Buffs Edge Oregon State in Double OT Homecoming Thriller
Homecoming weekend at Folsom Field was one to remember this year, as CU kicker Cole Becker delivered in double overtime for the win
Nov 6. was nothing short of electric at Folsom Field. Fans witnessed the Colorado Buffaloes, an 11 point underdog, win in double-overtime 37-34 over the Oregon State Beavers.
The Buffs offense got off to a strong start early, as their opening drive led to Cole Becker’s 28-yard-field goal to open up the scoring, and their very next drive was capped off when Brendon Lewis found Daniel Arias, wide-open in the end zone, for a 43-yard touchdown to increase the Buffs’ lead to 10-0. This was the perfect start for an offense that has sputtered all season long. “I [feel] like offensively we’re really starting to hit our stride… for the first time this season,” said Colorado Head Coach Karl Dorrell.
The second quarter opened with an Oregon State touchdown on the first play to complete a 75-yard drive to bring the game to a 3-point margin. Penalties helped the Buffs offense get into field goal range on the following drive, but couldn’t generate any points as Cole Becker missed a 35-yard field goal. On the following drive, the Beavers moved the ball down the field, but junior safety Isaiah Lewis kept them from scoring as he intercepted a pass deep into the red zone, and ran it back 35 yards, his second interception of the 2021 campaign. Both teams were held to just one field goal each before the half to make the score 13-10 Buffs.
Both defenses came out of the half strongly, with the Buffs defense getting a critical fourth-down stop to give Brendon Lewis and the offense the ball in opposing territory. Just six plays later, Brenden Rice was in the end zone celebrating after Lewis found him from five yards out to stretch the lead back to 10 for Colorado.
However, the Beavers wouldn’t go away and rattled off back-to-back touchdown drives to take a four-point lead early in the fourth. The Colorado offense began to sputter at this point in the game, but a clutch fourth-quarter stop by the defense generated momentum for the offense.
Brendon Lewis and the offense got the ball back at their own 28 with 5:37 left in the game, trailing 24-20. On the first play of the drive, Jarek Broussard made a statement, ripping off a 49-yard run. Later in the drive, a holding penalty and a negative running play gave the Buffs a third and 15 situation in the red zone, where Brendon Lewis had an outstanding play. With pressure in his face, Lewis avoided a sack, stepped up in the pocket, and delivered a strike into the front corner of the end zone, finding Montana Lemonious-Craig for the go-ahead touchdown.
Oregon State managed to get into field goal range with 32 seconds left in the game but missed the 51-yarder to tie the game. However, with all three timeouts still in their pocket, the Beavers forced a quick Buffs punt and got the ball back on their own 49 with five seconds left. A quick pass gave them a shot at a 60-yard field goal to tie the game with one second left, where kicker Everett Hayes drilled the kick to force overtime, leaving the fans at Folsom Field in a state of shock.
In the first overtime, Buffs’ offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini put the ball in his quarterback’s hands, where Brendon Lewis faked the inside handoff, kept the ball, dashed around the corner, and dove for the pylon to score and go up by a touchdown. The lead didn’t last for long, as Oregon State scored on a rushing touchdown from the one-yard line to square the score up at 34.
After Oregon State failed to score at all on their drive in the second overtime, the door was wide open for the Buffs. The Colorado offense ended with a fourth and 10 on their drive in the second overtime, giving Cole Becker a chance to win the game. From 43 yards out, Becker drilled the field goal right down the middle for the Buffs win.
“That’s the moment all young kickers dream of,” said Becker. He gave props to his team for keeping his spirits up after his miss early in the game. “Everybody just kept picking me up and I think that’s what really helped me get back into the right mindset.”
The Colorado fans stormed the field to celebrate the hard-earned homecoming win, and it was nothing but joy on the field postgame.
“What a ball game that was,” said Dorrell. “There’s some really good things that happened in that game. We felt that our team grew up from a week prior.” Dorrell had lots of good things to say about the team’s performance postgame, especially for the defense, who hung on and got stops when needed without their leader, senior linebacker Nate Landman. “I felt like those guys battled,” Dorrell said.
The Buffs (3-6 overall, 2-4 Pac-12) hope to ride this momentum into next week’s game, when they play at UCLA (5-4 overall, 3-3 Pac-12) at 7:00 p.m. MDT on Saturday, Nov. 13.
