Seniors Shine, Lead Colorado Buffaloes To Victory Over Arizona
by Bob_Bell on Nov 12, 2011 4:10 PM MST
in Buffaloes Football Season
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PrintThis is how senior day is supposed to be. A group of guys who have fought together for four or five years and go out on top. This one is a little sweeter though. It has been a tough year, a very tough first year for head coach Jon Embree but today his team played well and got their first Pac-12 win. It's great for the program and with two games, albeit on the road, that are indeed winnable, Buff fans have to hope Embree and Company can harness some momentum and finish the year strong.
But back to the game at hand, back to the players. The Colorado Buffaloes dominated the Arizona Wildcats 48-29 with the seniors leading the way. The Buffs did most things right today, they started fast, they built a lead and when Arizona looked like they were going to comeback on a few occasions, the offense responded with a long drive for a score or seniors CB/WR Jason Espinoza and S Travis Sandersfeld made an interception. This game is about making plays and today, the upperclassmen made plays. Senior QB Tyler Hansen went out and played exceptional today. He looked like the Tyler Hansen of old, running when he needed to, extending drives and when called upon, made great throws. He finished the day with 213 yards passing, 50 yards rushing, a receiving touchdown and two passing scores. Great line for the quarterback who has been through a lot his four years at Boulder.
His favorite target: WR Toney Clemons, another senior. Clemons did what we thought he would do the day he transferred from Michigan. He had 5 receptions, 115 yards and a score. He made acrobatic receptions all day long.
What can you say about RB Rodney Stewart? Words can't describe what he has meant to this program the past few years. I often ask myself "what if the Buffs didn't have Speedy?" Phenomenal career, breaking records left and right. A guy who just goes about his business and dominates. Couldn't be happier for Stewart and the offensive line today in Ryan Miller and Ethan Adkins. The offense sure put on a performance in their final stint in Boulder. Stewart finished the game with 181 yards rushing and 23 yards receiving for over 200 yards total. He ran for three scores and threw for another one to QB Tyler Hansen. Overall, the offense had 500 total yards and a season high 48 points. They finished with a whopping 273 yards on the ground. Five different Buffs scored touchdowns - Tyler Hansen, Rodney Stewart, Tony Jones, Josh Ford and Toney Clemons.
Defensively, the Buffs made plays when they needed to. They forced four turnovers and held the Wildcats to just 60 yards on the ground. When Arizona went for it on fourth down, the Buffs stopped them two out of three times. They pressured QB Nick Foles and were able to disrupt him enough. We keep seeing great things out of players like CB Greg Henderson who is just a freshman.
Man, it feels good to write a victorious post game story. It feels like it has been forever! Congratulations to Jon Embree, let this be the first of many Pac-12 victories in your career. Congratulations to the seniors for leading their team to victory, a huge example to set from this day forward that upperclassmen need to be the leaders of this team.
Great win, celebrate Buff fans!
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FInally!
Great to get a win here. Fantastic day for the seniors. Why the students stormed the field I don’t know (though the me of 3 years ago would’ve probably done the same). I really think we could go 1-1 or maybe even 2-0 to finish out the year strong. GO BUFFS!!!!
Great job by the Buffs today
It was also the first game I got to watch live in weeks, so that was nice!
There was some good stuff, and we were solid against a QB who can toss the ball about as well as anyone out there.
Hopefully we can build off of this against a very different team next week in Pasadena.
GO BUFFS!
DAG
Email: David.Gerhardt@gmail.com
just to point out:
that was our 1st Pac 12 victory. So that’s a brick. And another opportunity next week when we end this road losing streak
Look, I've already told Utah to suck it. There's no going back now.
I'll be there to see the streak come to an end!
I’m so happy for the Seniors……great to get a win in their final home game. I’ve got two students (one graduated last year and one is a senior this year) at CU. I became a Buff fan when they started attending, and it’s been a pretty rough go for the past 5 years. Looking forward to this game being the start of a new era.
we're tailgating starting at 1 or so- come through!
shoot me an email at phillip.r.fraser of the gmail variety if you’re interested
Look, I've already told Utah to suck it. There's no going back now.
same same. see above
Also looking forward to basketball games. We’re at USC and Ucla 1/26 and 28 respectively (or something like that)
Look, I've already told Utah to suck it. There's no going back now.
in that respect
gotta be pleased that we’re on the road for the next 2 weeks
Look, I've already told Utah to suck it. There's no going back now.
I did my part to help fill the student section today
Still prefer standing at the top of section LL over any other seat in the house
by highlandsbuff on Nov 12, 2011 9:27 PM MST via mobile up reply actions
why?
