Posts Tagged ‘Deion Smith’

No. 14 Utah 63, Colorado 21

//posted 11.27.2022

(There have been 6 comments, post your CU memory now)

Colorado posted a grand total of one first down and 18 total yards of offense in the first half, leading to a 42-0 deficit at the break, with No. 14 Utah coasting to a 63-14 victory. The Buffs finished the season with a 1-11 record, joining the 2012 Jon Embree team as the only 11-loss teams in school history.

Utah quarterback Cam Rising threw for three first half touchdowns, completing 17-of-19 passes for 234 yards as the Buff defense couldn’t stop the Utes. At the break, Utah had 379 yards to CU’s 18, with 20 first downs, averaging almost ten yards per play. The Buff offense, meanwhile, went three-and-out in seven of eight first half drives, averaging less than a yard per play.

Redshirt freshman Maddox Kopp made his first career start at quarterback, completing 15-of-28 passes for 123 yards and a touchdown – a one-yarder to offensive lineman Frank Fillip on a tackle-eligible pass in the final minutes. In the decisive first half, however, Kopp was 5-of-14 for 26 yards, with the Buffs posting negative yardage rushing the ball. In the first two quarters, the Buffs had a total of 13 carries … for minus-eight yards.

“I don’t believe in moral victories normally, but tonight I did,” said CU interim head coach Mike Sanford, who finished with a 1-6 record in that role. “For that team, that locker room of players to not only not quit but actually go fight and put together a really good second half of football speaks to exactly what’s going on in that group and in our business organization right now. It’s been fight. It’s been character. It’s been fighting through all the adversity that we continue to face.”

No. 8 Oregon 49, Colorado 10

//posted 11.6.2022

(There have been 14 comments, post your CU memory now)

Oregon quarterback threw for two touchdowns, ran for two more, and was on the receiving end of yet another, leading No. 8 Oregon to a 49-10 rout of Colorado. Former Buff cornerback Christian Gonzalez added two interceptions in the the third quarter to help put the game away. Gonzalez gave the Ducks two short fields, helping Oregon turn a 28-10 game into a 42-10 laugher.

The final stats were not as lopsided as the score. Oregon had 479 yards of total offense; Colorado had 367. The Ducks had 21 first downs; the Buffs also had 21. The difference were the big plays, including three turnovers by the Buff offense. CU also missed a field goal, and turned the ball over on downs three more times. J.T. Shrout completed 17-of-34 passes for 247 yards, including an 81-yard touchdown pass to freshman Jordyn Tyson. For his part, Tyson had five catches for 137 yards. Freshman Anthony Hankerson led the CU rushing attack, with 11 carries for 54 yards … but they all came in the final quarter when the game was well decided.

“Hats off to Oregon, a really good football team,” CU interim head coach Mike Sanford said. “I thought at halftime we were competing at a fairly high level and we came out and put together a drive to put three on the board. But just having answers consistently proved to be a challenge.”

Arizona State 42, Colorado 34

//posted 10.30.2022

(There have been 7 comments, post your CU memory now)

Arizona State scored a touchdown on each of their first two drives, going a combined 139 yards in 15 plays, giving the Sun Devils an early 14-3 lead on their way to a 42-34 win in Boulder. On its way to a 28-17 halftime lead, an Arizona State offense that entered the night averaging 353.6 yards had put up 327 while averaging 8.4 yards per play. The Sun Devils finished the game with 10 plays of at least 20 yards, going for 557 total yards.

Colorado managed only 359 yards of total offense, but finally pushed past the 20-point mark for the first time on the season. Quarterback J.T. Shrout completed only 13-of-34 passes, but they went for 222 yards and two touchdowns, including a seven-yarder to Montana Lemonious-Craig and a 58-yarder to Jordyn Tyson. On the night, Tyson had five receptions for 115 yards and a receiving score, also contributing an 88-yard punt return in the fourth quarter. Deion Smith, returning from injury, had 111 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries.

“I want to commend our team for the fight and resolve they exhibited throughout the entirety of four quarters,” said CU coach Mike Sanford, who dropped to 1-2 in his role as CU’s interim boss. “We’re at a place where I believe that the team is fighting. It’s showing up on Saturdays. But obviously the missing link is playing that type of football when a defense gets a stop, the offense goes in and scores. Our offense goes and has a tremendous drive, the defense has to get a stop. Those are the things I believe we’re going to piece together throughout the course of these next four weeks.”

