Colorado takes Nebraska by storm in overtime
James Stefanou’s 34-yard field goal in overtime gave Colorado its first lead and the Buffaloes defeated No. 25 Nebraska 34-31 on Saturday at Boulder, Colo., when punter Isaac Armstrong’s 49-yard try sailed wide right.
The students stormed the field in celebration of the Buffaloes’ second straight win over their old Big 12 rival, whom they rallied to beat in the closing minutes last year in Lincoln.
The Buffaloes (2-0) came back from a 17-0 halftime deficit and improved to 2-0 under coach Mel Tucker while keeping Cornhuskers’ second-year coach Scott Frost from winning his first road game.
“My message to the team [at halftime]was they gave us their best shot and we hadn’t even scratched the surface of what we can do on either side of the ball,” Tucker said. “When we went out into the tunnel coming out for the second half, those guys were energized and ready to play ball.”
Before Saturday, unranked Buffaloes teams were 1-22 all-time against ranked Nebraska teams with their only win coming in 1976 when the Cornhuskers were ranked third.
“This is one of the hardest losses I’ve ever been a part of,” Frost said.
It included the longest touchdown in Colorado’s history, a 96-yard flea-flicker from Steven Montez to K.D. Nixon in a frenetic fourth quarter that featured 38 points and began with Nebraska (1-1) up 17-7.
Armstrong was pressed into kicking duties because the starting kicker, Barret Pickering, was out with an undisclosed injury, In overtime, after Stefanou’s field goal, Armstrong faced a 49yard try.
It was never close, sending thousands of Buffaloes fans onto the field in celebration and leaving the stands a sea of red as a good 40% of the sellout crowd of 52,829 was cheering for the visitors in Nebraska’s first trip to Folsom Field in a decade.
“There’s a lot of red that left here disappointed,” Tucker said. at No. 22 Washington State 59, Northern Colorado 17: Anthony Gordon threw for 464 yards and four touchdowns and the Cougars (2-0) pounded the FCS foe.
Gordon completed 31 of 39 passes with one interception. Max Borghi scored three touchdowns and Easop Winston Jr. caught two scoring passes for Washington State.
Jacob Knipp completed eight of 15 passes for 128 yards for Northern Colorado (0-2) of the Big Sky Conference.
at No. 16 Oregon 77, Nevada 6: Justin Herbert threw for 310 yards and five touchdowns before heading to the sideline in the third quarter, and the Ducks rebounded from their season-opening loss to Auburn by crushing the Wolf Pack.
The Ducks (1-1) have won 15 straight home openers and 24 straight over nonconference foes at Autzen Stadium. Oregon tied a school record with seven touchdown passes — caught by seven receivers. The Ducks also tied their record for points at Autzen.
Tight end Jacob Breeland caught four passes for a career-high 112 yards and a score.
at No. 13 Utah 35, Northern Illinois 17: Tyler Huntley passed for one touchdown and ran for another and the Utes (2-0) held the Huskies to 69 yards in the second half.
After a shaky first half, the Utah defense clamped down on the Huskies with an effective pass rush, an interception and a fourth-down stop.
Huntley completed 14 for 19 for 214 yards and ran for 38 yards, without being sacked for the second consecutive game.
at Arizona 65, Northern Arizona 41: The Wildcats (1-1) scored 51 points in the first half and rolled up more than 700 yards overall as they pounded their state rivals.
Gary Brightwell had a 94yard touchdown run and wound up with 141 yards in five carries, and J.J. Taylor averaged 10.2 yards in 10 carries.
California at No. 14 Washington, late (lightning delay) Oregon State at Hawaii, late