Colorado
1-0
Colorado State
0-1
Big Plays Lift CU Over Rams
August 31, 2008 | Football
DENVER - The University of Colorado student section was chanting Darrell Scott's name. They might as well have been crying uncle.
Buffaloes fans had waited six months to see what all the fuss was about over Scott, the highly-touted freshman tailback who was considered by several scouting services as the best back in the nation last year.
He delivered, carrying 11 times for 54 yards and a touchdown when he leapt over the pile in the closing minutes as cheers of "Dar-rel Scott!" repeatedly rang out.
But it was Josh Smith, his uncle, who stole the show Sunday night, racking up 189 all-purpose yards, including a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in Colorado's 38-17 win over Colorado State.
"Uncle did good," Scott said. "I've got to hand it to him. The first kickoff return, he took it to the house. I was like, 'Man, I gotta get into the zone.' He was the 'tone-maker' today. Everybody caught onto that spark and took off from that."
Despite fumbling his first kickoff return, Smith made sure it was memorable. He nearly returned the second-half kickoff for another score but was corralled by a diving defender after crossing midfield.
"If that one guy hadn't of laid out, that would have been six again," Smith said.
The game featured three touchdowns in a 26-second span of the second quarter, including back-to-back kickoff returns for touchdowns by Smith and CSU sophomore John Mosure.
Rams linebacker Jeff Horinek picked off Cody Hawkins' deflected pass at the Colorado 24 and, two plays later, Billy Farris, a senior making his starting debut, hit Dion Morton for a 31-yard touchdown strike that pulled the Rams to 14-7.
Smith returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards untouched for the first score of his career. It was Colorado's first kickoff return for a TD since Jeremy Bloom's 88-yarder at Kansas State in 2003.
On the sideline, Smith and Scott celebrated.
"I was just letting him know, 'Man, you're next. You're about to hit it and get those carries, you're next,'" Smith recounted.
But their celebration quickly ended when Mosure answered with a 90-yard TD return in which he broke two tackles around his 20-yard line and sidestepped desperation dive by kicker Jameson Davis as he plunged into the end zone to pull the Rams to 21-14.
"I was a little tired. I haven't run that much since high school," said Mosure, whose score marked the Rams' first kickoff return for a touchdown since Dexter Wynn did it against Wyoming in 2001.
Farris completed 27-of-37 passes for 187 yards but was intercepted twice and sacked five times. Hawkins was 20-for-29 for 214 yards and scored on two 1-yard keepers.
"I really like it," Hawkins deadpanned, "because I get to look un-athletic in front of millions of people."
Team Stats
CS 0, CU 7
CU - McKnight,Scotty 35 yd pass from Hawkins, Cody (Goodman, Aric kick) 5 plays, 58 yards, TOP 1:51
CS 0, CU 14
CU - Hawkins, Cody 1 yd run (Goodman, Aric kick), 2 plays, 5 yards, TOP 0:21
CS 7, CU 14
CS - MORTON, Dion 21 yd pass from FARRIS, Billy (DELINE, Ben kick) 2 plays, 24 yards, TOP 0:34
CS 7, CU 21
CU - Smith, Josh 93 yd kickoff return (Goodman, Aric kick)
CS 14, CU 21
CS - MOSURE, John 90 yd kickoff return (DELINE, Ben kick)
CS 14, CU 28
CU - Hawkins, Cody 1 yd run (Goodman, Aric kick), 8 plays, 45 yards, TOP 3:18
CS 17, CU 28
CS - DELINE, Ben 26 yd field goal 6 plays, 36 yards, TOP 3:21
CS 17, CU 31
CU - Goodman, Aric 23 yd field goal 18 plays, 74 yards, TOP 7:11
CS 17, CU 38
CU - Scott, Darrell 1 yd run (Goodman, Aric kick), 4 plays, 46 yards, TOP 1:45
