By John Meylor and Lincoln Roch
University of Colorado Season Kickoff at Folsom Field(Lily Wright | Radio 1190 News)
Following disappointing losses from both teams, Head Coach Deion Sanders’ CU Buffaloes host the rank 22 Iowa State Cyclones for a Saturday afternoon Big 12 showdown. The Buffaloes, staring down the barrel of an 0-4 conference start look to get on the board in conference play, while Cyclones Head Coach Matt Campbell looks to rally his squad off the back of an upset win allowed from the unranked Cincinatti last weekend. For game 7 of CU’s 2025 Men’s College Football season, stay tuned for more updates.
[Q1 11:59] First drive from scrimmage for the Cyclones starts with some momentum but is riddled with miscues in its latter stretch, including a holding penalty from TE Benjamin Brahmer[#18] negating a redzone first down and a pair of incompletions courtesy of QB Rocco Becht [#3] leads Iowa State to a relatively short punt on a long field. Scoreless to start.
[Q1 10:10] Colorado’s first offensive drive ended quick. Starting from their 5-yard line, Micah Welch ran the ball for a gain of just one yard. After a failed rush by Kam Mikell, Salter threw to Joseph Williams, falling three yards shy of a first down. Game remains scoreless.
[Q1 6:34 ] Iowa State’s responding drive generates no momentum, as a non contact injury to RB Ryvern Peppers[#22] and a short run from QB Brecht leads to a paltry 3 and out. CU tries to build energy despite the long field with a 6 yard run from QB Kaidon Salter [#2] but sputters out quickly leading to another punt from P Damon Greaves [#35], putting both the Cyclones and Buffaloes back where they started in as the game remains stunlocked 0-0.
[End of Q1 ] After a quick exchange of possessions, both ending in punts, the Buffaloes’ offense finally woke up at their 10-yard line. A 3rd down 13-yarder from Salter to Williams got things going, followed up by a 24 yard rush by the Quarterback. With the Buffs, the farthest down field they’ve been all game, they continued a steady push of first downs, settling at the Cyclone’s 8-yard line. Sophomore Micah Welch wrapped the 1st Quarter up with an eight-yard run into the end zone. Colorado leads 7-0.
[Q2 10:48 ] Iowa State shows embers rather than a full flame in their response to CU’s scoring drive, after 2 completions of 19 and 10 yards respectively from QB Brecht to WR Xavier Townsend [#4] lands the Cyclones offense to an all-too-familiar midfield position before firing off 3 plays for virtually no gain and being forced into their fourth punt of the game. Colorado’s subsequent drive sees a regression to the 3-and-outs that defined opening for the game for the Buffaloes. Colorado stays in front 7-0.
[Q2 5:15] Iowa state finally put up a response to Colorado’s first score. A 21 yard pass from Becht, followed by a 27-yard run by Abu Sama, marched the Cyclones down to the Buffs 19-yard line. The Buffs red zone defense proceeded to push them back to the 19, where the third string kicker Chase Smith got ISU their first points on the board. A 30 yard pass from Salter to Williams brought the Buffs to the Iowa States 46. But the ball was quickly punted away. Colorado leads 7-3.
[End of Q2] Starting from their own 6 yard line, Iowa State sees back to back promising throws from QB Becht turn into incompletions as a result of slips from their receivers. The drive ends as a short 3-and-out as the Cyclones run dry on a wet field. The following series, Colorado’s offense can’t muster up a hint of production, with good field position turning rotten as they hand in their own 3-and-out drive. The ensuing 41 yard punt from Damon Greaves, combined with an out of bounds blocking penalty on Iowa State, keeps their offense pinned at their 4 yard line. In the two minute drill the Cyclones moved the ball at will, with QB Becht exploding in the air and on the ground with a drive of 67 passing yards and 19 rushing yards. The following 1 yard touchdown handoff to RB Abu Sama III[#24] allowed Iowa State their first lead of the game. With one minute to go in the half, CU attempts to push for a scoring drive, but Kicker Alejandro Mata’s 57 yard field goal attempt barely misses. Iowa State leads 10-7 going into the half.
[Q3 9:56] After a slow first half, the third quarter is off to a fiery start. On the second play of the half, Salter threw a 70 yard dart to Omarion Miller, who ran it in 35 yards for a touchdown. Abu Sama countered for Iowa State, rushing for 8, then 38 yards. Two first downs later, with the Cyclones at CU’s 5, the running back took care of business. Iowa State leads 14-17.
