Colorado
3-0
Northern Colorado
1-1
Offense Catches Fire As Buffs Top Northern Colorado
September 16, 2017 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — It took Colorado longer than many expected to administer the knockout punch, but the Buffaloes survived a Northern Colorado rally, then pulled away in the second half Saturday to collect a 41-21 win at Folsom Field.
Buffs quarterback Steven Montez threw for career highs in yardage (357) and touchdowns (four) and Phillip Lindsay ran for 151 yards and a touchdown as the Buffs improved to 3-0 with the win. The victory gave CU its first 3-0 start since 2008 and just the second since 1999.
The Buffs put together touchdown drives that covered 75, 80, 73 and 85 yards, along with a 5-yard drive after a UNC fumble. CU finished with 569 yards offense, 357 in the air and 212 on the ground.
The win, coupled with six wins at home last year and two this year, gave the Buffs an eight-game win streak at Folsom Field, CU's longest string of wins at home since claiming 10 in a row from 1993-95.
HOW IT HAPPENED: After not giving up a touchdown in their first two games, the Buffs saw that streak come to an end in a hurry. The Bears forced a CU punt on the Buffs' first possession, then turned around and marched 70 yards in six plays for a touchdown, getting a 33-yard scoring pass from Jacob Knipp to Alex Wesley to take a 7-0 lead.
But Colorado then put 28 unanswered points on the board and looked ready to blow the game wide open.
The Buffs went 75 yards in six plays to tie the score, getting a 4-yard scoring toss from Steven Montez to Devin Ross. The Buffs caught a break on UNC's next possession, recovering a bad snap to Knipp at the UNC 5-yard line and Colorado needed just one Phillip Lindsay run to take a 14-7 lead.
CU then added two more scores in the second quarter. Montez ended an 80-yard scoring drive with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Shay Fields, then finished a 73-yard march with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Bryce Bobo.
But just almost before the announced Folsom Field crowd of 44,318 could settle in for the rout, the Bears had other ideas. UNC answered CU's fourth touchdown with a 90-yard scoring drive, getting a 48-yard pass from Knipp to Wesley to cut Colorado's lead to 28-14 at the half.
The Bears then took the second half opening kickoff and marched 75 yards to paydirt, getting a 27-yard touchdown pass from Knipp to tight end Michael McCauley, and CU's one-time 21-point lead had been cut to seven.
Colorado appeared ready to build on the lead on its next possession before losing a fumble deep in UNC territory. But the Buffs held, forcing a UNC punt, and finally bumped their lead back to double digits, getting a 33-yard field goal from James Stefanou with 4:30 to go in the third quarter to extend their lead to 31-21.
Montez and Co. then added an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter, driving 85 yards in 10 plays for a touchdown. Montez completed the drive with a 14-yard scoring toss to Jay MacIntyre, his fourth touchdown pass of the day, giving the CU quarterback career highs in yards and touchdowns.
The Buffs completed the scoring with a late fourth quarter field goal.
"Hopefully our offense keeps improving because we've got some weapons out there and it started showing today," head coach Mike MacIntyre said. "They've had some good glimpses of it."
TURNING POINT: After giving up back-to-back scores to the Bears, Colorado finally regained control for forcing a UNC punt and driving to a field goal to bump its lead back up to 10 in the third period. CU added 10 more points in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
CU STANDOUTS: QB Steven Montez had career highs in attempts (41), completions (29), yards (357) and touchdowns (4). … RB Phillip Lindsay had his eighth career 100-yard game, finishing with 26 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown. … WR Devin Ross had 8 catches for 143 yards and a score. … WR Shay Fields had 8 catches for 69 yards and a score. … ILB Drew Lewis had a team-high nine tackles and fellow ILB Rick Gamboa had six. … OLB Derek McCartney had four tackles, including a sack and two tackles for loss. … K James Stefanou was perfect on two FG and five PAT tries.
KEY STATISTIC: The Buffs had four scoring drives of 73 yards or longer.
THE PLATI'-TUDE STAT: The Buffs have still allowed just 27 points in the first three games, the best since the 1978 Buffs allowed 21 in their first three.
WHAT IT MEANS: While it wasn't the complete, mistake-free game in all phases the Buffs were looking for, the Buffs nevertheless produced some offensive consistency heading into next week's conference opener against Washington.
NEXT UP: The Buffs play host to Washington in their Pac-12 opener on Saturday at 8 p.m. at Folsom Field (FS1).
VISUAL RECAP: Check out our new visual recap.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
Team Stats
NC 7, COLO 0
NC - WESLEY,Alex 33 yd pass from KNIPP,Jacob (ROOT,Collin kick) 6 plays, 70 yards, TOP 2:31
NC 7, COLO 7
COLO - Ross, Devin 4 yd pass from Montez, Steven (Stefanou, James kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:49
NC 7, COLO 14
COLO - Lindsay, Philli 5 yd run (Stefanou, James kick), 1 plays, 5 yards, TOP 0:04
NC 7, COLO 21
COLO - Fields, Shay 28 yd pass from Montez, Steven (Stefanou, James kick) 7 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:18
NC 7, COLO 28
COLO - Bobo, Bryce 29 yd pass from Montez, Steven (Stefanou, James kick) 6 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:09
NC 14, COLO 28
NC - WESLEY,Alex 52 yd pass from KNIPP,Jacob (ROOT,Collin kick) 6 plays, 90 yards, TOP 2:55
NC 21, COLO 28
NC - MCCAULEY,Michea 27 yd pass from KNIPP,Jacob (ROOT,Collin kick) 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:32
NC 21, COLO 31
COLO - Stefanou, James 33 yd field goal 9 plays, 44 yards, TOP 3:13
NC 21, COLO 38
COLO - MacIntyre, Jay 14 yd pass from Montez, Steven (Stefanou, James kick) 10 plays, 85 yards, TOP 3:55
NC 21, COLO 41
COLO - Stefanou, James 34 yd field goal 9 plays, 44 yards, TOP 5:23
