Colorado’s upset against Iowa State gives confidence in the bye week
BY LEOPOLDO RIVERA IV | 365 Sports
Last Saturday, the Colorado Buffaloes (3-3, 1-3 Big 12) upset the then No. 22-ranked Iowa State Cyclones (5-2, 2-3) by a score of 24-17, giving the Buffs a boost into their bye week.
Old demons visited the Buffs early as they struggled to score. Their first touchdown came at the end of the first quarter by running back Micah Welch. That kickstarted a solid day for the offense that recorded 395 total yards.
Kaidon Salter bounced back from his poor performance in Texas by completing 16/25 of his passes for 255 yards and two touchdowns. His number one target on the day was receiver Joseph Williams, who hauled in eight balls for 128 yards and a score. Their connection would be crucial on a third down that iced the game.
Salter’s performance gave the unit confidence to find more consistency moving forward.
“It felt great just being able to go out there and execute the game plan. Doing everything the coaches wanted us to do,” Salter said. “We played really good as a team this week.”
Defensively, Colorado gave up 441 yards and over 200 yards of rushing yet again. Similar mistakes from the previous game, like poor gap-filling, hurt the run defense. Even with the errors, the defense managed to make stops when it mattered, shutting out the Cyclones in the fourth quarter.
Complementary football helped keep the Buffs alive and ultimately led to their victory. An interception and a fourth-down stop by the defense ignited the crowd and morale. Postgame fans rushed the field after the victory. Coach Sanders was pleased postgame.
“We’re taking advantage of certain opportunities,” Sanders said. “We had to get back to the root and start running downhill.”
Now that the Buffs have made it to the bye, they will need to prioritize getting healthy. Against Iowa State, they had over ten players inactive due to injury.
The run game has been affected by three injuries for the Colorado Buffaloes. Dekalon Taylor, Simeon Price and Dre’lon Miller were all inactive during Saturday’s game. Even short-handed, a consistent O-line cleared the way for 140 rushing yards.
Colorado is hoping rest can help prepare them for the next slate of conference games.
The victory for Colorado came at a needed time to prevent them from dropping to five losses. Their next contest will be in Utah on October 25 and kick off at 9:15 pm CST.