For one half in Stillwater, Colorado looked like it had found the formula. The Buffaloes were moving the chains, protecting the football and keeping Oklahoma State from taking over the game. Then the rhythm disappeared.
The most obvious break came on the ground. Colorado carried 21 times for 57 yards before halftime, enough to force the Cowboys to respect the run while Isaac Wilson was carving up the defense through the air. The Buffs also controlled the clock for 18:09 in the opening 30 minutes.
That balance did not survive the break. Colorado ran just nine times for minus-1 yard in the second half, with sacks and Wilson’s fumble on the first play of the third quarter dragging the total down.
JaQuail Smith, who had 36 yards on 11 carries before halftime, touched the ball only twice after the break. The Buffaloes ended the day with 56 rushing yards, averaging 1.9 per carry.
Oklahoma State flipped the script in the other direction. The Cowboys piled up 140 rushing yards on 22 carries after halftime, and Caleb Hawkins finished with 120 yards on 19 attempts.
When asked if Colorado leaned away from the run because the passing game was working, Deion Sanders pointed to the production. The passing game, he said, “was getting the results that we wanted.”
Still, he made it clear the offense can’t live in one lane.
“But we’ve got to have a balanced attack, he said. “If we don’t balance it, it’s going to end up like it did.”
Joseph Williams was at the center of Colorado’s passing surge in the first half. He caught eight passes for 130 yards by halftime, including a 36-yard gain and a 30-yard reception that helped set up Wilson’s go-ahead sneak. After the break, he was targeted only once and finished with one catch for five yards.
Wilson’s day followed the same pattern. He opened 14-of-16 for 221 yards, then went 5-of-11 for 59 yards with two interceptions in the second half. Sanders called Colorado’s first half “one of the best halves that we’ve played this season.”
Williams said the week’s focus had been on clean football, and the Buffaloes initially delivered. Then the mistakes came in a rush.
“We ended up with three back to back penalties and then a turnover.”
Even so, he said the locker room still believes it can steady itself.
“We’ve got a locker room full of winners,” he said. “A lot of guys were at other programs winning, so they know what it takes.”
Oklahoma State did plenty of damage through the air, too. Drew Mestemaker completed six passes of 25 yards or more, including a 47-yard touchdown to Miles Coleman on the game’s third play.
Justin Bowick was the biggest problem for Colorado’s secondary. The 6-foot-5 receiver hauled in five passes for 138 yards, with gains of 52, 38 and 28 yards and a 14-yard touchdown. Wyatt Young added four catches for 78 yards, highlighted by a 28-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Colorado’s defense managed five pass breakups and three sacks, but the pressure wasn’t enough to keep Oklahoma State from finding its rhythm. Linebacker Gideon Lampron said the unit didn’t execute consistently enough.
“It’s never really about what the other teams doing,” Lampron said. “It’s about us going out and executing. We just didn’t today.”
There were other numbers that told the story of the loss. Oklahoma State was perfect on all eight red-zone trips, while Colorado went 3-of-3.
The Buffaloes had 12 first downs at halftime and only six after that. Sam Keltner kept Oklahoma State moving by making all five of his field-goal attempts from 47, 30, 41, 21 and 30 yards, and he is now 18-of-18 this season.
In relief, Kaneal Sweetwyne went 3-for-5 for 63 yards, including a 51-yard completion to Quanell Farrakhan Jr. Liona Lefau recorded 10 tackles and a sack, and Randon Fontenette added 11 tackles with two pass breakups.
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