Colorado-Oklahoma Notes

Quickly Colorado outgained Oklahoma 76-14 in the first quarter; OU bounced back to pickup 160 in the second to CU's 86... The Sooners' touchdown with 1:40 left in the first quarter following an interception was the first against the CU defense in nearly seven quarters; had the Buffs reached seven full quarters, it would have marked the first time in 30 seasons CU held an opponent without a TD that long (season finale in '77, a 23-0 shutout over Kansas State, and the first three quarters of the '78 opener against Oregon)... In the first half, OU averaged 7.8 yards on first down (13 plays, 102 yards), while CU netted just 1.8 (13 plays, 24 yards); Colorado did bounce back to average 5.8 per try in the third quarter... Colorado dominated time of possession for a second straight week (38:54, including 21:30 in the second half); that was likely a factor in CU outgaining the Sooners 219-56... The Buffs snapped a 5-game losing streak to the Sooners, but OU still owns a 39-17-3 edge in 59 meetings; Colorado's last win over OU had been a 38-24 verdict in Boulder in Bob Stoops' first season. Two of the losses came in Big 12 Championship games (2002, 2004)... This was Dan Hawkin's first win over a ranked team at Colorado, and his third in 13 games as a head coach; his other two wins over ranked teams came against #8 Fresno State (35-30 in 2001) and #19 TCU in the 2003 Fort Worth Bowl (34-31)... Colorado is now 7-5 in Big 12 Conference openers... Thirty-five years ago, the Buffs toppled No. 2 Oklahoma in Boulder, 20-14, in the signature anniversary game for CU in the series his year... Oklahoma had been held to 24 points or less in a half just twice this season much less to that few in a game; the Sooners came in with 246 points and a 61.5 average, but the latter number “dropped” to 54.0.

CU VS. RANKED TEAMS CU snapped a 14-game losing streak against top 25 opponents, as its last win had been a 21-16 over No. 22 Missouri on Nov. 8, 2003); Colorado's last win over a top 5 team came on Dec. 1, 2001, also against a No. 3 (a 39-37 win over Texas in the Big 12 title game. CU had dropped six straight to top 5 teams since). CU's last win over a top 5 opponent when the Buffs were unranked was a significant win in the Bill McCartney era: Oct. 25, 1986, CU bested No. 3 Nebraska in Boulder, 20-10 in a game that became known as “The Turning Point.”

COMEBACK CU's rally from 17 down tied the fourth largest comeback in school history; it was the biggest in a decade, when CU came back from 18 down (35-17) at Iowa State to win 43-38 on Nov. 8, 1997; the two ahead of these pair came on Oct. 28, 1978 (CU won at Missouri, 28-27 after trailing 27-7); and on Oct. 7, 1961, when the Buffs rallied from a 19-0 deficit against Kansas in Boulder to win, 20-19.

FIRST STARTS Two players made their first career starts, both true freshmen: WR Kendrick Celestine and OG Kai Maiava. In Maiava's case, he became the first true frosh OL to do since OG Brian Daniels in 2003; he is also just the eighth true freshman O-lineman to start a game at CU since frosh became eligible to play again in 1973. All eight were guards.

227 AND COUNTING Colorado scored in its 227th consecutive game, adding to the fifth longest active streak in the nation; CU has now scored in 142 straight league games.

Defense IS FOR REAL Oklahoma netted just 230 yards on offense?since Arizona State had 402 on Sept. 8, the Buffs have allowed just 590 in the last three games (196.7 per). OU was also just 1-of-9 on third down, and since the third quarter of the CSU game (after the Rams opened 9-of-12), the opponent has converted on third down just 12-of-61 times. Oklahoma came into the game second in the NCAA (20.6%; but the Buffs were 6-of-19 on third down and 2-of-3 on fourth down).

WR DUSTY SPRAGUE. CU's senior wide receiver became the 19th player in school history to record 1,000 career receiving yards, doing so on CU's second play of the game when he caught a 15-yard pass for a first down (he entered the game needing 12 to reach the plateau). He added his third career TD reception in the fourth quarter which tied the game. He had 2 catches for 30 yards, upping his career numbers to 84 receptions for 1,018 and three scores.

FOURTH DOWN “TD” Senior TE Tyson DeVree is utilizing his initials to the max this season, as he now has four touchdown catches in 2007. Three of those have come on fourth down plays?11 yards against Florida State, 1 yard against Miami-Ohio and 4 yards against Oklahoma. All the passes were thrown by QB Cody Hawkins.

SPEAKING OF CODY QB Cody Hawkins has a touchdown pass in his first five career games; when researching to see what the record was, it was determined he set it last week. The old best had been three twice: Mike Moschetti (in 1998) and Bobby Pesavento (2000).

TB HUGH CHARLES. CU's senior tailback had the seventh 100-yard rushing game of his career (24-110, 1 TD), to go with 123 yards last week against Miami. It's the second time in his career he had back-to-back century games (other: versus CSU and New Mexico State top open the 2005 season). He has 1,912 career yards, as he moved past Byron White (1,864) and Bob Stransky (1,868) into 19th place all-time at Colorado.

PK KEVIN EBERHART His career-long 45-yard field goal came with 0:00 on the clock, just the second game winning kick of such nature in school history (not including one in overtime, which he made earlier this year to beat Colorado State, 31-28). The only other came on Oct. 18, 1947, when John Zisch made a 36-yard field goal as time expired to lead CU to a 9-7 win over BYU in Boulder.

Players Mentioned

Kendrick Celestine

Brian Daniels

Tyson DeVree

Cody Hawkins

Kai Maiava

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