CU 48, Central Florida 21

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September 28th – at Central Florida          Colorado 48, Central Florida 21

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Colorado used big plays from both the offense and the defense to defeat Central Florida on the road, 48-21. Shedeur Sanders completed 28-of-35 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns, while the defense forced four turnovers, including a 95-yard fumble return for a touchdown by safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig to seal the game with five minutes remaining.

The Buffs were out-gained on the steamy afternoon (85-degrees at kickoff, with 78-percent humidity) by the Knights, 461 yards to 418, but never trailed. Three different receivers scored, with Will Sheppard scoring on a 47-yard pass from Sanders to lead the team with 99 yards on only four receptions. Travis Hunter had his five-game streak of 100-yard receiving games broken, collecting nine passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. LaJohntay Wester, the hero of the Baylor comeback the week before, had three catches for 34 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown.

The CU running game, while not outstanding, was effective for the first time in memory. Three backs – Isaiah Augustave, Dallan Hayden, and Micah Welch – had a combined 20 carries for 98 yards and two touchdowns. Overall, with Shedeur Sanders being sacked only twice, the Buffs finished with a season-best 128 yards rushing.

Four turnovers were certainly the key to the CU defense holding UCF to 21 points, but the Buffs were effective the entire game. The Buffs surrendered their first points in the third quarter all season, but gave up only a third quarter touchdown, allowing the offense to put the game away in the second half.

“I can’t even tell you how emotional I am about these young men and seeing what they could do when they put it all together, and seeing what we’re capable of doing when we put it all together,” CU head coach Deion Sanders said.

“We don’t care about (being underdogs),” Coach Prime said. “Y’all, do. We’re underdogs every week. Ain’t nobody want to see us win; you know that, except for our fan base. … Ain’t nobody nationally want to see us get down. That’s just the nature of the game. We’re not mad about it. We’re not upset about it. We know who we are. We know how we get down.”

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Game Story … A weather delay kept the game from starting for 40 minutes … and, considering how the game started, the Buffs probably would have preferred an even longer postponement. CU’s first play from scrimmage was a nine-yard loss, followed by a one-yard loss, followed by an interception thrown by Buff quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

Setting up shop at the CU 29-yard line, the Central Florida offense moved in for a quick score. A seven-yard run by RJ Harvey on fourth-and-one set up the Knights at the Buff 15-yard line. Another run by Harvey, this one going for two yards on third-and-two, gave UCF a first-and-goal at the CU five yard line. Two plays later, though, Central Florida quarterback KJ Jefferson threw a ball intercepted by Buff safety Preston Hodge in the end zone, leaving the game scoreless.

A 13-yard completion from Shedeur Sanders to Travis Hunter on the Buffs’ next snap gave CU its first first down of the game, with a Dallan Hayden run for four yards on third-and-one keeping the drive alive a few plays later. Two runs by Micah Welch, one for 15 yards, the next for 12, set the Buffs up at the UCF 23-yard line. There, Sanders again hit with Hunter, this time for a 23-yard score, giving CU a 7-0 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

The lead lasted 11 seconds.

On UCF’s next play, KJ Jefferson and running back RJ Harvey connected on a 75-yard touchdown pass. Just like that, it was 7-7.

Undeterred, the Buffs again marched 75 yards for another score of their own. A 14-yard completion from Sanders to Will Sheppard, followed by a 12-yard completion to Travis Hunter, got the Buffs out near midfield. Facing a third-and-15 a few plays later, Sanders and Sheppard connected again, this time for a 47-yard touchdown. Colorado 14, Central Florida 7, in the waning moments of the first quarter.

After the CU defense forced its first three-and-out of the game, the CU offense took the field with the lead and the ball for the first time. Setting up shop at midfield, Dre’lon Miller, on a catch and then a run, accounted for the first ten yards of the drive. Micah Welch then accounted for the next 11 yards, also on a catch and then a run. After a roughing the passer call against UCF moved the ball to the Knights’ 15-yard line, Dallan Hayden took it in from there, making it a 21-7 game.

