Boulder – Like a couple of brothers going at it in the backyard, Colorado and Colorado State looked like they could’ve kept playing forever. The team that scored last won, as usual, and this time, that win went to the so-called big brother, the Buffaloes.
Mason Crosby kicked a 47-yard field goal with 4 seconds left Saturday to lift the Buffs to a come-from-behind 31-28 victory over the Rams, the team often condescendingly referred to as Colorado’s little brother.
The teams combined for 20 points – two touchdowns and two field goals – over the frantic final 2:32, adding yet another fantastic chapter to one of the most underrated rivalries in the country.
When it was over, CU fans flooded the field and a record crowd of 54,972 – save the small cloister of Rams fans in the corner – celebrated yet another thriller in this season-opening series.
Crosby, maybe the best kicker in the country, was one of the stars for the Buffs, who trailed 21-10 and looked hopeless with 5 minutes left in the third quarter of a game that had been thoroughly dominated by the Rams.
His game-winner added to a 48-yard field goal that cleared the crossbar by plenty with 2:32 left to tie the game at 21.
Two plays later, CSU quarterback Justin Holland threw his third interception in a 15-minute span, a terrible floater that Gerett Burl caught and returned to the CSU 23. On the next snap, Hugh Charles ran untouched for a 23-yard TD, his second score of the fourth quarter, to make it 28-21.
Holland, however, marched the Rams 80 yards in 54 seconds and capped it with a 9-yard pass to Kory Sperry to tie the game again.
CSU squibbed the kickoff, but Colorado returned it to the 40.
Joel Klatt hit Patrick Williams to get the ball into Rams territory and after another eight-yard gain, Crosby came on for the win.
It was CU’s second straight three-point win in this series, dubbed the Rocky Mountain Showdown, and yet another heart-wrenching loss for the Rams, especially Holland.
The senior quarterback (28-for-43 for 281 yards) shouldered much of the blame last season when, trailing by three with the clock ticking down, he and coach Sonny Lubick mismanaged the clock and failed in two hurried attempts to gain one yard for what would have been the winning touchdown.
Holland will regret those three interceptions in this one, but his drive for the tying touchdown was impressive – he went 6-for-7 for 80 yards and the score.
Only this time, the Rams wish they’d taken more time off the clock instead of less.
