No. 23 Arizona 34, CU 31


Posts Tagged ‘Xavier Weaver’

No. 23 Arizona 34, CU 31

//posted 11.13.2023

Tyler Loop connected on a 24-yard field goal with no time remaining, giving No. 23 Arizona a comeback 34-31 win over Colorado 34-31 at a sold-out Folsom Field. Jonah Coleman rushed for 179 yards as the Wildcats earned their fourth consecutive victory, while Colorado lost its fourth straight to fall to 4-6.

Arizona head coach Jedd Fisch led the Wildcats to bowl-eligibility in his third season in charge. So he understood the plight of first-year Colorado coach Deion Sanders, trying to turn around a program that went 1-11 a season ago. “I would not be worried if I was a Colorado fan,” Fisch said. “They have a fantastic head coach that is going to do just great.”

Shedeur Sanders ran for a score and threw for two more as the Buffaloes (4-6, 1-6) lost for the sixth time in seven games since a 3-0 start. Sanders also finished with 262 yards passing to go over the 10,000-yard mark for his career.

“We could have won the darn game. I like that we should have won. I’m tired of ‘we could’ve won’,” said coach Coach Prime, whose team had 11 penalties for 83 yards. “There ain’t no lose in me. It don’t sit well with me. It don’t rock well with me. It don’t lay down with me. I have no lose in me.”

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Oregon State quarterback DJ Uiagalelei threw for one touchdown pass and ran for another, leading No. 16 Oregon State to a 26-19 victory over Colorado. The sold out Homecoming crowd of 52,725 watched the Buff offense continue to struggle, with CU only producing 238 yards of total offense – 52 in the first half. Buff quarterback Shedeur Sanders came into the game as the nation’s second-leading passer with a 337-yard average. But he was limited to 41 yards before halftime and finished with 245 after two late touchdown drives following an in-game painkiller injection for the second straight week in his sore hip.

Questionable play-calling at the end of the first half allowed the Beavers to post a touchdown in the final minute of the second quarter, giving Oregon State a 14-3 cushion at halftime. The Buff offense produced a pair of 75-yard touchdown drives in the second half, after the Buffs’ first 10 possessions resulted in just 78 yards of offense, with Sanders posting touchdown passes of 15 yards to Travis Hunter and 12 yards to Anthony Hankerson.

“The reason it’s so hard is because you know you’re capable of doing better, playing better, performing better, calling better games, coaching better on my behalf and you are coming up short when you have enough to get the job done,” Coach Prime said of his team, which fell below .500 (4-5) for the first time in his tenure at Boulder.

“It’s painful. It hurts myself, the team and all the coaches, the fans … Our kids fought hard. I love the fact that they didn’t have any quit in them. They rallied at the end and gave a heck of an effort. We just wish we could do that in the midst of the game — the first, second, third, and fourth quarters with consistency. And we haven’t found that level of consistency as of yet and that’s what’s truly disheartening.”

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No. 23 UCLA 28, Colorado 16

//posted 10.30.2023

The Colorado offense, last in the nation in sacks allowed, was exposed early and often as No. 23 UCLA slowly pulled away in the second half, posting a 28-16    win before a sold out Rose Bowl crowd. Buff quarterback Shedeur Sanders was harassed and hit all night, suffering seven sacks and numerous other hits. A strong early effort by the Buff defense, which generated four first half turnovers, was wasted as the CU offense netted all of three points off of those opportunities.

The UCLA offense, kept to a 7-6 lead at halftime, methodically pulled away in the second half, finishing with 487 yards of total offense. The Buff offense, meanwhile, posted only 255 yards of total offense … with 86 yards of that total coming in CU’s only touchdown drive of the contest late in the fourth quarter. Shedeur Sanders completed 27-of-43 passes for only 217 yards, with other totals – 24 pressures; 17 hits; 13 knockdowns; seven sacks – telling the true story of the game.

“Offensively, we’ve got to improve,” Coach Prime said. “Our quarterback is taking a beating. (Shedeur Sanders) got an injection at halftime just to block some of the pain… We have to do a better job of protecting him … Running the football, we’ve had a couple lineman go down (with injuries), but that’s no excuse.”

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Colorado built a 29-0 halftime lead, but ultimately fell in double-overtime to Stanford, 46-43. In one of the worst collapses in school history, the Buffs gave up three touchdowns in four minutes of game clock in the third quarter to allow the Cardinal back into the game, then failed to hold on to a ten-point lead with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. After the two teams traded touchdowns in the first overtime, an interception of Shedeur Sanders in the end zone on CU’s second overtime possession made it easy for the Cardinal, setting up Joshua Karty for a 31 yard game-winner.

