Colorado moves to 2-0 after
victory in Palo Alto
By Brad Peeples and Vinny Lupo
Making their first road trip of the abbreviated 2020 season, the Colorado Buffaloes moved to 2-0 after holding off the Stanford Cardinal 35-32 Saturday afternoon, and are now undefeated heading into what appears to be a bye week due to the cancellation of next week’s game vs. Arizona State.
Quarterback Sam Noyer continued to lead the Buffaloes offense to a clean and precise showing, throwing for 255 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 36 yards on the ground with another two scores. Jaren Mangham added a rushing touchdown of his own, and the defense was able to withstand a Cardinal comeback attempt in the fourth quarter after allowing only nine points in the first half. With the exception of a Nate Landman fumble recovery on the last play of the game after a Stanford lateral attempt, the defense was unable to create any turnovers, a week after forcing UCLA to commit four.
The stout first-half performance allowed the offense to settle into the game, and Noyer was able to orchestrate two scoring drives as the Buffs went into the locker room up 14-9. The opening drive of the second half was a tone-setter for the Colorado offense, as they marched 75 yards over nine plays to extend their lead, capped off by a 10-yard Noyer run for six. The mobile quarterback would score again on the ground later in the quarter. and Mingham’s early fourth-quarter touchdown run would give the Buffs a commanding 35-16 lead.
In just his second start at quarterback, Noyer continued to look impressive, continuing to be efficient through the air and keep defenders on their toes with his legs, winning the PAC-12 Offensive Player of the Week award. Being a part of the teams that have struggled over the past few years, the senior knows how important attitude is to positive performances on the field.
“Everybody’s buying in, guys are having fun out there playing,” Noyer said. “It’s good to see that again. You know, I haven’t seen that in a couple years. And guys are really enjoying being out there on the sidelines. Obviously, we want to win, but you see it from the fourth string all the way up to the first string. And that’s a good feeling.”
Despite the good vibes on the Colorado sideline, the Cardinal would not go down without a fight, as they scored 16 unanswered points to cut it to a three-point game with just over two minutes left after a Scooter Harrison touchdown reception. Stanford was unable to recover an onside kick attempt, and even though they were able to get the ball back with four seconds, it was ultimately little, too late. Landman, who was named PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Week, pounced on the loose ball as the clock struck zero.
Even though Colorado has opened the season with back-to-back wins, both victories have looked ugly at moments. Getting off to hot starts hasn’t been a problem for the team, it’s playing a full 60 minutes and putting away teams when they have the chance.
Despite the good vibes on the Colorado sideline, the Cardinal would not go down without a fight, as they scored 16 unanswered points to cut it to a three-point game with just over two minutes left after a Scooter Harrison touchdown reception. Stanford was unable to recover an onside kick attempt, and even though they were able to get the ball back with four seconds, it was ultimately little, too late. Landman, who was named PAC-12 Defensive Player of the Week, pounced on the loose ball as the clock struck zero.
Even though Colorado has opened the season with back-to-back wins, both victories have looked ugly at moments. Getting off to hot starts hasn’t been a problem for the team, it’s playing a full 60 minutes and putting away teams when they have the chance.
“Coming out in the second half, the offense was hot. We had the ball and had a chance to make a couple of good quick touchdowns,” said head coach Karl Dorrell. “There was a point in time we had a pretty good lead in the game which is something we have to keep building on and not make those opportunities come closer than they usually have been the last couple of weeks towards the end of the fourth quarter.” However, Dorrell was proud of the resiliency the team showed, continuing, “It was a good performance. I think our team grew from week one to week two. Winning on the road is always going to be difficult. We felt that our team was ready to play.”
Coach Dorrell and his staff have done an excellent job of handling the uniqueness and subsequent challenges throughout the year that have been as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw cancellations, protests, rescheduling and scrambling by the PAC-12 conference. That will continue into this week as this Saturday’s game vs. Arizona State has been cancelled due to the Sun Devils not having enough scholarship players as positive tests and contact tracing has forced many on the roster to quarantine. It is possible that the PAC-12 will find an opponent for Colorado, which is what occurred this past weekend with California and UCLA playing each other on Sunday after both of their games had been cancelled due to coronavirus outbreaks occurring in their opponents programs. As of now, the team’s next game is scheduled for November 28th at USC.
But no matter when the Buffaloes take the field next, they know that they can’t take their foot on the gas pedal, it’s time to take advantage of the hot start.
“We’re going to keep going,” said Noyer. “Two-and-oh is a great feeling, but we want to get to 3-0.”
