A Tumble With The Wildcats (Week 9)

Boulder, Colorado - If you were not at Folsom Field tonight then you missed the most unbelievable game of the season.  The Colorado Buffaloes looked to defend their home field from the visiting Arizona Wildcats.  The Buffaloes came into the matchup riding a 6 game winning streak.  To continue that streak, they had to defeat the Wildcats who arrived ready to play some ball after an overtime win last week against Utah.  Ka'deem Carey was a threat all on his own and would draw much attention from the Colorado defensive front.  This game was sure to be a good one, but no one knew just how great it would become.

The Wildcats received the kick off and on their first drive, the quarterback Jesse Scroggins blundered by throwing a pass that was easily picked off by the nearby free safety. Following the pick, Shane Dillon led the offense of the Buffaloes across the short field and scored on a 3 yard run by Christian Powell.  It was 7 - 0 as the Wildcats offense retook the field, but it would be a short possession as they punted the ball.  The Buffs offense continued down the field with ease and were soon within the 5 yard line when their offense hit a wall.  Three straight runs were stopped by the persistent Wildcat defense and they forced Colorado to kick the field goal.  Down 10 - 0 with the first half coming to an end, the Wildcat offense found a spark in junior running back Ka'deem Carey who played the versatile back throughout the whole game by running when called upon and catching passes left and right.  He scored on a 6 yard run and it was 10 - 7.  The Buffs still had enough time for another drive and with just over a minute left in the 2nd quarter, Dillon found his favorite target Paul Richardson for a 14 yard touchdown to put them up 17 - 7.  

It seemed everything was going the Buffaloes way, but the second half arrived and things took a dark turn for Colorado.  Their defense could not find a way to stop the Arizona offense for the rest of the half.  When the Buffs played the pass, Arizona ran.  When they played the run, Arizona passed.  The play calling was dynamic and the Wildcats soon found the endzone on a 3 yard pass to Austin Hill.  With the score now 17 - 14, the Colorado offense were being called upon to bail their defense out.  On a crucial 3rd down, coach Dayne called a quarterback keeper that freshman quarterback Shane Dillon took all the way to the endzone.  It was a 33 yard touchdown run that put the Buffs ahead by two touchdowns again 24 - 14.  The cushion would not last long though as Arizona scored no more than 30 seconds later on a blown coverage by the Buffs secondary. Sophomore wideout David Richards caught the pass for an easy touchdown and we were back to a one possession game.  The fourth quarter began with the Buffs going three and out and having to punt the ball away.  Arizona and it's potent offense stuck to their guns and were soon within field goal range.  On a critical 3rd down play, the defense was able to get it's first stop of the 2nd half and hold the Wildcats to a field goal.  The game was now all knotted up 24 - 24 with just over 4 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The Buffaloes game plan was to take their time down the field and kick the game winning field goal, but young gun quarterback Shane Dillon spotted his tight end Vincent Hobbs wide open and fired.  The Buffs scored and were now ahead 31 - 24, but with over 2 minutes still on the clock.  Too much time for the Wildcats offense and coach Dayne knew it.  Arizona marched down with short passes and soon reached the redzone with just over 25 seconds left.  After being stopped short of the endzone twice, Scroggins dropped back and threw a bullet to his faithful wideout Richards who came down with the ball in the endzone.  That was the tying touchdown pass with 16 seconds left in the game. Even the Buffaloes fans were cheering for the clutch catch as well as the knowledge that we would soon be going to overtime.  The amazing show put on by both teams offenses would continue and the fans were sure to get their monies worth.

Overtime arrived and both team's captains took the field.  Arizona was in this situation no more than a week ago.  They called tails, but the coin flip landed on heads and Colorado chose to start on defense.  The Wildcat offense walked out onto the field and appeared determined as their players broke tackles for any extra yards they could get. On a play where the defense played the run, Scroggins was able to hit his seemingly always open receiver Austin Hill for the touchdown and Arizona took the lead for the first time all game.  Shane Dillon answered back quickly with a pass to Vincent Hobbs to tie the game and send it into double overtime.  The score was 38 - 38 and pressure had to be mounting for both quarterbacks, but they never showed a hint of doubt.  The Colorado offense started with the ball this time and looked poised to score again. They did with help from the offensive captain Christian Powell who pounded the ball into the endzone on 3rd down and goal. The Buffs were now up and were looking for a big stop by their defense to put this game in the books.  That stop never arrived though as Scroggins found his tight end Michael Cooper for a 25 yard touchdown.  It seemed as though the fans would be getting a third overtime until coach Rich Rod chose to keep his offense on the field.  The Wildcats would try to snatch the game out of Colorado's control by ending it with a 2 point conversion.  The Colorado defense called their last timeout after taking a look at the formation the Wildcats would set up in.  The defensive play was chosen and Arizona retook the field with the same formation.  Scroggins hiked the ball and sat in the pocket until he found an open receiver in the middle of the endzone.  He fired the pass in between the zones of the linebackers and completed the awe inspiring comeback.  The Arizona Wildcats pulled off the upset and would bathe in the superb victory for weeks to come.  

The Buffaloes, on the other hand, walked off their home field in disbelief.  We caught up with coach Dayne after the game and asked him where his team went wrong or who messed up, but he only said, " We can pick a play here or a play there that didn't go our way, but in the end, I am proud of my team.  I might be alone in saying this, but I got into coaching for times like today.  We fought as hard as we could and gave it everything we had only to come up short in the end, but that is ok.  The day we win every game we play is the day we stop improving".  Enlightening words that Buffalo fans must take to heart in times like these.  As always this is your Numero Uno reporter signing off. Time to drink my Coors and forget this ever happened.

I predicted this   sounds like amazing game tho