Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Move Back Into National Rankings At No. 23 In Both Polls
October 23, 2016 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Fresh off a 10-5 win over Stanford, the 6-2 Colorado Buffaloes returned to the nation's top 25 on Sunday, checking in at No. 23 in both the Associated Press and USA Today/Coaches polls.
Mike MacIntyre's Buffs returned to the rankings earlier this year for the first time since 2007 when they were No. 21 in the AP poll and No. 23 in the coaches rankings following a 47-6 win over Oregon State. They dropped out the following week, however, after a loss at USC but have since been climbing steadily back up the ladder, receiving votes each week.
The Buffs are one of three Pac-12 teams in the top 25 and one of three to already clinch bowl eligibility. Unbeaten Washington (7-0), which beat Oregon State 41-17 on Saturday, moved up to No. 4 in both polls after previously unbeaten and No. 2 Ohio State was upset by Penn State and slipped to No. 8 in the coaches poll and No. 6 in the AP rankings. Utah (7-1), meanwhile, moved up to No. 16 in the coaches poll and No. 17 in the AP rankings after a 52-45 win over UCLA.
The Buffs and Utah are currently tied atop the Pac-12 South standings with 4-1 conference marks while Washington and Washington State lead the Pac-12 North at 4-0.
Colorado is entering a bye week this week and does not play again until Thursday, Nov. 3, when the Buffs play host to UCLA in a nationally televised 7 p.m. game at Folsom Field (Fox Sports 1).
After jumping out to a 5-2 start behind an offense that entered the weekend ranked 14th in the nation in yards per game (515.3) and 22nd in scoring (39.0 points per game), the Buffs turned to their defense to produce Saturday's win at Stanford.
Colorado's held Stanford to just three offensive points for the entire game (CU purposely took a safety near the end of game to run out the clock). Colorado also held Cardinal running back Christian McCaffrey to just 92 yards rushing while Stanford finished with 93 total on the ground. Stanford quarterback Ryan Burns did throw for 170 yards, but the Buffs also sacked him three times and picked off three of his passes, two by Tedric Thompson and one from Isaiah Oliver.
CU also recovered one fumble as the Buffs increased their nation-leading stretch of games with at least one defensive takeaway to 21.
While the Buffs scored just 10 points, it wasn't as if their offense didn't move the ball. Colorado finished with 359 total yards, including 224 on the ground (131 from Phillip Lindsay). But the scoreboard didn't reflect that work, as CU missed three of four field goal attempts and also had a touchdown pass from Sefo Liufau to Bryce Bobo nullified by a penalty flag.
"For most of the year, our offense has really put up points and helped us out," said Buffs safeties coach Joe Tumpkin. "It was our turn to do that. We had a couple of opportunities in the past and we needed to step up and say we showed up. I'm proud of their resilience and proud of their focus. They were extremely focused all day long."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
