Notes: Nebraska 40, Colorado 31
November 28, 2008 | Football
QUICKLY The schools both scored at least 30 points for the fifth time in the last 10 meetings ... The final count of freshman starters this season for Colorado was 42; the 95 over the last two seasons is a two-year all-time season high at Colorado ... After opening with a rush for no yards, CU came back with plays of 68 and 44 yards, its two longest plays of the season (topping a 42 yard Darrell Scott run vs. Texas A&M); the 36-yard gain on the fourth play was also a top 10 long from the previous 11 games ... The teams combined for 305 yards, 28 points and an 11.1 average gain on first down in the first quarter ... Colorado's 24 first half points were the most by the Buffs in the first half since scoring 24 against Nebraska in Boulder last year (CU had 28 in the second half against Iowa State two weeks ago) ... Nebraskawas 5-of-9 on third down in the first half?CU had three sacks on NU's four misses ... Demetrius Sumler's TD run on fourth down from the NU4 improved CU to 4-of-5 on the season in the red zone on fourth down ... DE Maurice Lucas had his third career fumble recovery, a big one in the red zone at the CU 6 with 12:45 left in the game; his others came against Kansas his freshman year in 2005 and versus West Virginia this season... S Patrick Mahnke's first career sack was big, a 15-yard loss late in the game that forced NU to make a school-long 57-yard field goal to take the lead ... QB Cody Hawkins has thrown 25 career interceptions; two today were results of batted passes, bringing that count of the 24 to 11 ... This will mark only the sixth time in 24 seasons (since 1985) that the Buffs will not play in a bowl game; the other years were 1987, 1997, 2000, 2003 and 2006 ... OLB Brad Jones had two of CU's four sacks and finished as the team leader on the season with seven ... CU was 4-of-10 on third down, despite needing on average 9.9 yards to go.
CU STRUCK QUICK FOR ONCE The 68-yard touchdown pass from Cody Hawkins to Riar Geer on the second play of the game, just 54 seconds in. Since 1989, Nebraska had taken a 7-0 lead against the Buffaloes inside of two minutes of the game.
SEASON RARITIES Some statistical season notes: TB Rodney Stewart became just the fourth freshman and the first since 1991 to lead CU in rushing, despite missing the last three games (and most of a fourth) due to a broken fibula. CU freshman singleseason rushing leaders:
Att. Yards Avg. TD 159 656 4.1 6 136 668 4.9 6 157 830 5.3 7 132 622 4.7 2
Season
Player
1981
*Lee Rouson
1986
O.C. Oliver
1991
Lamont Warren
2008
Rodney Stewart
WR SCOTTY McKNIGHT (46-519) is the first player to lead the Buffs in receiving in back-to-back seasons since Javon Green did so in 1999 and 2000. On his last reception, a 23-yard grab on fourth down, he went over the 1,000-yard career mark and finished up with 1,007.
PK ARIC GOODMAN (7 points today) finished as CU's leading scorer with 45 points, the lowest total to lead the team since QB Sal Aunese and TB Eric Bieniemy led the 1987 Buffs with 36 points each.
CB JIMMY SMITH He scored his second career touchdown?both against Nebraska?with the 58-yard fumble return on the NU field goal fake late in the first half. His first career score was a 31-yard interception return against the Huskers in 2007 that started CU's comeback from 35-24 down in the third quarter. It was CU's 44th touchdown by return since 1999, tied for the ninth most in the nation (CU was tied for 11th coming in?with Nebraska?and then NU caught CU again with Suh' INT return late in the game).
TB DEMETRIUS SUMLER (9-65, 2 tD) His 36-yard touchdown run was a career long rush, and his two-TD day marked his second multiple-TD game (he had three against Baylor in 2007). He finished the season with 241 yards, fourth on the team behind three freshman, as CU remains the only school in the country to have three freshman (all true, no less) lead any major statistical category.
FOURTH DOWN BUFFS... CU converted both fourth down plays today, finishing the season 18-of-25 (72.0 percent); the Buffs made their last 11 fourth down tries of the year, last missing in the second half at Missouri.
RED ZONE DEFENSE Colorado's defense held its own, despite being on the field for 39:36 with the Huskers owning a 77-48 advantage in plays. NU ran 60 of its plays in CU territory, gaining 204 yards or just 3.4 per; but then, inside-the-20, CU really shined. The Buffs allowed just two touchdowns in six penetrations of the 20 by the Huskers (with three field goals and a fumble recovery), with Nebraska running 23 plays for 59 yards in the red zone (2.6). In addition, NU ran 15 goal-to-go plays and were stopped 13 times.
QB BREAKDOWN Here is the breakdown of today's snaps by each CU quarterback:
| Quarterback |
Drives |
Plays |
Yards |
Avg. |
Points |
TO |
| Cody Hawkins |
9 |
44 |
274 |
6.2 |
28 |
3 |
| Tyler Hansen |
1 |
4 |
17 |
4.3 |
3 |
0 |
WR JOSH SMITH (245 AP YARDS) Sophomore WR Josh Smith had a career high 245 all-purpose yards (193 KOR, 52 receiving), topping his previous best of 198 at Kansas last month. He finished with the second most all-purpose yards in a single season at CU with 1,987, bested only by TB Rashaan Salaam when he won the Heisman Trophy in 1994. A look at the top five single-season all-purpose Buffs (regular season games only; *?return yards include all runbacks, punt and kickoff return as well as interception, blocked punt, etc.):
| Season | Player |
Rushing |
Receiving |
*Returns |
Games |
Total Yards |
| 1994 | Rashaan Salaam |
2,055 |
294 |
0 |
11 |
2,349 |
| 2008 | Josh Smith |
32 |
387 |
1,568 |
12 |
1,987 |
| 1937 | Byron White |
1,121 |
0 |
849 |
8 |
1,970 |
| 1990 | Eric Bieniemy |
1,628 |
159 |
31 |
11 |
1,818 |
| 2002 | Chris Brown |
1,744 |
40 |
0 |
12 |
1,784 |
Smith set school records for the most kickoff returns (50) and yards (1,275) in a single-season at Colorado, along with the most kick return yards (1,568 punt & kickoff).
