Colorado 41, Massachusetts 38
When: 3:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 6, 2014
Where: Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Temperature:
86°
Head Official:
Chris Coyte
Attendance:
10277
By SportsDirect Inc.
Colorado 41, Massachusetts 38: Nelson Spruce recorded career highs with 10 catches, 145 yards and two touchdowns - including a 70-yard go-ahead score - to lead the visiting Buffaloes to a comeback victory over the upset-minded Minutemen at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass.
Sefo Liufau was 26-of-42 for 318 yards and three touchdowns as Colorado (1-1) snapped an eight-game road losing streak. Freshman Shay Fields caught his first career TD pass while Christian Powell and Tony Jones added rushing scores for the Buffaloes, who erased a 31-20 deficit in the third quarter.
Blake Frohnapfel threw three touchdown passes - two to tight end Jean Sifrin in the first half - for Massachusetts (0-2), a 17-point underdog which lost its eighth straight game. Jamal Wilson and Marken Michel added rushing scores as the Minutemen recorded their highest-scoring output since joining the FBS in 2012.
Colorado began its comeback when Powell burst through the defense for a 14-yard touchdown run and took a 34-31 lead with 4:24 left in the third as Liufau - while rolling to his right - hit Spruce in stride at the Massachusetts 30, and the junior took it the rest of the way to make it 41-31. The Buffaloes put it away as Liufau's 3-yard TD pass to a wide-open Spruce capped a nine-play 81-yard drive with 11:16 left before Michel's 6-yard TD run with 2:55 remaining finished the scoring.
The Minutemen enjoyed their first lead in four games 7-3 on Frohnapfel's perfectly thrown 14-yard pass into the back corner of the end zone to Rodney Mills. Massachusetts led 31-20 on Wilson's 2-yard touchdown run, which came on the next play after Randall Jette intercepted Liufau and returned it 29 yards.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Colorado, which last won on the road 35-34 over Washington State on Sept. 22, 2012, is 3-31 away from home since 2008. ... Massachusetts, which posted back-to-back 1-11 seasons in 2012 and 2013, has scored more than seven points in only 14 of its 26 FBS games. ... Colorado K Will Oliver was 5-for-5 on extra points and has made 66 straight, tying the school record set by Ken Culbertson in 1988-89.
Top Game Performances
Receiving
Colorado |
|
Massachusetts |
Nelson Spruce
| Player |
Tajae Sharpe
|
10 |
Receptions |
5 |
145 |
Yards |
83 |
14.5 |
Avg Yards |
16.6 |
2 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Colorado
|
504 |
186 |
318 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2.0 |
1 |
Massachusetts
|
371 |
104 |
267 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
2.0 |
0 |