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Friday Fast Facts – Oregon State Week
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… Your weekly “T.I.P.S”, previews for this weekend’s games, discussing Talent, Intangibles, Preparation and Statistics, have been posted. The written preview and predictions for the CU/Oregon State game can be found here, while the CU at the Game Podcast preview for the game can be found at most of the popular podcast sites, and can also be listened to here …
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Big Picture …
— “Born to Lead: The Sal Aunese Story” now available to stream … The award-winning documentary, “Born to Lead: The Sal Aunese Story” is now available to stream, and can be found here. If you haven’t seen the film, or haven’t seen it in awhile, here’s your chance … Well worth you time!;
— Welcome Home … Colorado has won four of the last six Homecoming games, including a double-overtime 37-34 win over Oregon State two years ago;
— Big 12 schedule … CU’s Big 12 conference schedules for the 2024 seasons have been released. In 2024, the Buffs will play Arizona, Texas Tech, Kansas and Central Florida on the road, while playing Utah, Baylor, Oklahoma State, Kansas State and Cincinnati at home. In Year One of the new Big 12, the Buffs will miss Arizona State, BYU, TCU, Houston, Iowa State, and West Virginia;
— Bonus games … There won’t be pods or divisions in the 2024-27 Big 12 schedule, with only a few “protected” rivalries, like Utah/BYU and Arizona/Arizona State, which will be played every season (no “protected” rivals for CU). Each team will play every other team as a home-and-home in the next four years, with a few “extras”.
Here’s how the math works:
- Four seasons with nine conference games – (4 x 9 = 36 games);
- Home-and-home with every other Big 12 team – (15 x 2 = 30 games);
- So … Six extra conference games over the next four years. For Colorado … an extra home game against Arizona State; an extra road game against Arizona; an extra road game against Central Florida; an extra road game against Houston; an extra home game against Kansas State; and an extra home game against Utah;
— The ESPN Power Index gives the Beavers an 80.2% chance of winning; the Buffs only a 19.2% chance. Last weekend, UCLA was given an 83.7% chance of beating the Buffs;
— The CU/Oregon State game will be telecast nationally on ESPN (Saturday, 8:00 p.m., MT) with Dave Flemming on the play-by-play, Brock Osweiler with the commentary, and Kayla Burton on the sidelines. KOA radio will have Mark Johnson, in his 20th year, with the play-by-play, and former CU head coach Gary Barnett in his eighth year as the full-time analyst.
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Statistically speaking …
— How bad is the CU rushing offense? … The Buffs are the third-worst rushing team in the country, at 78.6 yards per game. Only Colorado State (74.0) and Hawaii (56.1) are worse … In terms of yards per carry, CU is last in the country, at 2.51. Hawaii is just ahead of the Buffs, at 2.53 … In the record book, the Buffs have had just one season worse than this one in terms of average rushing yards per game: 59.7 in 1984 (a very tough 1-10 season);
— How bad is the CU defense? … Most yards allowed per game in Colorado history …
- 509.8 – 2022 … a 1-11 team, considered by many Buff fans as the worst CU team ever;
- 488.5 – 2012 … a 1-11 team, the worst team ever … before 2022;
- 475.4 – 2023 … (through 7 games) … 129th in the nation;
- 464.4 – 1980 … a 1-10 which lost to Drake, and was run over by Oklahoma, 82-42, with the Sooners going for an NCAA record 758 yards rushing;
— Another viewing record … The Oregon State game will be the eighth game this season for Colorado on either network television or the flagship ESPN channel, the most in program history. The previous record was held by the 1990 national championship team, which was on network television or ESPN seven times;
— Congratulations to Mark Johnson … With his play-by-play call of the CU vs. Oregon State game, Voice of the Buffs Mark Johnson will take the all-time lead for most games broadcast as the play-by-play announcer for the Colorado Buffaloes, surpassing the legendary Larry Zimmer. This will be Mark’s 238th football game to go along with 617 men’s basketball games and eight women’s basketball games, giving him 863 games. Zimmer was the play-by-play announcer for 862 games, including 337 football and 525 men’s basketball;
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CU Player Notes …
— Shedeur Sanders records watch … Shedeur Sanders is on pace to reset most of the single season passing in CU history. Here is an update on how Shedeur’s numbers are stacking up against every other quarterback to ever wear the black-and-gold …
- Passing yards: 2,637 … CU single season record: 3,200 … Sefo Liufau, 2014 (Sanders’ total is currently 10th on the list – after eight games)
- Passing touchdowns: 22 … CU single season record: 28 … Sefo Liufau, 2014 (Sanders’ total currently tied for second)
- Passing attempts: 346 … CU single season record: 498 … Sefo Liufau, 2014 (Sanders’ total currently 10th)
- Completions: 246 … CU single season record: 325 … Sefo Liufau, 2014 (Sanders’ total currently 4th)
- Completion percentage: 71.1 … CU single season record: 68.4 … Koy Detmer, 1995 … If maintained, Sanders will set a new school record
- Total offense (plays): 432 … CU single season record: 567 … Sefo Liufau, 2014 (Sanders’ total is currently 10th)
- Total offense (yards): 2,594 … CU single season record: 3,336 … Sefo Liufau, 2014 (Sanders’ total is currently 15th)
— Wish he could have played the entire season … Travis Hunter is the first college football player in 21 years to have 30 receptions and three interceptions in the same season;
— Watch lists … Buffs have been noticed … Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders, Xavier Weaver, Michael Harrison and Mark Vassett have all earned mention on midseason watch lists or specialty teams.
