Colorado football improved to 3-0 on the season after a 20-10 victory over the San Diego State Aztecs. The Buffs ended up playing San Diego State after their game against USC was canceled due to positive COVID-19 tests and contact tracing within the USC football program.
The Aztecs are a tougher opponent than they appear on paper as they came into the game with a 5-1 record against Pac-12 schools in the last five years. However, the Buffs were up for the task as only one day of preparation had little to no effect on the team.
“It was a good win for us,” said head coach Karl Dorrell. “Our players did a great job with handling the information we did have. Our defense played outstanding.”
Even though this game will not count towards the conference standings, the great news for Colorado football is that it is now officially bowl eligible for the first time since 2016.
Brick wall defense
The Colorado defense paved the way to victory by stifling the San Diego State offense from the first whistle.
Led by Butkus Award semifinalist linebacker Nate Landman, the Buffs defense held the Aztec offense to just one field goal, recorded four sacks and added another 11 tackles for loss. San Diego State could do nothing all game going just four of 17 on third down attempts and only garnered 155 total yards of offense.
Landman was incredible, seemingly involved in every play and was awarded the Bronko Nagurski player of the week award for his efforts. He finished with 11 tackles and three sacks.
“The attitude and energy on the sidelines was great,” Landman said. “We knew the offense was struggling a little. I thought today we finished.”
Walk-on safety Chris Appleton also snagged his first career interception in his first start.
Jarek Broussard rolling in 100s
Running back Jarek Broussard and 100-yard rushing games are just becoming synonymous as he’s started his career with three straight games topping the century mark.
Behind the efforts of his offensive line, Broussard was once again able to slice through the opposing defense, rushing for 124 yards. If it weren’t for all the yards lost trying to run the clock out at the end of the game, he would have had close to 150 yards for the day.
If it wasn’t for Broussard’s success, the game might’ve gone a completely different way for the Buffs. The ground game accounted for nearly 50% of the offenses’ total yards.
Sam Noyer responds well to adversity
The former-safety-turned-quarterback Sam Noyer had so far surpassed all expectations and was pretty much dominating the competition, however, he seemed to go face to face with adversity for the first time in his career.
Noyer started well by running in for a score on the first drive and then followed it up with a touchdown pass to receiver Jaylon Jackson in the second quarter but stared adversity right in the face when he threw a terrible pick-six right before halftime. For Noyer’s credit, he did enough to come away with the victory, and that’s all you can really ask for a first-year starter.
The offense wasn’t the best in the second half, only able to muster six points, but the lessons learned in a short week should actually do Noyer and the offense a lot of good. When a team faces adversity, it can either overcome or succumb to it, and the Buffs certainly proved their toughness in this one.
What’s next?
Colorado football is back on the road for a Dec. 5 matchup against the winless Arizona Wildcats. The game will be televised on FOX Sports 1 at 7:05 p.m. ET.
Photo courtesy of CUBuffs.com
My name is Colin Bailey and I’m a Los Angeles native and currently a Journalism Major/Sports Media Minor at the University of Colorado Boulder.