Colorado leans on run game, tops Kansas State in overtime

Colorado football ran the ball 43 times against Kansas State on Saturday and threw 21 passes, and the approach held up for a 27-24 overtime win. The Buffaloes carried it 27 times for 132 yards after halftime. In the fourth quarter, Colorado called 14 runs for 58 yards and no passes.

A week earlier in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Colorado ran nine times for minus-1 yard in the second half against Oklahoma State, and the game slipped away. In overtime against Kansas State, the Buffaloes handed off on four straight plays before Isaac Wilson faked a handoff and threw the go-ahead touchdown.

The biggest run of the day came with the score tied 7-7 in the third quarter, when JaQuail Smith went 47 yards for a touchdown. Wilson said during the game that coach Deion Sanders heard from his quarterback about the run game. "He said, 'Coach, the running game is phenomenal. I don't really have to do much,'" Sanders said. "I said, 'That's the point. That's what we've been trying to do every game, every week.'"

Colorado opened the season with a 14-13 win at Georgia Tech, running 49 times in that game. Wilson said letting Smith and Richard Young carry the load shows the Buffaloes have a run game. "Letting Smith and Richard Young eat like that really shows that we have a run game, and we did that against Georgia Tech, and we're bringing it back," Wilson said. Colorado lined up much of the afternoon in 13 personnel with three tight ends, and tight end Charlie Williams said the group knew that meant runs were coming. "So we know we're going to run the ball. We know that we're a big part of this offense," Williams said. Wilson said the staff preached running the ball all week.

Yamil Talib had two of Colorado's five sacks, both in the first half, and eight tackles. His first sack came on third down and ended the second of three straight three-and-outs to open the game. Linebacker Gideon Lampron said Talib had been "hurt for a decent amount of the season" and praised him for stepping up. Kansas State entered having won all four games in which it reached 200 rushing yards; the Wildcats finished with 121 yards on the ground.

Blake Barnett, a second-year passer from Erie, took over for Dillon Duff late in the first quarter. He went 18-of-28 for 224 yards and three touchdowns, including the tying score with two seconds left. After that touchdown, Colorado called timeout as Kansas State lined up for a two-point try, and the Wildcats then kicked the extra point to tie it. "We waited for them to set it up and show us, and we took the timeout so we could see it," Sanders said.

Boo Carter broke up Barnett's third-down pass in the end zone in overtime, forcing Kansas State to settle for a field goal. Makari Vickers had seven tackles and forced a fumble on a first-quarter punt return that Kansas State recovered. Lampron said the team played for Julian Lewis, who was hospitalized this week. "It's more than just for us," Lampron said. The Buffaloes' next game follows the overtime win over Kansas State on Saturday.