Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Colorado State
Turnovers Doom Buffs Vs. Rams
August 30, 2002 | Football
Stats
COLORADO STATE 19, COLORADO 14
Game One; August 31, 2002
DENVER -- A Craig Ochs fourth down pass to John Donahoe near the goal line was broken up with just 21 seconds left in the game, thus ending a Colorado comeback attempt as Colorado State defeated the No. 7 Buffaloes, 19-14.
Colorado had already rallied once, storming back from a 13-0 deficit entering the fourth quarter with two touchdowns just over five minutes apart to take a 14-13 lead. The Rams, stymied on offense for most of the second half, mustered a comeback of their own, driving 84 yards after CU's go-ahead score to take a 19-14 lead that would hold up for the win.
Dexter Wynn set up the first score of the game, returning a punt 43 yards to the Buff 39, where in just three plays, CSU took a 7-0 lead after an 8-yard touchdown run by Cecil Sapp. Turnovers and an ill-timed fumble would then help to do the Buffs in on this day.
Colorado started a drive at its own 8-yard line with 7:04 left in the first half, and Chris Brown got the Buffs out of the hole with a nice 8-yard gain on first down. However, he fumbled on the next play with Wynn recovering for the Rams at the Buff 20. Five plays later, Sapp scored from the two to put CSU up 13-0; Jeff Babcock's PAT kick hit the left upright and bounced away.
The Buffs came out determined in the second half, earning four first downs in as many plays to start the third quarter. Driving from their own 20 to the CSU 18, the Buffs looked like they were going to get on the board, but Brown fumbled and Landon Jones recovered, ending the threat. Two drives later, a muffed exchange between Ochs and Brown on a fourth-and-1 play from the Ram 3 ended another threat, as even though Donahoe recovered the ball at the 2, rules state that only the player who fumbled can recover the ball on a fourth down play.
The Buffs greeted the fourth quarter with some fireworks. On the first play of the period, Jeremy Bloom returned his first collegiate punt return 75 yards for a touchdown to get the Buffs off the schneid and cut the lead to 13-7. On CU's very next drive, Brown scored from one yard out to cap an 8-play, 81-yard march, and Pat Brougham's PAT kick gave CU its first, and only, lead of the day at 14-13 with 9:39 left to play.
CSU had just 43 yards in the second half when it took over on its own 16 following Brown's score. But the Rams marched 84 yards in seven plays, capped by a Bradlee Van Pelt 23-yard run for a touchdown. Van Pelt turned 180 degrees and backed into the end zone on the play, and then fired the ball into the face of CU safety Roderick Sneed in truly one of the most classless displays of sportsmanship the rivalry has ever seen. The officials did not see it, however, and no penalty for taunting was flagged. It wouldn't matter, as CSU's two-point try failed, leaving he margin at five points.
CU had plenty of time to mount a second comeback, and drove from its own 20 into the CSU red zone in the final minute. It wasn't easy, as twice CU converted on fourth down, both 3-yard runs by Brown and Ochs. CU had a first-and-10 at the CSU 17, and after an incomplete pass and then a 5-yard Ochs pass to Ron Monteilh, was left with a third-and-five at the 12. But passes to Bloom and then Donahoe fell incomplete to end CU's hopes of victory.
It was only the second loss experienced by Colorado in 54 games when the Buffaloes out-rushed the opponent, and the 11 drives on offense matched the fewest for CU in a game last year (coming in wins over CSU and San Jose State). On the plus side, CU was called for its fewest penalties (two) in a season opener since committing a similar number in 1976 at Texas Tech.
Photo Of The Game (AP)
Punt Returner Jeremy Bloom ignites the Buffs with a 75-yard punt return as he breaks through the tackle of CSU's Doug Heald (44), who was the only Ram to touch Bloom on the play. CU's Kory Mossoni (12) helps Bloom reach the end zone.