I turned to my buddy when I was confident we were going to win and said I hope the student section doesn’t rush the field….sure enough they did. Not only did they not show up early for the seniors but they rush the field when we beat a team with a losing record?!?! I get the sense that there is a growing embarrassment among alumni when it comes to the students. I don’t know what can be done but the students cannot be on the field after every win. If we beat a top 5 team, rush the field otherwise stay in the stands…..you make the rest of us look bad.
by clbuff28 on Nov 13, 2011 7:24 AM MST via mobile up reply actions
I'm an alum as well and didn't rush the field
Just like sitting there, especially when I have lousy seats and it’s empty
by highlandsbuff on Nov 13, 2011 9:01 AM MST via mobile up reply actions
least they weren't like the one student in the game comments thread....
……who left in the 3rd quarter b/c he was cold…. :-(
by CraigScanlan on Nov 14, 2011 12:11 AM MST up reply actions
My last game as a student...
…And one of the most satisfying in my college career. I can’t believe that I’m a part of the first senior class at CU to not see a bowl game since class of 1984, but days like this still make me proud to be a Buff.
I’m excited to see Coach Embree give his best at slowly but surely restoring this program over the next few years!
Now, let’s end that road streak, and start a new era!
Carlos Gonzalez has an extraordinary tendency to amplify light through stimulated emission of radiation in frequent bursts.
Shoulder-to-Shoulder for life!
Hollidayrain Music
Ok, so as a student, answer us this....
Why do students refuse to arrive prior to kick-off?
Is it because thye are all still sleeping in from a long night of partying? Trying to cram in as much pre-game partying befor ehaving to go in Folsom? General apathy, logistics of entry, or what???!
Its a serious question we reaaly don’t understand, what is your perspective?
Boulder will unfortunately never be a football town :-(
by CraigScanlan on Nov 13, 2011 11:57 AM MST up reply actions
A 2-9 team averaging 50,000 fans per game?
What more can you ask for, really?
Carlos Gonzalez has an extraordinary tendency to amplify light through stimulated emission of radiation in frequent bursts.
Shoulder-to-Shoulder for life!
Hollidayrain Music
by Hollidayrain on Nov 13, 2011 12:51 PM MST up reply actions
yeah, I have to agree here
The students do seem to be later showing up than ever (and the lines for the card readers/broken cards/whatever may explain that) but I’ll defend them and say that for the most part student attendance during the Hawkins era and this year appears to me to be very strong.
I just pulled out the calculator and just like you said we averaged 50,355 this year. In a year we struggled mightily and went 1-4 at home. I was a student in 2001. We went 5-1 at home and were a fraction of a point from playing for the national championship. We averaged 47,475 that year. Now THAT’S sad!
I don’t think you’re ever gonna be able to drag the students away from their drinking and partying an hour before the game no matter how many times Embree or Bohn asks. Hell, I never missed a game when I was a student but I don’t think I was ever once in my seat in time to see the national anthem. On the other hand I don’t think I missed the opening kick-off more than 2 or 3 times. Back then you could head to the ticket line 10 minutes before kickoff and still get a seat in the first few rows of one of the corner sections in plenty of time.
So I would just say, maybe the stadium folks could help out a little, work on the logistics of the students getting in faster, the students could show up a LITTLE earlier (that’s not TOO much to ask is it?), but other than that, just keep supporting the team like you have been. Attendance has been pretty darn good in my opinion and I know it’ll get better when we turn things around (and student basketball attendance was 10 times better last year than any year when I was a student!)
it really is the ticket scanners
Ive had to wait at least ten minutes every time even if we came early, the USC game was absurd, we came 20 min before kickoff and missed Ralphie, i dont remember the tickets ever being this bad.
Gotta agree
It has taken longer this year to get in the stadium than any other year I have been going to games. That said I was pretty happy with attendance this week. A 1 win team going against a 2 win team and it was so windy that it was difficult to enjoy the tailgate.
Walter Sobchak: "Also, let's not forget - let's *not* forget, Dude - that keeping wildlife, an amphibious rodent, for uh, domestic, you know, within the city - that aint legal either. "
I graduated last May
I think the answer to your question is simple: the team has struggled and some student do not feel “inspired” (for a lack of better words) to show up early. It drove me crazy. I would be at my doorstep to leave an hour and a half before the game and I could never convince my friends to leave for at least another hour. However, I don’t buy into this “we are not a football town” theory based upon what I have seen. For example, look at the high basketball attendance at the end of last year. Basketball had struggled with the same attendance problems as football, but after the team started winning, the problem fixed itself. If I did not get my crew to show up at least 30-40 minutes before the game we were sitting in one of the final rows.