The UCF offense next moved the ball quickly down the field, needing only eight plays to cover 68 yards for a score. Quarterback KJ Jefferson had the honors, running the ball in from seven yards out to make it 21-14 midway through the second quarter.

An 11-yard completion from Sanders to tight end Sav’ell Smalls, followed by a 23-yard completion to LaJohntay Wester, put the ball on the UCF side of the 50 for the fourth consecutive drive for the Buff offense. A sack of Sanders, together with a false start penalty, however, left the Buffs with a third-and-21 near midfield. A 15-yard completion to Jimmy Horn, Jr. left the Buffs with a fourth-and-six at the UCF 36-yard line. Too far out for a field goal attempt, the Buffs went for a first down, but turned the ball over when a completion to Wester went for only one yard.

UCF’s next drive got as far as midfield before the CU defense forced a punt. Taking over at the 14-yard line, an 11-yard run by Shedeur Sanders got the Buffs out of the hole, with a facemask penalty against the Knights on a third-and-six completion of 29 yard to Travis Hunter put CU in scoring position. The CU offense made it to the UCF red zone, but faced a fourth-and-one at the UCF 18-yard line. A 36-yard field goal attempt by Alejandro Mata was good, and, with 42 seconds remaining before the break, CU was up, 24-14.

But the scoring wasn’t done.

After a sack of UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson by freshman defensive lineman Taje McCoy helped to force a three-and-out, the Knights were forced to punt with 22 seconds left in the half. A 27-yard punt return by Jimmy Horn gave the Buffs the ball at the UCF 35-yard line. A quick seven-yard completion from Sanders to Micah Welch gave the Buffs a chance at a field goal The 46-yarder by Mata was good, giving the Buffs some bonus points to take into halftime.

Halftime score: Colorado 27, Central Florida 14

Central Florida looked to become the first team in the 2024 season to score on the Buffs in the third quarter of a game, moving quickly into CU territory to open the second half. A holding penalty against the Knights, though, help to stall the drive, and UCF failed to score when Knight kicker Colton Boomer missed a 55-yard field goal.

It took the Buff offense only four plays to extend their lead. After a roughing the passer call on a 14-yard completion to Jimmy Horn helped move the ball into UCF territory, quarterback Shedeur Sanders hit Will Sheppard for 32 yards down to the Knight one-yard line. On the next play, running back Micah Welch took it in for the score, upping CU’s lead to 34-14.

Three plays later, CU had the ball back, with Travis Hunter collected his second interception of the season, picking off UCF quarterback KJ Jefferson at the UCF 38-yard line.

The Buff offense, though, couldn’t take advantage, moving backwards before punting the ball back after a three-and-out.

Three plays and 92 yards later, Central Florida was back in the game. A 54-yard completion, followed by a 23-yard completion, followed by a 15-yard touchdown pass from KJ Jefferson to Xavier Townsend made it 34-21 with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Unfazed, the CU offense quickly responded. Two runs by Isaiah Augustave, for 21 and 19 yards, moved the ball into UCF territory. The six-play, 65-yard drive was capped by a 10-yard touchdown pass from Shedeur Sanders to LaJohntay Wester. Late in the third, the Buffs were again up by 20 points, at 41-21.

On the third play of UCF’s ensuing drive, the Knights turned the ball over for a third time. Running back RJ Harvey, who came into the game with three straight 100-yard rushing games to open the season, but was held to 77 yards by the Buffs for the game, fumbled, with the ball poked loose by defensive lineman Shane Cokes. Cornerback DJ McKinney recovered at the CU 37-yard, giving the Buffs the ball back in the final minute of the third quarter.

After a quick three-and-out from the CU offense, the Knights were in desperation mode to open the fourth quarter, the UCF offense set off on a must-score drive. The Knights did hold the ball for 14 plays, and did take almost five minutes off of the clock … but failed to score. UCF did convert a fourth-and-nine and a fourth-and-five along the way, but, on fourth-and-goal at the CU four-yard line, Knight quarterback KJ Jefferson was sacked by linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green, giving the ball back to the Buff offense.

