The Colorado Buffaloes could not get out of their own way against an Ohio St. Buckeyes squad starting a freshman quarterback for his first time and missing multiple starters due to suspension. The team fell 37-17, to Ohio State for it's 19th consecutive loss on the road, a streak extending back to 2007.
Penalties, poor special teams play, and turnovers put the Buffs in a hole that they were unable to dig their way out of. After a strong four and out by the defense on the first drive of the game, the offense returned the favor with four quick incomplete passes before a twenty yard punt gave the Buckeyes the ball on the opposing 43 yard line. It was all down hill from there. Rodney Stewart fumbled on a rush on the Buffs own 28 yard line, leading to a Buckeyes field goal and later fumbled a punt return right before the half just as the Buffaloes seemed to be stealing back some momentum. Head coach Jon Embree showed his inexperience by calling a time out with under 30 seconds remaining after forcing the punt and Colorado went into the locker room down, 20-7.
The second half was more of the same with the Buckeyes finally able to get the offense rolling to increase the lead to 34-10. A steady diet of OSU running back Jordan Hall on the ground and a 17-yard Braxton Miller touchdown for one score and a 90 yard kick off return by Hall helped the team roll up the score on the Buffs. A late 91-yard Colorado drive capped by Hansen's 14-yard touchdown pass to Tyler McCulloch helped bring the game back within three touchdowns but that was all she wrote for the Buffaloes.
Quarterback Tyler Hansen finished the game with 238 yards on 22 for 39 passing, but he never looked comfortable in the pocket and too many of his passes were well out of reach. Speedy Stewart managed 59 yards on 9 carries as the Buffalo running game once again failed to get going.
Colorado finished the game with 9 penalties for 83 yards and the team once again looked undisiplined with an array of ill timed infractions. They now head back home for their first conference game as a member of the Pac-12 conference hoping to get a win over the Washington St. Cougars to get to 2-3 on the season. CU fans are going to have a rough week hoping that the mistakes that have been present since the Dan Hawkins era can be corrected by this staff as they take the field the rest of the season. With a trip at Stanford coming up in two weeks, the Buffaloes are looking at the road streak being extended even further.