Bottom line, typical 18-22 year old minds are easily influenced and if a team wins, students will be excited to go to the game early, but until then, expect more of the same. It somewhat falls into Embree’s task of “changing the losing culture.”
This
And it’s not that we’ve been bad…it’s that we’ve been atrocious. I feel the passion will improve as the team improves. The environment at the games can still be amazing; EG: the crowd during Cal’s drive in overtime. Jeez, I think my ears are still ringing from that!
Carlos Gonzalez has an extraordinary tendency to amplify light through stimulated emission of radiation in frequent bursts.
Shoulder-to-Shoulder for life!
Hollidayrain Music
by Hollidayrain on Nov 13, 2011 12:56 PM MST up reply actions
Honestly, it's been the buffonecard-readers this year
Most of my friends have had to go to the broken ticket line and end up getting in by the 2nd quarter. The line for the USC game was absurdly long through the whole first quarter
Carlos Gonzalez has an extraordinary tendency to amplify light through stimulated emission of radiation in frequent bursts.
Shoulder-to-Shoulder for life!
Hollidayrain Music
by Hollidayrain on Nov 13, 2011 12:48 PM MST up reply actions
Ok thanks for all the input and thoughts
It was an honest question because i didn’t get it . When i was a student, i guess there was apathy even then (87-91). To me, i enjoy watching warm-ups, so. Show up early even though I’ll have a reserved seat.
I still think its a shame becuase it reflects poorly on the Program and can be seen on every telecast. Recruits sense their is not as much rabid support as other schools they may be considering.
Hopefully with a winning program this will resolve itself.
Congratulations on getting the Buffs their first Pac-12 win.
I have no doubt it will not be the last one.
Also, congratulations to Rodney Stewart for having a great game, and getting an ESPN helmet sticker acknowledgement for it.
Andy Wooldridge, andy_wooldridge@yahoo.com
BuildingTheDam.Com
Go Beavs!
I was there yesterday
and it was a great crowd. The student section was loud with U of A trying to hear their signals at their end. It’s all about recruiting and wins. We will never live and breathe football like some schools, but it is a great environment and I am glad I was there with my Freshman daughter. What she couldn’t understand was why everyone just wants to sit down the whole game, no one cheers in the regular paid seats. She is ready to go back to the student section for basketball games. Congrats to the coaching staff for by far their best play calling game this year. We had some of our best players back and that helps. We need someone that can replace Speedy, he was the difference maker. Let’s beat Rick and send him packing.
by Roaring Fork Buff on Nov 13, 2011 1:38 PM MST reply actions
I've felt the same way.
Even at my ripe old age, i find the west side of Folsom too subdued. I’d rather be over in the student section, but nobody i go with would be up for that. Guess its my arrested development.
Congrats on the win!
Glad to know that the Buffs can be competitive with their South division brethren. Good luck against Slick Rick, I know you guys would love to be the straw that broke the Weasel’s back.
15-yard penalty for my avatar. /Pereira'd
5dimes has it as +10
going down fast.
obviously vegas is going with the “CU hasn’t won on the road since 1947” line of thinking and not the “CU just beat zona by 20 and zona destroyed UCLA a few weeks ago” one. Should be an interesting game, talk about a team that blows hot and cold, you never know what UCLA team you’re gonna get…
away game
I’m a huge Buffs fan, but seeing as UCLA has only lost @ hame this year to Texas, I don’t see haw we lose by less than 10. Unless UCLA’s DLine is as bad as AZs.
If somehow we do win either this week or next, I’d be happy with Embree’s ability to motivate under the circumstances.
by BuffulanceMan on Nov 14, 2011 6:43 AM MST via mobile up reply actions
Turning Point
I’m, admittedly, delusional when it comes to CU sports and rarely have the ability to objectively look at our games. It’s why I try not to wager on our team.
Having said that, I think this week’s game was a turning point for the program. What I saw told me that the fun is back in the program and I’m hopeful that it will comtinue to be displayed the remainder of the year. If our guys continue to have fun out there and the coaches open up the playbook a bit (and we can stay healthy) then I like our chances in these last two games.
Plus, I despise Neuheisel.
yeah, I'm like you, I'll believe it when I see it
but you have to like the confidence of our players after this week.
I will say that I don’t quite understand the oddsmaking here: We were 10 point underdogs AT HOME to a 2-7 Arizona team with nothing to play for and now we’re 10 point underdogs ON THE ROAD to a UCLA team that still has a TON to play for.
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