Stud No. 2 – Sefo Liufau
Din-dong, the streak is dead! The losing streak is dead!
After 14 consecutive tries and fails against Pac-12 foes, a streak going back to November 2013, the Colorado Buffaloes secured a conference win on Saturday in a penalty-riddled, sloppy affair at Oregon State. Final score: Buffs 17, Beavers 13.
The game was about as uninspiring as the final score appears, but that didn’t keep the Buffs from celebrating all the way back to Boulder. A win is a win is a win at this point for Mike MacIntyre and the Buffs.
Junior quarterback Sefo Liufau finally put the team on his back and carried them to victory, completed 16 of 23 passes for 140 yards and throwing for one touchdown. He added 44 yards on the ground and one rushing touchdown to his passing total. Most importantly, Liufau did not turn over the ball once. Picks and fumbles have been his Achilles heel throughout his tenure leading the offense, but this time it was Colorado who had a game-changing turnover late in the game.
Liufau ought to share his “Stud” honor with Chidobe Awuzie, who picked off Oregon State quarterback Nick Mitchell on fourth down with less than 1:30 on the clock as the Beavers were driving for a last-ditch effort.
The ultimate game-winner was Liufau’s four-yard touchdown run on an 85-yard drive that extended across the third and fourth quarters.
The win squares CU’s record at 4-4 overall. Colorado next faces No. 24 UCLA in Los Angeles on Halloween afternoon. The Bruins beat the 20th ranked Cal Bears 40-24 this weekend, so that ranking will likely improve before the Buffs face them, hoping for an upset and their second conference win.
