BOULDER — It takes big plays to beat a ranked team, and none was bigger in Colorado’s 34-30 victory over No. 17 Kansas than the second-quarter interception by Colorado junior cornerback Jalil Brown.
Three plays after Colorado quarterback Tyler Hansen threw his only interception of the game, Brown got the ball back for the Buffs’ offense by picking off Kansas’ Todd Reesing.
Making like a running back in the open field with his return, Brown almost did the honors himself. In man- to-man coverage, Brown jumped in front of the KU receiver and snatched Reesing’s throw at the Jayhawks’ 36-yard line, near the left hash mark. Brown took his third career interception (and second of the season) and angled across the field, heading down the right sideline, thinking pick-six.
“All I saw was green (grass) in front of me, and I started celebrating a little too early,” Brown said with a sheepish grin. “Then Reesing came out of nowhere.”
Brown was pushed out of bounds at the 1, but Hansen scored two plays later on a keeper to give Colorado a 24-3 lead and an instant momentum swing.
Brown said he has seen enough of Reesing and is grateful the Kansas star is a senior. “(Reesing) was a thorn that we couldn’t get out,” he said. Until Saturday night.
Playing sore.
Colorado junior place- kicker Aric Goodman, suffering from an abdominal strain, was listed before the game as 50-50 to play. Not only did Goodman handle placement duties, his kickoffs went to — or out of — the end zone, and he booted field goals of 45 and 39 yards.
Footnotes.
Colorado has defeated at least one ranked opponent in 18 of its past 22 seasons. . . . CU sophomore tailback Darrell Scott was in the starting lineup for the first time since the second game, at Toledo. He netted just 2 yards on three carries, however, and Rodney “Speedy” Stewart got most of the subsequent work. . . . CU redshirt- freshman tackle Bryce Givens did not dress for the game. The former Mullen star had started four of the first five games. . . . Had Kansas completed the comeback, erasing a 21-point deficit would have tied for the second-biggest come-from-behind win in Jayhawks history. . . . CU freshman receiver Will Jefferson made his first start.