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Colorado and Oregon State – head-to-head
— With a 42-9 thumping of the Buffs last season in Corvallis, Oregon State took a 7-6 lead in the all-time series, 6-6, with the teams tied 4-4 in games played as members of the Pac-12. The 12 games in the series marks the second lowest total for CU against any Pac-12 opponent (The Buffs have played Stanford only ten times);
— On Sept. 26, 1931, Colorado, then referred to mainly as the Silver & Gold (three years away from adopting Buffaloes as the official nickname and mascot), traveled to Portland for the first game ever between the two schools. About 23,000 were in attendance for Oregon State’s 16-0 win, which was also the first-ever night game in CU football history;
— The second game between the two schools was also played in Portland, with the Beavers coming away with a 41-6 victory in 1963. When the Buffs got a rematch the following year in Boulder, Oregon State made it 3-0 in the series, with a 14-7 victory;
— Colorado got Oregon State at home twice in the 1980s, posting a 38-14 victory in 1983 (“Here we go, CU! Here we go!“) and a 28-21 win in 1988 (“Eric Bieniemy goes for 211 yards and three scores“);
— Since the Buffs joined the Pac-12, the teams have played eight times, with Oregon State winning the first two (44-17 in 2013; 36-31 in 2014). The Buffs finally broke through with a 17-13 win in Corvallis in 2015 (“We’re No. 1(1)!“) before posting a lopsided 47-6 win in Boulder in 2016 (“A let down? Not so much“).
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The Last Time in Boulder …
November 6, 2021 … Colorado 37, Oregon State 34 OT
Game Story … CU kicker Cole Becker calmly hit a 43-yarder in the second overtime, giving Colorado a 37-34 win over Oregon State. The Buffs seemingly had the game won when OSU kicker Everett Hayes missed a potential tying field goal with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. Becker was given a second chance, however, hitting a 60-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into extra time. After both schools scored touchdowns in the first overtime, Hayes missed a 38-yard attempt, giving CU’s Cole Becker a chance to win the game moments later.
“What a ball game that was”, said Karl Dorrell. “You know, there’s some really good things that happened in that game. We felt that our team grew up from a week prior. I felt like the offense a couple weeks ago was starting to find themselves and that was up there in Eugene”.
Buff quarterback Brendon Lewis went 15-for-24 passing, going for 170 yards and three touchdowns, also contributing a nine-yard touchdown run in the first overtime. Running back Jarek Broussard had his first 100-yard game of the season, with 151 yards on 24 carries. Overall, the Buffs had 392 yards of total offense, while giving up 475 yards of total offense to the Beavers.
Colorado came into the game with a 2-6 record, and were double digit underdogs to 5-3 Oregon State. Still, 47,984 (96% of capacity) were on hand for Homecoming. “We have one of the best fan groups in the nation”, said cornerback Christian Gonzalez. “They’re always out no matter what. It’s just great playing at home with them and them giving us energy and all that.”
… Continue reading story here …
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My Essay for the 2021 Oregon State Game … “Three for the Win” … Can be found here …
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Highlights from the 2021 game …
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Colorado and Oregon State … historical
— Of the 12 categories tracked by Winsipedia, the Beavers lead the Buffs in exactly one … bowl record. Oregon State has a winning record all-time in bowl games (10-7), while Colorado has a losing record (12-18);
— You’ve heard of the Dal Ward Center, of course. Did you know that Dal Ward, who coached at CU from 1948-58, compiling a 63-41-6 record … was an Oregon State graduate? (1927);
Some other categories:
— All-time wins … Colorado – 723, 29th all-time … Oregon State – 567, 83rd
— Conference championships … Colorado – 26, 12th all-time … Oregon State – 5, 92nd
— Weeks in the Associated Press poll … Colorado – 308, 29th all-time … Oregon State – 111, 65th
— First round NFL draft picks … Colorado – 24, 29th all-time … Oregon State – 6, 66th
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Pac-12 Notes …
— Leader of the Pac … The Buffs will play in front of a sold out crowd for the ninth time in nine games against Oregon State. CU is one of five teams nationally – and the only one in the Pac-12 – to play in front of a sellout in every game so far this season, joining Georgia, Iowa, Notre Dame and Tennessee;
— Pac-12 lines … From DraftKings.com …
- Arizona State at No. 18 Utah … 12:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks … Utah is an 11.0-point home favorite … down from 12.5 points on Sunday …
- Cal at No. 6 Oregon … 3:30 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks … Oregon a 24.5-point home favorite … up from 24.0 points on Sunday …
- No. 5 Washington at No. 24 USC … 5:30 p.m., MT, ABC … Washington is a 3.0-point road favorite … same as Sunday …
- Stanford at Washington State … 7:00 p.m., MT, Pac-12 Networks … Washington State is a 13.0-point home favorite … same as Sunday …
- No. 16 Oregon State at Colorado … 8:00 p.m., MT, ESPN … Oregon State is a 13.0-point road favorite … up from 12.5 points on Sunday …
- No. 20 UCLA at Arizona … 8:30 p.m., MT, FS1 … UCLA a 3.0-point road favorite … up from 1.5 points on Sunday …
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