Shedeur Sanders completed 33-of-47 passes for 400 yards and five touchdowns, but two costly sacks on fourth downs, and the interception in the end zone on CU’s final possession, overshadowed the effort. Travis Hunter returned from a lacerated liver injury to catch 13 passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns, but was also part of a Buff secondary which surrendered 396 yards passing to Ashton Daniels, including 294 yards and three touchdowns to Cardinal wide receiver Elic Ayomanor.

“I’m truly disturbed,” Coach Prime said in his post-game press conference. “We started out the game wonderfully, finally put it together in the first half like I desired, like we desired … and then we surrender three touchdowns unanswered (the total was actually four), which I can’t fathom right now. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. And then this thing just kept going.”

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Alejandro Mata kicked a 43-yard field goal with 12 seconds left, lifting Colorado to a 27-24 win over Arizona State. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders accounted for two touchdowns as the Buffs defeated the Sun Devils in Tempe for only the second time in school history. Wide receiver Javon Antonio, who had three catches for 42 yards coming into the game, had five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. Antonio also had a 43-yard reception with less than a minute to play, setting up the game-winning field goal.

Arizona State out-gained Colorado, 392 yards to 295, in a game marred by penalties (9-for-88 for ASU; 8-for-65 for CU). Shedeur Sanders completed 26-of-42 passes for 239 yards and a touchdown, also contributing a 16-yard scoring run, but Sanders was harassed all night, being sacked five times. Anthony Hankerson led the Buffs in rushing, with ten carries for 58 yards, but, with the sacks included, the Buffs returned to their anemic ways on the ground, finishing with 30 carries for a net of 56 yards.

“Played like hot garbage,” Sanders said. “And I’m trying to figure this out. Sick of it. I really am. I’m sick of us coming out here and putting forth the effort we put forth in the first half. We’ve had really diligent meetings and we’re trying to figure this out, ’cause I’m sick of it. I’m sorry. I’m happy about the win but I’m not happy in the fashion that we won it in. We’re better than that. We really are better than that, and we gotta start showing that. I expect to win and I expect to win in a better fashion than that. I’m sick of these consistent holes that we’re displaying and the penalties and the things that we’re doing. We’re so much better. I apologize for my anger today, but I don’t accept mediocrity.”

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No. 8 USC 48, Colorado 41

//posted 10.2.2023

Colorado rallied from a 48-21 third quarter deficit to make it a game, but nonetheless lost to USC for the 17th-straight time, falling 48-41 before a sellout crowd of 54.032. Shedeur Sanders threw for 371 yards and three touchdowns, while running for another, but it was not enough to keep up with USC quarterback Caleb Williams, who threw for six touchdowns and 403 yards. For the game, the Buffs actually out-gained the Trojans, with 564 total yards to 498 for USC, but the first half once again was the Buffs’ failing, with USC taking a 34-14 lead into the break.

Freshman wide receiver Omarion Miller, who had no receptions on the season coming into the game, collected seven passes for 196 yards and a touchdown. Jimmy Horn, Jr. contributed two touchdowns and 84 yards with his seven catches, while tight end Michael Harrison had six catches for 44 yards and a 21-yard touchdown. The Buff rushing “attack”, which had only 223 total yards in the first four games of the season, came alive with 193 yards on 45 carries. Running back Anthony Hankerson led the Buffs with 16 carries for 74 yards, posting a two-yard touchdown run.

“Wonderful game. They played their hearts out,” said Coach Prime. “I addressed the team and told them I love each of them, coaches included, because they were resilient. They did not give up and they had multiple, multiple opportunities to give up. They fought to the end. We sustained injuries, meaning the next man up came in and did their thing”.

Despite the second straight defeat, and despite having a defense which had given up 90 points in its last two games, Coach Prime was defiant. “If you can’t see what’s coming with CU football, you’ve lost your mind”, Sanders said. “You’re just a flat out hater. If you can’t see what’s going on and what’s going to transpire over the next several months. Something’s wrong with you.”

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Oregon scored on three consecutive double-digit drives to open up a 21-0 lead before the Colorado offense could muster a second first down, with the Ducks coasting to a 42-6 thrashing of the Buffs in the last meeting between the two teams as members of the Pac-12. Oregon posted 522 yards of total offense, while holding the CU offense to 199 total yards. Duck quarterback Bo Nix hit 28-of-33 passes for 276 yards three touchdowns, while also scoring on an 11-yard run just before the half to make it a 35-0 rout at the break.

Shedeur Sanders, meanwhile, went 23-for-33 for only 159 yards and a late consolation touchdown pass to Michael Harrison. Sanders was harassed all afternoon, being sacked seven times, and the Buffs committed 12 penalties for 103 yards.

