Colorado-Kansas Notes

Quickly There are fewer and fewer firsts when a school is its 119th season of intercollegiate football, but this is the first time CU has won its first three games in a season and then lost its next three ... This was CU's first game on artificial turf in 2008; CU was 1-1 on the fake green stuff last year (won at Texas Tech, lost at K-State) and is 1-5 in the Hawkins Era overall ... Despite the loss, Colorado still owns the best intra-division record for the North teams since the start of the 2001 season at 22-14 ... CU has now lost seven straight games against its “I-70” brethren, the other three Big 12 North schools within a stone's throw if not closer of Interstate 70... CU had won the last four games in Lawrence when the crowd has been 40,000 or more (1975, 1990, 1992, 1996); only one other before today topped that plateau (1967, a 27-14 KU win) ... Kansas came in ranked fourth in the nation in third down conversions (56.4%), and while finishing 6-of-15 overall, the Buffs stopped the Jayhawks seven of their first eight tries ... This was CU's 98th game against ranked teams since the start of the 1989 season, fourth most in the nation; the Buffs are 42-54-2 in those games ... Colorado had just two penalties today, with just 10 in the last three games; the two are the fewest in a game since having zero against Texas Tech in 2006, with the 10 over three games the fewest in a 3-game span since having just seven in 2006.

THE RANKED ON THE ROAD Colorado is now 1-15 on the road against ranked conference opponents since the Big 12 began play in 1996; the one win was at Kansas State on Oct. 6, 2001. CU lost its first seven, won at KSU, and has dropped eight since that win. Overall, CU has now dropped 10 straight road games versus ranked foes (does not include neutral sites); CU's last win over a ranked team in its own stadium was on Sept. 21, 2002 when the Buffs beat UCLA 31-17 at the Rose Bowl.

FIRST CAREER ACTION Redshirt frosh WR Jason Espinoza saw his first career action when he dropped back to field a punt in the second quarter; Espinoza, who shined during spring ball returning kicks, was sidelined the first six weeks of the season after suffering a broken collarbone early in fall camp.

241 & COUNTING Colorado extended the nation's fourth active scoring streak to 241 games, doing so in the first quarter for the 166th time in the streak. That trails only Michigan (294), Washington State (279) and Florida (248), and is the ninth longest of all-time (Michigan added to its total today; WSU and UF play tonight). CU was last shutout nearly 20 years ago, 7-0 at Nebraska on Nov. 12, 1988.

TB RODNEY STEWART (18-77, 0 TD) Colorado's diminutive freshman (5-6, 170), with 77 yards today, now has 453 on the season which is at its midway point; it's the fifth most yards in a season by a freshman (true or redshirt) in CU history. The all-time season yardage list for a CU frosh:

CU FRESHMAN SEASON RUSHING (300-plus yards)

Season Player Att. Yards Avg. TD

1991 Lamont Warren 157 830 5.3 7

1986 O.C. Oliver 136 668 4.9 6

1981 *Lee Rouson 159 656 4.1 6

1987 Eric Bieniemy 104 508 4.9 5

2008 Rodney Stewart 92 453 4.9 0

1951 Carroll Hardy 53 423 7.9 5

2007 *Demetrius Sumler 100 335 3.4 4

2000 Marcus Houston 66 332 5.0 1

1987 *Michael Simmons 69 332 4.8 4

1991 *Kent Kahl 70 301 4.3 4

2002 Brian Calhoun 67 298 4.4 0

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2008 Darrell Scott 42 156 3.7 1

QB CODY HAWKINS (22-8-2, 90, 1 TD) Hawkins tied John Hessler for the fifth most completions all-time at Colorado with 347, with his 615 now also fifth as he passed Koy Detmer (594) and Mike Moschetti (607) this afternoon. He now has 30 career touchdown passes, just the sixth player to throw that many in a CU career. He was picked off today for just the second time in the red zone in his career, but also had a TD, giving him a 24-to-2 ratio inside-the-20 during his career.

WR JOSH SMITH (1-38 REC, 3-38 PR, 4-122 KOR) His 198 all-purpose yards vaulted him over 1,000 for the season, reaching the midway point of the season with 1,016; he's the 10th CU player this decade to record at least a grand for a season. He now has 10 plays this season over 30 yards, including three today: five kickoff returns (long of 93, TD vs. CSU), three receptions (38, twice) and two punt returns (long of 51).

WR CODY CRAWFORD (4-33, 1 TD) He caught CU's first four passes today, including his first career touchdown reception in the first quarter that got the Buffaloes on the scoreboard.

Players Mentioned

Jason Espinoza

Darrell Scott

Rodney Stewart

Demetrius Sumler

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