Oct. 22nd – at Oregon State – Dampened Enthusiasm

Oregon State running back Damien Martinez ran for 178 yards on 22 carries, including three short scoring runs, as Oregon State embarrassed Colorado, 42-9. Beaver quarterback Ben Gulbranson completed 14-of-22 passes for 202 yards and two more scores as the Beavers accumulated 472 yards of total offense in the rout.

Quarterback J.T. Shrout, in for injured Owen McCown, completed 13-of-29 passes for 209 yards and two interceptions, including a pick six early in the third quarter which made it a 35-3 game, ending any chance of CU coming back from a 21-3 halftime deficit. Jordyn Tyson had 92 yards on three receptions, with all three catches coming in the second half after the outcome of the game had been decided. For the game, the CU offense was held to 290 yards of total offense, including only 84 rushing yards.

“Hats off, Oregon State’s a very good football team,” said CU interim head coach Mike Sanford, whose record fell to 1-1 since taking over for Karl Dorrell. “They’re the upper echelon of the Pac-12 Conference. We had our opportunities, but the margin is so small … and some of those things obviously caught up to us.”

“Looking at a loss like this, we know exactly what it is”, said linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo, who led the team with 11 tackles, including three third down stops. “Before it was a lot of different fingers pointing a lot of different ways. A lot of different things were wrong. We could point okay, we didn’t do X, Y and Z correct. How can we get this better? What players can we put in better situations? How can we as players on the field, what can we do better with our coaches to make them more comfortable to call certain calls? So not really, its on us.”

The Buffs prepared for a rain-soaked game against Oregon State, but the only dousing Saturday was the spirits of the CU fan base as the Buffs reverted to form against a good – but by no means great – Oregon State team … Meanwhile, the game of the day in college football was actually played in adverse conditions (700 miles away) …

Game Day! … Buffs ready for Beavers: “You’ve just gotta see that we’re capable of winning football games” … Neill Woelk’s Keys to the Oregon State game … *Buffs Primetime – Mark Johnson and Mike Sanford* … J.T. Shrout to start against Oregon State …

ESPN: Oregon State quarterback Chance Nolan still out … Could the Big 12 secure a media rights deal before the Pac-12? … CU Falls Out of ESPN Bottom Ten … Oklahoma and Texas to remain in the Big 12 until 2025 … CU “loses” No. 1 ranking in CBS Bottom 25 …

CU: Get Thee to Overtime! … The (positive) stat in which CU is No. 1 in the nation … Last time CU was in Corvallis, the Buffs came away winners … Hard to believe? Before this weekend, the last time two Top Ten Pac-12 teams played each other, CU was involved …

Neither school has a quarterback controversy, but both have questions as to Saturday’s starter … Oregon State’s win over Washington State was more meaningful than you might think … Which stats will decide the game (or will it come down to the weather forecast)? … Can CU’s offense get to 20 for a third straight week? …

The Buffs surprised everyone with a 20-13 upset win over Cal … Can the Buffs sustain the momentum against 5-2 Oregon State? … Will the wet forecast play a role in the outcome this Saturday? … Are the Buffs back to being competitive, or was the Cal game a “one-and-done” for 2022? … Let’s find out …