“This game is not going to be played in Hollywood, it’s going to be played on grass”, Oregon coach Dan Lanning told his team before the game (he also said that videos didn’t win games, but he had no problem having his pregame talk be taped for later replay. Oh, and the Ducks unveiled their 3,653rd different Nike uniform combination for the game … good thing Oregon is all about the game between the lines).

“Usually we are a  fundamentally sound team,” Coach Prime said. “We don’t make foolish mistakes and implement danger and harm on ourselves field-position wise. We just kept making mistakes and that’s not indicative of who we are … (But) it’s not just the kids. The coaches are accountable too. We are all accountable. Let’s start with me. We’re accountable for this.”

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Buff quarterback Shedeur Sanders struggled throughout much of the game, but directed a game-tying 98-yard scoring drive in the final two minutes of regulation, then threw two touchdowns in two overtime periods to lead the No. 18 Buffaloes to a come-from-behind 43-35 win over rival Colorado State.

CU trailed 21-14 at the half — with one of its touchdowns coming on an 80-yard interception return by Shilo Sanders — and looked to be heading for an embarrassing loss  to 23.5-point underdog CSU when the Rams took a 28-17 lead with just more than 11 minutes to go in regulation. But the Buffs cut the margin to 28-20 with a field goal and Colorado’s defense forced a punt with just more than two minutes to play. The kick bounced out of bounds at the CU two-yard line with 2:06 on the clock — but that proved to be plenty of time for Sanders.

Sanders completed five passes on the drive for 106 yards as CU overcame two penalties on the march. Sanders found a wide-open Jimmy Horn Jr. for a 45-yard touchdown, then connected with tight end Michael Harrison for the two-point conversion to set up overtime. “I went into ‘Brady mode’,” said Sanders, referring to Tom Brady and his penchant for last minute victories. “They left us too much time”.

“I knew even if we got the ball on a two, three, or four-yard line, as long as the ball is in Shedeur’s hands, we’re going to get down this field,” said Coach Prime, who raised his first season record at Colorado to 3-0. “I knew that without a shadow of a doubt. And when we went to center field to talk about overtime until we won the ball. I want you to have the ball. I want you to pressure him to get them out of their comfort zone. That’s how transparent an excellent day for Colorado was a great day for the Buffalo fans. It’s a great day that we got to win.”

The Buffs were out-gained on the evening by the Rams, 499 yards to 418, but too many turnovers (four, including the pick-six by Shilo Sanders and the game-clinching interception by Trevor Woods in the second overtime) and too many penalties (17 for 182 yards) denied the Rams the upset.

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Colorado shocked the college football world with a 45-42 upset victory on the road against No. 17 TCU. Head coach Deion Sanders silenced his critics by leading the Buffs to a win over a Horned Frog team which was coming off of a national championship game appearance. The Buffs, a 20.5-point underdog, led throughout much of the game, and withstood comeback after comeback by the Horned Frogs, with a stop on fourth down with under a minute to play sealing the win.

“We were just preaching one stop,” Coach Prime said. “Just one dern stop. I always had confidence because I knew as long as we had the ball, Shedeur was gonna get us down there. But we just needed to stop.”

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders was impressive in leading the Buffs to victory. In his first start at CU, Sanders had a school-record 510 yards passing, completing 38-of-47 attempts for four touchdowns and no interceptions. Freshman running back Dylan Edwards scored four touchdowns, with one on the ground and three through the air, including a 75-yard score to open the third quarter, and a 46-yarder in the fourth quarter for the game winner. Edwards finished with 135 yards receiving on only five receptions – the highest receiving total by a running back in school history. Three other CU receivers topped the 100-yard mark, with Travis Hunter going for 119 on 11 receptions, Xavier Weaver going for 118 yards on six receptions, with Jimmy Horn collecting 11 passes for 117 yards and a touchdown.

“I knew we was gonna do this,” Shedeur Sanders said. “The scoreboard is just telling y’all that’s what’s going on, but you didn’t believe. Nobody believed that we was gonna do that.”

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Collection of national media game stories and columns … ESPN: We’re buying whatever Deion is selling … Dave Plati: CU’s upset fourth on all-time list (as ranked by point spread) … Video: Coach Prime’s Post-Game Press Conference …

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Transfer Portal Tracker

//posted 6.30.2023

(6/30) Gavin Layton, a 6’6″, 290-pound offensive lineman from Rochester, Minnesota, becomes the fifth junior college offensive lineman to commit to CU … (6/9) CU adds another 1,000-yard rusher, with junior Sy’veon Wilkerson becoming the latest Jackson State Tiger to join the team …

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