Boulder – Saturday was a night for The Invisibles.
They are the players on which the spotlight never shines. They hold for kicks, snap for punts and field goals and protect the punter. They’re on the team, you just rarely ever know they’re there.
But the Folsom Field lights shone brightly on them in Colorado’s 44-13 win over Kansas, where special teams was all the rage. From the holder to the punt returner to the guy working his way back into coach Gary Barnett’s good graces, CU’s special teams scored 16 points and put the Buffs on the 3-yard line from where it scored another touchdown.
Nick Holz, Stephone Robinson and Dominique Brooks, Barnett thanks you.
“The whole game turned around with special teams,” Barnett said. “Special teams got us over the hump.”
More accurately, it got the Buffs over a slump.
As Barnett watched his team in warmups and in the locker room before the game, he sensed complacency. And despite 16 quick points, that’s exactly what he says he saw.
“We let the first half get away from us,” Barnett said. “I think this was one of those situations where coaches know more than players know before the game and during the week about their opponent. I could tell in warmups and I could in everything else that we were flat going into that game.”
But The Invisibles pulled CU through.
CU nursed a slim 16-13 lead when special teams standout Brendan Schaub broke through and blocked a KU punt in the third quarter. Brooks scooped up the ball and sprinted 28 yards for a touchdown that gave the Buffs breathing room.
“I needed that,” said Brooks, a safety who was suspended for three of the first four games this season. “After all the stuff I’ve been through I feel like I contributed to the team.”
CU’s punt block team had a field day. The coaching staff challenged them during the week to put heat on punters, starting with KU. The Buffs got a safety out of a fumbled snap by Kansas punter Kyle Tucker in the first quarter, who threw the ball out of the back of the end zone when he picked it up.
“They put a lot of pressure on that punter all night,” Barnett said. “I was really proud of them.”
Also during the decisive third quarter, Holz got into the act. Faced with a fourth-and-4 on the KU 24, CU called a fake. Holz, the holder, took the ball and covered 21 yards before he was taken down on the 3. Holz, who rooms with Joel Klatt, said he got tackled so Klatt could set the record for touchdown passes by a CU quarterback, which he did on the next play in a hookup with tight end Joe Klopfenstein.
Klatt, who threw four touchdown passes, laughed at the notion.
“I don’t believe him,” he said.
Robinson put on the finishing touch with an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
“I’ve had a couple of long ones called back on penalties, or I’ve slipped, or I’ve been one block away from breaking it,” Robinson said. “Tonight, it was just time.”
It was the second time Robinson had run back a punt for a touchdown against Kansas. He ran one back 48 yards last season.
“(The special teams’) 16 points tonight help prove what we can do,” Robinson said. “Now, it’s just a matter of developing some consistency.”
Consistent wins is the Buffs’ main concern, and Saturday’s victory helped them keep step with Missouri, which beat Nebraska and stands with the CU atop the Big 12 North standings. Both teams are 3-1 in the conference. Missouri plays at CU on Nov. 5.
“We still control our own destiny,” Klatt said. “We’re trying to eliminate one North team every week.”
CU sidelines
KEY STATISTIC
14
The Buffs broke the game open with 14 points in the third quarter. Kansas, which had kept the game close, could not recover.
UNSUNG HERO
The Colorado defensive line. An inconsistent line turned up the heat on both Kansas quarterbacks for much of the day. Defensive end Alex Ligon played perhaps his best game of the season, being credited with one of those QB hurries, until he was injured.
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-820-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