[End of Q3] Colorado continued the second half light show setting the tone for their possession with an explosive kickoff return by specialist Quentin Gibson [#15] of 30 yards putting Colorado at midfield to start the drive. From there, QB Salter and RB Dallan Hayden [#7] delivered a relentless strike of plays to put Colorado in scoring position. A 3 yard touchdown strike on a scramble from QB Salter to WR Joesph Williams [#8] capped the drive and continued Colorado’s dynamic half. ISU WR Sama responded immediately with a ferocious run of 36 yards on the ensuing possession, breaking tackles and storming into the Colorado redzone. From there, an offsides penalty from Colorado against DT Anquin Barnes Jr. [#32] on what would have been 4th and 1 for Iowa State put the ball in a goal-to-go position with the clock dying in the 3rd quarter. Colorado leads a sudden shootout 21-17.
[Q4 5:17] Just 2 yards from the endzone a Cyclones score seamed destined. But a set of tackles brought them to Colorado’s 7 where on a third down Rocco Becht got his second interception of the year from Tawfig Byard who sent it to the 18-yard line. Colorado would reach its 44, before punting to the ISU 9. After failing to get a 1st down, the Cyclones elected to go for it on 4th and 1, where the Colorado Defense stopped Sama in his tracks. Kicker Alejandro Mata Jr. put the dagger through the uprights. Colorado leads 24-17
[End of Q4] Iowa State’s final shot at a win begins with a pop as QB Becht completes a 26 yard pass to TE Brahmer to put the Cyclones at midfield and opening the opportunity for a strike to even the score. From the CU 49, a stifling Colorado secondary forced two incompletions from QB Becht, with a measly 2 yard run on the 3rd down forcing an Iowa State punt. In the final possession, the Buffaloes are able to bleed the clock dry, with a crucial 3rd down completion of 38 yards from QB Salter to WR Williams down the middle of the field being the nail in the coffin for the Colorado Upset. Final Score 24-17
[Postgame]: In a game where both teams looked to bounce back from interconference losses, Colorado finally mustered a full gritty 4 quarter performance to earn their 1st Conference win against a ranked foe in #22 Iowa State and put an end to their 2 game skid. Prior to this game, CU had serious trouble with keeping their heads in the last few games, with the losses vs BYU and TCU characterized by unanswered scores which left CU in static shock. Now despite these losses Coach Deion Sanders knew that the losing record of 2-4 (0-3) didn’t reflect the quality of Colorado’s personnel. The 1st half was a punting frenzy, with the Colorado offense struggling to get going, often pinned back within their own 15 yard line with 3 and outs, but Iowa State also struggled, especially with taking advantage of field positioning, with the Colorado defense staying resilient and not giving up big yardage plays.Despite Colorado blowing their 7-0 lead to 7-10 in the dying moments of the first half, they came marching right back with a decisive drive highlighted by a quick explosive 70 yard catch and run Touchdown from Omarion Miller to open the 2nd half.
The 2nd half came down to who wanted it more, and Colorado seemed determined to win this game, with the Defense in the 2nd half making crucial statements to keep Colorado in front. Tawfiq Byard made an acrobatic interception near the goalline on 3rd & goal from the CU 7 yard-line on the opening drive, and that served as a complete momentum swing, crushing the hearts of Iowa State who could’ve tied it up while energizing a sellout Folsom Field crowd. In perhaps the most gutsiest call the Buffs defense has seen, with Iowa State deciding to go for it on 4th & 1 albeit at their own 18 yard-line with 7 minutes remaining in the 4th Quarter, the CU interior defensive line absolutely stuffed playmaker running back Abu Sama lll at the line of scrimmage, despite him largely being the sole factor Iowa State was even in the game, with 24 carries for 177 yards and 2 touchdowns. The play which sealed the deal on 3rd &17 was largely due to the fact that Deion & Offensive Coordinator Pat Shurmur was tired of taking the conservative route and instead deciding to be aggressive with a playcall “we really liked”, as instead of running it and melting the clock with the most likely outcome being a punt, Salter delivering a final deafening blow to the hands of Receiver Joseph Williams who made a catch and run across the middle of the field for 38 yards.
Both teams were injury plagued coming into today’s afternoon matchup, 14 players ruled out and 17 players ruled out for Colorado, but as always it’s next man up and Colorado seemed more motivated to win today, as a potential turning point for further success this season. Colorado now boosts their record to 3-4 (1-3) with Iowa State dropping to 5-2 (2-2). Iowa State will look to do some self-reflection in their upcoming bye week, to prepare for a tremendous home game against the undefeated 5-0 #18 BYU Cougars. Colorado also has their upcoming bye week, and they’ll look to keep things rolling at their tough Rocky Mountain Rivals, the 4-1 Utah Utes.