A fatigued Karl Dorrell sat down for his postgame press conference and exhaled.
“What a ball game that was,” the Colorado head coach said.
“It was, from a team perspective, a 60-minute fight. Actually, more than that, wasn’t it? I felt like our team grew up a little bit today.”
The young, developing Buffaloes have struggled most of the season, but survived a double-overtime thriller on Saturday at Folsom Field, outlasting Oregon State, 37-34. Freshman Cole Becker’s 43-yard field goal in the second overtime prompted many of the 47,984 fans to spill onto the turf in celebration.
“That’s the moment all young kickers dream of,” Becker said.
It was also a moment the Buffs (3-6, 2-4 Pac-12) sorely needed, as they snapped a two-game losing streak while preventing Oregon State (5-4, 3-3) from reaching bowl eligibility. The Beavers are still seeking their first bowl since 2013.
Freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis threw for 170 yards and three touchdowns and also ran for a touchdown; Jarek Broussard ran for a season-high 151 yards; Becker hit 3-of-4 field goal attempts; and the defense was solid most of the night.
Through it all, CU coughed up two 10-point leads, rallied to regain the lead late in the fourth quarter, give it up again on the final play of regulation and then had to go through two overtime rounds to finally put the Beavers away.
“(The players) rose to the circumstances, they didn’t panic, and we were able to finish the game,” Dorrell said. “I think it was a defining moment, to be honest with you.
“I think this team is starting to realize adversity strikes at a lot of moments in a game and their confidence (is growing) in being able to work through these difficult moments. We’ve been challenged a lot this season. They’re starting to navigate and find a way. They’re starting to deal with difficult circumstances and overcoming those things.”
There were plenty of difficult circumstances in the second half.
After CU took a 20-10 lead with 5 minutes, 54 seconds to play in the third quarter, Oregon State turned the tide with a 14-0 run to gain its first lead of the night, 24-20.
This was OSU’s first trip to Boulder since Oct. 27, 2018, when it rallied from a 31-3 deficit to shock the Buffs, 41-34 in overtime. While CU’s lead was never that big on Saturday, it appeared OSU would deliver another heart-breaker.
Lewis and Broussard, however, led the Buffs on a 72-yard scoring drive. It was capped by Lewis connecting with Montana Lemonious-Craig for a 16-yard touchdown, giving the Buffs a 27-24 lead with 2:24 to go.
OSU wasn’t done, quickly moving into CU territory. The drive stalled, however, and Everett Hayes’ 51-yard field goal attempt was no good.
CU took possession with 32 seconds left, but couldn’t run out the clock. The Beavers had all three timeouts remaining and CU couldn’t get the first down. CU was forced to punt and OSU’s Anthony Gould returned it 26 yards.
OSU had just 5 seconds to work with, but Chance Nolan completed a quick 9-yard pass to Gould. With 1 second to play, Hayes nailed a 60-yard field goal – matching the longest in Folsom Field history – to send the game into overtime.
“When you hit a 60-yarder, you don’t think that’s a high probability it would happen,” Dorrell said. “But he nailed it.”
Dorrell immediately looked at his players and didn’t see any hanging heads.
“When they hit that field goal it was like, ‘Forget it. We’re gonna score again and put the team on our back,’” Lewis said. “That’s what we did and came out with the win.”
Lewis scored on a 9-yard touchdown run in the first overtime, but the Beavers’ B.J. Baylor answered with a 1-yard touchdown.
In the second overtime, Hayes missed a 38-yard field goal before Becker delivered his game-winner.
“There’s some really good things that happened in that game,” Dorrell said. “It was something that we felt that our team grew up from a week prior.
“It was a good win for us. Definitely, stuff that we can continue to work on and do as we finish up the season, and we’ll just see where it takes us.
“By no means are we where we need to be and I’m not saying that all of a sudden we’ve got the answers. No, I’m not saying that, but I feel that they’re starting to learn how to deal with some stressful moments and how to handle that and tune up their attention to execution in detail and making plays when those opportunities need to be done. So we are making progress.”
Colorado 37, Oregon 34 (2 OT)
Play of the game: Cole Becker’s 43-yard field goal in overtime gave the Buffs the win and ended one of the most entertaining games of the season for Colorado.
Turning point: Late in the fourth quarter, the Buffs trailed 24-20 and OSU had momentum. The Buffs faced third-and-15 at the OSU 16-yard line, but Brendon Lewis scrambled and found Montana Lemonious-Craig in the front corner of the end zone for a go-ahead touchdown.
Top 3 Buffs of the game
1. QB Brendon Lewis: He threw three touchdown passes and ran for a touchdown in overtime – his first rushing touchdown of the season.
2. OLB Carson Wells: Finished the game with seven tackles, a sack and two quarterback hurries, leading a solid defensive effort.
3. PK Cole Becker: Rebounded from a missed field goal in the 2nd quarter to hit a 52-yarder just before the half and then a 43-yarder to win the game in overtime.
Colorado 37, Oregon State 34, 2OT
Oregon St. 0 10 7 10 7 0 — 34
Colorado 10 3 7 7 7 3 — 37
First Quarter
COLO — FG Becker 28, 10:18.
COLO — Arias 43 pass from B.Lewis (Becker kick), 6:47.
Second Quarter
ORST — Colletto 14 run (Hayes kick), 14:53.
COLO — FG Becker 52, :39.
ORST — FG Hayes 43, :00.
Third Quarter
COLO — Rice 5 pass from B.Lewis (Becker kick), 5:54.
ORST — Lowe 31 run (Hayes kick), 3:19.
Fourth Quarter
ORST — T.Harrison 27 pass from Nolan (Hayes kick), 8:23.
COLO — Lemonious-Craig 16 pass from B.Lewis (Becker kick), 2:24.
ORST — FG Hayes 60, :00.
First Overtime
COLO — B.Lewis 9 run (Becker kick), :00.
ORST — Baylor 1 run (Hayes kick), :00.
Second Overtime
COLO — FG Becker 43, :00.
ORST COLO
First downs 25 20
Total Net Yards 475 392
Rushes-yards 43-220 44-222
Passing 255 170
Punt Returns 3-41 3-38
Kickoff Returns 0-0 1-34
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-38
Comp-Att-Int 20-38-1 15-24-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-6 0-0
Punts 4-47.75 5-49.0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 9-78 8-60
Time of Possession 35:20 28:00
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Oregon St., Baylor 22-98, Lowe 6-60, Nolan 10-39, Colletto 3-22, Bolden 1-2, Musgrave 1-(minus 1). Colorado, Broussard 24-151, D.Smith 7-25, Fontenot 5-18, Rice 2-13, B.Lewis 5-12, Lynch 1-3.
PASSING — Oregon St., Nolan 20-38-1-255. Colorado, B.Lewis 15-24-0-170.
RECEIVING — Oregon St., Lowe 5-52, Lindsey 4-30, Harrison 3-47, Flemings 2-45, Musgrave 2-44, Bradford 1-19, Gould 1-9, Fenwick 1-5, Baylor 1-4. Colorado, Penry 3-41, Arias 2-52, Shenault 2-24, Lemonious-Craig 2-22, Carpenter 2-4, Russell 1-20, D.Smith 1-6, Rice 1-5, Fontenot 1-(minus 4).
MISSED FIELD GOALS — Oregon St., Hayes 50, Hayes 38. Colorado, Becker 35.
