many times penalties followed. Permanently leaving a flag on the field would have saved the officiating crew some time.
“It’s just not us. It’s not how we play,” senior linebacker Kenneth Olugbode said. “We just [have to] clean it up.”
Offensively, junior tailback Phillip Lindsay was a bright light in a dark tunnel for Colorado. Lindsay had 154 all-purpose yards in the contest. He was a true dual threat to the Bruins’ defense, accumulating 76 receiving yards and 78 yards on the ground. Lindsay was a particular menace to the Bruins’ secondary, as he caught numerous short passes and many times was able to turn them into sizable gains.
His 76 yards through the air were more than juniors Bryce Bobo, Shay Fields, Jr. and Devin Ross combined.
After an off outing vs. the Stanford Cardinal in the Buffaloes’ last outing, senior quarterback Sefo Liufau followed it up with a bit of an erratic night.
For the record, the Bruins’ defense sacked Liufau four times during the game, but despite that, he managed to wiggle his way out of many would-be sacks in the backfield. He was consistently subjected to a passing pocket with the strength of a gingerbread house.
That said, Liufau threw two picks in the game, and lost a fumble attempting to throw a pass. It was deflected up in the air and recovered by UCLA. Liufau went 19-of-30 in the game and threw for 143 yards in the win.
UCLA quarterback Mike Fafaul didn’t have that much of a better night. He went 15-of-29 for 185 yards with a touchdown and an interception, which Olugbode picked off in the first quarter.
Olugbode finished second on the team with four tackles.
To say the Colorado defense deserved a standing ovation would be an understatement. The Buffs’ defensive 11 kept the team in the game, repeatedly shutting down UCLA’s offense. Colorado allowed just 25 net yards on the ground to the Bruins. However, by himself, UCLA tailback Soso Jamabo had a decent night.
He rushed for a net gain of 70 yards on 23 carries, but don’t let the 2.9 yards per carry average fool you; Jamabo found some decent holes to burst through more than once.
The Buffaloes and Bruins both averaged just 3.6 yards per play in CU’s stalemate win.
“We found a way to win,” MacIntyre said. “You’re going to have a game like that every once in awhile.”
Lindsay found the endzone in the first quarter to open up the scoring. His 1-yard touchdown run capped an 8-yard, 38 play drive, which Olugbode set up with his pick of Fafaul.
But UCLA answered shortly thereafter, when Fafaul found wide receiver Darren Andrews unguarded on the left sideline for a 39-yard touchdown strike to tie the game.
UCLA would take a 10-7 lead at halftime on a 48-yard field goal by kicker JJ Molson.
Junior placekicker Chris Graham deserves a shoutout. He made two field goals for Colorado on Thursday, a 21-yarder in the third quarter and then one from 37 yards out in the fourth quarter.
Senior linebacker Jimmie Gilbert was ejected from the game in the first quarter on a questionable targeting penalty, after he made contact with Fafaul’s helmet as the Bruins’ quarterback attempted to slide following a scramble from the pocket.
But depth has proven to be a major strength of this Buffaloes team and Gilbert’s loss helped showcase that.
Senior linebacker Christian Shaver came in relief and delivered. He had a critical 10-yard sack of Fafaul on 3rd and 10 with less than seven minutes left in the fourth quarter. Shaver recorded two tackles in the win.
“He did a great job of coming in and being able to play at a high level,” Olugbode said.
The real hero of the game was sophomore defensive back Isaiah Oliver. Oliver, who recently had taken over punt returning responsibilities, likely won the Buffs the game. He returned five punts for 124 yards, which included a 68-yard return that he took to the house to give the Buffaloes some much needed points.
From there, the Buffaloes went up 20-10 and began to run down the clock.
“I was able to get it outside and no one was there, so it all worked out well,” Oliver said.
At the end of the day, everything did work out, but don’t expect the Buffaloes to be cracking champagne bottles and singing victory songs.
“We can sit here and make excuses all day, but we just didn’t handle business … we just didn’t go out there and play Colorado football,” Lindsay said after the win.
The need to “play Colorado football” is critical to this 2016 Buffaloes team’s success. CU heads to Tucson, Ariz. next week for its final road game of the year to take on the Arizona Wildcats. After that, tough matchups remain against No. 25 Washington State and a season finale against No. 16 Utah.
The Buffaloes need to leave the sloppiness in the past.
“We are going to come next week with a different mentality and not get those types of penalties,” Bobo said.
The Buffaloes and Wildcats game is next Saturday, Nov. 12. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. MST.
Contact CU Independent Head Sports Editor Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @TheHungry_Hippo.