Colorado 20, Cal 13, OT

//posted 10.17.2022

(There have been 18 comments, post your CU memory now)

A 22-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback J.T. Shrout to Montana Lemonious-Craig gave CU the lead in overtime, with the Buff defense making it stand up with a four down stop, giving Colorado a 20-13 overtime win over California. Cal had a first-and-goal at the CU 10-yard line, but a fourth-and-goal pass fell incomplete, preserving the victory. The Buffs, who had only led once during the first five games of the season – and that was in the first quarter of the first game – had leads of 3-0, 10-7, and 13-10 before taking the lead for good in overtime.

The much maligned Colorado defense, dead last in the nation in rushing defense (giving up an average of 294.2 yards per game), held the Cal offense to 35 yards rushing, with the Bears held to 297 yards of total offense overall. The Buff offense, which had also struggled, posted only 328 yards of total offense, but had its first 100-yard receiving game of the season, with Montana Lemonious-Craig collecting eight passes for 119 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Backup J.T. Shrout, who replaced injured starter Owen McCown in the third quarter, completed 8-of-12 passes for 69 yards.

“This is all about the players,” interim coach Mike Sanford said. “Their resilience, their resolve. I’m really proud of these players. As I told them in the locker room, the best part about being 1-0 in our new season is the chance to be 2-0.”

“I have had some pretty good moments with this program, but I’ll definitely put this one in the books”, said senior defensive lineman Terrance Lang. “It was a hard-fought win and we deserve it. And credit to those fans, man. I love our fans. They show up every time.”

A sellout crowd of 50,471 basked in a warm October afternoon, watching the Buffs first victory since taking down Washington on November 20, 2021. “I mean we love Buff Nation,” said hero of the game Montana Lemonious-Craig. “They stay with us through thick and thin and when they stormed the field it was just great vibes, great energy all over the place and we’re just happy we were able to get the win for them because at the end of the day, our fans show up week in week out, no matter the record, no matter nothing. They come here and give us their all, so we’re glad that we were able to give them our all.”

Arizona 43, Colorado 20

//posted 10.2.2022

(There have been 23 comments, post your CU memory now)

Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura threw for 484 yards and six touchdowns, tying a school record, leading the Wildcats to a 43-30 romp over Colorado. The Wildcats ran over, around, and through the Buff defense for 673 yards, with ten of Arizona’s 11 drives finishing in CU territory. Arizona was good on 9-of-14 third down attempts, controlling the game and the tempo throughout.

CU’s freshman quarterback Owen McCown went 14-for-30 for 186 yards and a touchdown, also contributing a score on a one-yard run in the Buffs’ first touchdown in the first quarter all season. Fellow freshman Anthony Hankerson led the rushing attack, with 68 yards on 12 carries, including a seven-yard touchdown run for his first score as a Buff. CU’s third touchdown – the first time the Buffs had three touchdowns in a game in 2022 – came on a 14-yard pass from McCown to Daniel Arias.

“That was a very challenging offense and that quarterback, we didn’t slow him down,” CU head coach Karl Dorrell said of Arizona’s offense and quarterback Jayden de Laura. “We didn’t slow him down at all … We just have a tremendous amount of work to do. We’re working hard and we’re trying to improve the fundamentals and things that we do. It’s just not showing up fast enough when we play. That’s the unfortunate thing.”

The victory left Arizona, a 1-11 team in 2021, halfway to bowl eligibility with a 3-2 record, Colorado, meanwhile, dropped to 0-5 for just the fourth time in school history (1980; 1984; and 2006).

