Buffs' Fields Grabs Long TD Pass

DENVER — When the Colorado State defense began "bracketing" Colorado receiver Nelson Spruce, it meant other CU wide receivers had a chance to win one-on-one matchups.

Shay Fields took advantage of the opportunity. The Buff sophomore grabbed three passes in Saturday night's 27-24 overtime victory over Colorado State, including a 65-yard touchdown bomb from Sefo Liufau for the Buffs' first touchdown of the night. Fields made a beautiful over-the-shoulder catch, then sped untouched into the end zone.

"Not to sound cocky, but we really practice that — looking over your head and catching it," Fields said. "We saw Nelson getting bracketed by the safety, so Coach (Troy) Walters went upstairs to coach (Brian) Lindgren and said, 'Let's take a deep shot.'

"That's what we did."

Fields very nearly had another deep ball for a touchdown later in the game, but the ball was just slightly overthrown.

"It always feels great, every play that you can get to go deep and make a play," Fields said. "It feels great."

It was the second-longest TD reception of Fields' career, trailing only last year's 75-yarder from Liufau against Arizona.

The Buffs finished with 220 yards passing, with Spruce adding six catches for 63 yards to the total and Devin Ross nabbing two receptions for 36 yards, including the first touchdown of his CU career, a 24-yarder.

BIG DAY FOR GAMBOA

CU redshirt freshman Rick Gamboa knew all week he'd be starting for injured CU linebacker Addison Gillam, who is out with a knee injury.

His goal was to make sure the Buffs didn't miss one of their best players — but he never envisioned making one of the biggest plays of the game. It was Gamboa who jarred the ball loose from CSU running back Dalyn Dawkins on an attempted screen pass, with the ball first ending up in fellow linebacker Kenneth Olugbode's hands, then in the end zone after Olugbode returned the pick 60 yards for a touchdown.

"When we looked to the sidelines, we saw our coaches call screen," Gamboa said. "They'd hit us with it a couple of times. I saw the back come up and I just put my head down and hit him.

"I didn't even see the ball come up. I jumped up celebrate because we'd come up with a big stop and I saw Kenneth running to the end zone."

Olugbode later thanked Gamboa for the hit. Saturday was Olugbode's 20th birthday, and he couldn't have asked for a better present.

"I'm just glad Kenneth was there," Gamboa said. "Addison is a great player and I had to step up and make some plays that would help the team win. That's all I was thinking about."

BIG DAY FOR POWELL

Late in the fourth quarter, CU was down to virtually one running back. Michael Adkins II, Phillip Lindsay and Patrick Carr all had suffered minor injuries, leaving Christian Powell as the only healthy back with any experience.

The Buffs were getting backup Kyle Evans ready in case he was needed.

Powell, however, proved to be more than enough. He came up with two big runs of 6 yards each in overtime to put the Buffs in range for the game-winning field goal.

"Christian and those guys kept battling, and I think they did some great things for us," said head coach Mike MacIntyre.

Powell finished as CU's leading rusher with 58 yards on 15 carries.

SOLDERS TAKE IN GAME

After spending the last several seasons going to as many New England Patriots games as possible, Ed and Peri Solder changed up their game and took in the Colorado-Colorado State game Saturday.

There was a time when they never missed a Buffs game. But when their son, former CU great Nate, left Colorado and became the man responsible for protecting Tom Brady's back, their road trips for games started becoming a bit longer.

It's been an interesting summer for the Solders and their son. Along with signing a new contract — a two-year, $20.6 million extension — Nate and his wife, Lexi, welcomed their first child into the world.

And, yes, in case you're wondering, Hudson Nathaniel Solder weighed in at a husky 9 pounds, 2 ounces at birth; at two months, tipped the scales at 13.5 pounds.

"He's a big boy," Peri Solder said. "He's already been to his first NFL game."

Indeed, when the Patriots opened the season with a win over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Lexi and Hudson were in the stands to cheer Nate on.

Peri loves to tell the story of how Nate and Lexi met. It occurred when Solder was headed to the Walter Camp Award banquet following his senior year at CU. His plane was late arriving, and by the time he reached the hotel, Peri had gone to bed.

"I always told Nate to talk to tall girls," Peri said, "so he saw a tall girl in the bar and started to talk to her. Turns out she was engaged, but she had a nice friend and she and Nate started talking."

Thus a relationship was born.

Ed Solder, obviously now quite proud of his son, admits that he was hesitant about his sons playing football when they were young. "I was finally convinced to let them play, and found out that it's very beneficial for a school and the community when young people are involved in activities," Ed said.

Saturday was their first CU game since Nate left the Buffs. "Dave (Plati, longtime CU sports information director) took pity on us and helped get us some seats," Ed said. "We've been wanting to get back to a CU game, and I think we'll probably get back to a few more soon."

SHORT TAKES

CU did not commit a turnover or allow a quarterback sack for the second straight game, only the 18th time in program history the Buffs have achieved that feat. They are 16-2 in those games. … The win was CU's largest comeback in the series, eclipsing a rally from a 13-0 deficit in 1988. … CU is now 6-7 in overtime games. … It was CU's sixth game without a turnover under Mike MacIntyre, and the Buffs are 4-2 in those games. … KOA analyst Larry Zimmer, who returned to the booth after missing half of last season with an illness, is 2-0 this year (he did not call the Hawai'i game). … CU hasn't won three straight games since the first three of the 2008 season. … The Buffs return to Folsom Field next week for an 11:30 game against Nicholls State.