BOULDER — During a seemingly bang-bang span of 3 minutes, 12 seconds of the third quarter Saturday against Washington, Colorado redshirt freshman running back Phillip Lindsay lost two fumbles. In the process, CU lost all momentum, and soon after lost the game.
Lindsay would like to forget about it. But he can’t.
“It’s always hard,” Lindsay said Monday. “You don’t want to fumble, especially twice. It happens. But it’s hard to bounce back from that.”
Colorado (2-7, 0-6 Pac-12) ultimately lost 38-23.
With Colorado leading 23-17, Lindsay was stripped of the ball by linebacker Scott Lawyer while making a spin move for extra yardage. Washington took over at the CU 46 and secured its first lead five plays later on a 28-yard touchdown pass by Cyler Miles.
Then, after a pass by Colorado’s Sefo Liufau was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, Lindsay fumbled away the ensuing kickoff return. Washington failed to convert that takeaway into points, but Colorado never recovered from its sloppy sequence.
The Buffs entered the game having lost only one fumble in eight games. Colorado lost three fumbles against the Huskies, including one by Liufau while being sacked in the second quarter.
“The best thing I can do is play through it,” said Lindsay, a former Denver South High School standout who is getting more touches. “Because if you just shut down, that’s not what we need. I fumbled twice, but it’s not going to happen again.”
CU running backs coach Klayton Adams said he may do some individual work with Lindsay on ball security during preparations for this week’s game at No. 21 Arizona (6-2, 3-2). But the coach said he will not make a big deal out of what happened Saturday.
“We work on ball security so much anyway each week, and it’s such an emphasis for us, you have to kind of stay the course,” Adams said. “I’m just going to tell Phillip to ‘do what you do, run like you run. But just have a little better ball security next time.’ “
Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre mentioned how emotional Lindsay was immediately after his fumbles, and also after the game. That did not surprise Adams. It’s how he hopes all CU players would react.
“When we don’t have the success we want as a team,” Adams said, “I believe every person in this program is thinking, ‘What can I do to make us better? What could I have done differently?’
“Unfortunately, we’ve had a lot of reflecting this year. But Phillip is a guy that really, really cares.”
Tom Kensler: tkensler@denverpost.com or