Minnesota 49, Colorado 7

//posted 9.17.2022

(There have been 30 comments, post your CU memory now)

Buffs embarrassed by Gophers for second straight season … At the half, Minnesota had five touchdowns, while CU had three first downs … Karl Dorrell: “I wasn’t expecting that type of performance. We have a lot of extremely hard work to do” …

Air Force 41, Colorado 10

//posted 9.10.2022

(There have been 48 comments, post your CU memory now)

Buffs fumbled, stumbled and generally embarrassed themselves in a 41-10 loss to Air Force … The Buffs were out-gained, 443 yards to 162, with quarterback J.T. Shrout’s starting debut marred by three turnovers and missed opportunities … “Obviously, it was a disappointing performance” …

TCU 38, Colorado 13

//posted 9.6.2022

(There have been 25 comments, post your CU memory now)

The 2022 CU season opener ended just before 12:00 a.m., MT, but the clock had struck midnight for the Cinderella Buffs about an hour earlier. The Buffs dominated the first half of their game against TCU, but were completely routed in the second half, falling to the Horned Frogs, 38-13. Colorado had more first downs (20-17) and wasn’t passed in total yards gained until the fourth quarter, but the Horned Frogs had no trouble with the CU defense in the second half, scoring 31 unanswered points.

Brendon Lewis started at quarterback for Colorado, finished 13-for-18 for all of 78 yards. Lewis also led the Buff rushing attack, putting up 42 yards on eight carries. Backup quarterback J.T. Shrout, who came on late in the first half and then made another appearance in the fourth quarter, finished with 13 completions on 23 attempts for 157 yards and one touchdown.

The Horned Frogs, who had just 67 yards offense in the first half, finished with 413 for the game. That total included more than 260 on the ground alone in the final two quarters. The Buffs, who had 212 yards of offense in the first half – but only two field goals to show for it – had 136 yards of total offense in the second half, with 94 of those yards coming in garbage time.

“I wasn’t expecting that type of game,” CU head coach Karl Dorrell said. “We played decently in the first half … But apparently they made better adjustments. We couldn’t stop what they were doing.”

Colorado Daily

//posted 8.27.2022

(There have been 31 comments, post your CU memory now)

**CU Depth Chart released (no resolution at quarterback or tailback)** … Senior WR Maurice Bell back from injury: “I’m ready to prove everybody wrong” … *Video: OL Tommy Brown and WR RJ Sneed happy to be back practicing* …

CUATG Interview: Running Back Deion Smith

//posted 5.4.2022

(There have been 2 comments, post your CU memory now)

Deion Smith is ready to show the Buff Nation what No. 20 can do … Was the Spring Showcase vanilla? (“You can count on one hand the number of plays we ran that day”) … What did Deion discover when investigating NIL at CU for a class project? … Let’s find out …

Tags: Deion Smith
Posted in Article | 2 Comments >> | Leave a Comment

Countdown to Spring Practices – Running Backs

//posted 3.17.2022

(There have been 3 comments, post your CU memory now)

Alex Fontenot was CU’s leading rusher in 2019, but an injury in 2020 paved the way for Jarek Broussard to become the Pac-12 Offensive POTY in 2020 … Broussard (and Ashaad Clayton) are gone … Are the three returning backs ready to stake their claims for carries in 2022, or will Ramon Jefferson take over this fall? …

No. 16 Utah 28, Colorado 13

//posted 11.26.2021

(There have been 12 comments, post your CU memory now)

Quarterback Cameron Rising threw for three touchdown passes, and two Ute running backs had over 100 yards rushing apiece as No. 16 slowly pulled away from Colorado, defeating the Buffs, 28-13. The Buff offense, which ended the season with its lowest total yard average since 1964, had only 148 total yards, with an interception return to the Utah 15 by safety Mark Perry and a 100-yard kickoff return by Nikko Reed supplying 10 of CU’s 13 points.

Buff quarterback Brendon Lewis finished the season with the CU freshman record for consecutive passes without an interception, but completed only 9-of-23 passes for 84 yards. With Jarek Broussard out with an illness, Alex Fontenot was the Buffs’ leading rusher … with 28 yards on ten carries.

The Buffs played short-handed on both sides of the ball. Linebacker Nate Landman missed his sixth game, along with fellow linebackers Jack Lamb, Guy Thomas and Joshka Gustav. Defensive backs Mekhi Blackmon and Kaylin Moore were also out. On offense, receivers Brenden Rice and Montana Lemonious-Craig, along with Broussard, didn’t see the field in CU’s final game of the 2021 season.

“Everybody feels that we have that foundation to build from moving forward,” Dorrell said. “It’s unfortunate — I would love to have started the offseason with a win, winning this game and using that as juice to get some things going for us in a positive way into the offseason, but there’s enough of a good feel on this team. We feel like we’re close.”