CU-CSU Game Notes

September 04, 2010 | Football

By: CUBuffs.com

Quickly Colorado now leads the series 60-20-2, including a 6-4 edge in Denver ... CU is now 23-1 in season openers since 1967 when scoring first ... This is the fewest points CU has allowed in a season opener since a 45-3 win over Fresno State in 1988 ... This marked the first time the losing team in the series failed to score at least 10 points since a 23-7 CSU win in Boulder in 1986, and the first time the loser did not score a touchdown since 1983, when CU won 31-3 in Boulder in game that resumed the series after a 25-year dormancy (CU now leads the series 17-6 since its resumption) ... Colorado's 17-0 lead at halftime was the largest by either team in the series since CSU led 28-0 at halftime in 1999; it was CU's largest intermission lead since 1995 in Boulder (28-7) ... The win was Dan Hawkins' 70th on the I-A/FBS level (70-44) ... In five season openers under Hawkins, the Buffs are now 15-of-15 in the Red Zone (10 TD/5 FG) ... The 3 points allowed by CU are the third lowest in the 50-game Hawk Era, trailing two shutouts (the last of which was last Sept. 19, a 24-0 win over Wyoming) ... The 245 yards allowed by the Buff defense is the fewest surrendered in a season opener since 1998, when CSU had 202 in a 42-14 CU win in what was the first series game played in Denver ... CSU's first nine plays all gained less than 5 yards (and just one of which gained 4); 36 of CSU's 58 plays went for fewer than 15 feet ... CSU ran just 15 plays in CU territory (for a net 44 yards) ... ILB Jon Major had a career-high eight tackles, besting the four he had last year at Iowa State ... With three quarterback sacks today, the Buffs now have a sack in 21 straight games ... Colorado sold about 33,500 of its allotted 37,000 tickets for the game; the crowd of 60,989 was the lowest of the 10 games in Denver (previous low was 65,701 in 2006) ... CU's next opponent, California, defeated UC-Davis 52-3 today.

FIRST CAREER STARTS Seven players made their first career starts for the Buffaloes: OT David Bakhtiari, WR Kyle Cefalo, WR Toney Clemons, DE Josh Hartigan, ILB Jon Major, S Parker Orms and WR DaVaughn Thornton.

FIRST CAREER ACTION: Including five players above (Bakhtiari, Cefalo, Clemons, Orms, Thornton), 21 players made their first appearance in a game; the others (*-denotes mainly special teams): CB *Jered Bell, WR Mario Conte, WR Jarrod Darden, UB Scott Fernandez, P *Zach Grossnickle, ILB *Evan Harrington, SN *Ryan Iverson, S *Matt Meyer, OLB *Liloa Nobriga, S *Deji Olatoye, WR Paul Richardson, SN *Joe Silipo, TB Justin Torres, DE Chidera Uzo-Diribe, CB Paul Vigo, ILB *Derrick Webb.

TRUE FROSH: Of the above, five true freshmen played: Bell, Iverson, Richardson, Torres and Uzo-Diribe.

DEFENSE CU limited the Rams to 49 rushing yards on 25 attempts (61 on 22 true rushes). The 49 yards is the fifth fewest CU has ever allowed in a season opener; the top five bests:

Aug. 31, 1996      WASHINGTON STATE         21- 5, 1 TD
Sept. 6, 2006       Colorado State (Denver)      34-15, 1 TD
Sept. 21, 1946      IOWA STATE                         25-30, 0 TD
Sept. 4, 2004       COLORADO STATE               28-44, 1 TD
Sept. 4, 2010       Colorado State (Denver)      25-49, 0 TD
(CU held the opponent under 50 yards rushing twice in 2009.)

WR SCOTTY McKNIGHT (6-78, 1 TD) He became CU's all-time leading receiver in style, catching his 168th career ball to pass Michael Westbrook (167, 1991-94) on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Hansen. He finished the game with 171 in his career; his 1,978 career yards are seventh (Javon Green is sixth: 2,031).

-He has had a TD reception in all four games versus CSU, scoring CU's first points of the year in 2007 and 2008.

-He caught a pass for his 38 straight game (every one in his career, including one bowl); that is an NCAA active-best.

PROMINENT CU RECORDS SET BY ONE-TIME WALK-ONS

WR JEFF CAMPBELL (1986-89): Led CU in punt returns three seasons and his 84 returns is still tied as the school career mark; his 31.3 average per catch for the 1988 season remains as the school record for the highest with a minimum of 15 receptions; at one point held the record for the longest reception (90 yards).

QB JOEL KLATT (2002-05): He set 44 school records, mostly passing, including setting the mark for all-time passing yards (7,375) which still stands.

DB RYAN SUTTER (1994-97): Set the school record for most career special teams tackles (64) as well as points (123); his 170 tackles as a senior were (and remain) the second most in a single season in school annals.

P JOHN TORP (2002-05): The runner-up for the '05 Ray Guy Award set five school punting records, including most punts inside-the-20 (65) and over 50 yards (64).

WR TRAVON PATTERSON (1-18, 1 TD) The CU senior, who transferred to CU from USC in time for fall camp, scored his first touchdown since 2005, when he was a senior at Long Beach Poly.

TB RODNEY STEWART (16-67, 0 TD; 2-41 RECEIVING) Stewart opened up his junior year with 101 total yards; his 67 rushing vaulted him past three players into 27th place all-time at CU (he has 1,493, skipping by Howard Cook (1,463), Mark Hatcher (1,470) and Bill Harris (1,486). He picked up 28 of those yards after contact.

COLORADO INJURIES S Parker Orms (knee); will undergo an MRI on Sunday to determine the extent of the injury.