A conservative three-and-out by the CU offense gave the ball back to the Knights, but now only seven minutes remained in the game. The UCF offense again drove inside the CU red zone, but again came up empty. On a third-and-three at the CU 14-yard line, KJ Jefferson ran for the first down, but fumbled. Safety Cam’Ron Silmon Craig caught the fumble in the air, and lumbered 95 yards for a game-clinching touchdown with five minutes remaining.

The Knights’ final drive took ten plays, but again came up empty. A fourth-and-14 pass at the CU 33-yard line went for all of two yards, giving the ball back to the Buffs with two minutes remaining. Three runs by running back Charlie Offerdahl picked up 11 yards, running out the clock.

Final score: Colorado 48, Central Florida 21

CU finished with 418 yards, mixing the pass and the run better than it has all season. The Buffs finished with 128 rushing yards – along with two touchdowns – on 29 attempts to complement Shedeur Sanders’ passing.

“That’s what we want. We want that kind of balance,” Coach Prime said. “We desire that kind of balance. And I know these guys can do it, and I believe in them wholeheartedly.”

Defensively, CU shut down a UCF offense that came in No. 1 nationally on the ground (375.7 yards per game), No. 3 in total yards (570.7) and No. 14 in scoring (45.7 points per game).

The Knights finished with only 177 yards on the ground, with star RJ Harvey finishing with 77 – his lowest total in more than a calendar year.

“We knew we had to take away something, so just trying to stifle the run a little bit to get them to start over,” Coach Prime said. “But we knew we could score as well, so to keep up with our type of scoring that gets them out of their comfort zones and provokes them to throw the ball a little more than they would like to, because that’s not truly who they’ve shown that they’ve been.”

“We came out, adversity hit us fast,” said safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig of Shedeur Sanders’ interception on CU’s first series of the game. “Nobody flinched, so I think we’re trending in the right direction. Everybody’s bought in. You can tell.

“The way we’re playing right now it’s definitely been the most complete win, I feel like, since we’ve been here and it’s just the beginning.”

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Game Notes … 

— The game was the first-ever between the two schools. CU came into the game with a 4-9 all-time record in games played in the state of Florida, with nine of those games being played in Miami;

— Attendance for the game was 45,702, slightly above a sellout (45,301), representing the 16th time in 17 games of the Coach Prime era in which the Buffs played before a sellout (the road game at Washington State in November, 2023, being the only exception);

— Central Florida came into the game leading the nation in rushing, at 375 yards per game (albeit with two of those games being played against FCS teams). The Buff defense held the Knights to 177 yards on the ground;

— CU picked up its first Big 12 road win since Oct. 27, 2007, at Texas Tech. The Buffs had lost their last 13 Big 12 road games before leaving for the Pac-12 in 2011. The 27-point win was Colorado’s largest margin of victory in a road game since a 34-0 win at Oklahoma State on Oct. 1, 2005;

— The win was the eighth-biggest upset against the spread in program history, being a 14.5-point underdog going into the game. Of the wins against at least a 14-point spread this was the largest victory of 27 points. The previous widest margin was a 13-point win against Oklahoma State in 1974;

— The 95-yard fumble return for touchdown by Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig in the fourth quarter tied for the second-longest fumble return in CU history behind only Ben Kelly’s 96-yard fumble return for a touchdown against Kansas on September 18, 1999. The last defensive touchdown for the Buffs was Shilo Sanders 80-yard pick-six against CSU during the 2023 season.

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Tags: Alejandro Mata, Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig, Charlie Offerdahl, D.J. McKinney, Dallan Hayden, DJ McKinney, Dre'lon Miller, Isaiah Augustave, Jimmy Horn, Jimmy Horn Jr., Lajohntay Wester, Micah Welch, Nikhai Hill-Green, Preston Hodge, Sav'ell Smalls, Shane Cokes, Shedeur Sanders, Taje McCoy, Travis Hunter, Will Sheppard
This post, about the Central Florida game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
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