No light at the end of the tunnel for Buffaloes

B.G. Brooks, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 8, 2006 at midnight

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BOULDER – If they didn’t reach rock bottom Saturday, the Colorado Buffaloes can see it from here. Clearly. The Baylor Bears, meanwhile, finally can look down at someone else in the Big 12 Conference’s netherworld.

Once-lowly Baylor extended and intensified CU’s misery, dealing the Buffs a 34-31 triple overtime defeat that pushed their losing streak to 10 and tied a school record for futility first set in 1963-64.

Plus, for only the second time in school history, the Buffs are 0-6, with their 0-2 conference start marking only the third time (1997, 2004, 2006) in the past 22 seasons a CU team has opened league play 0-2.

The upwardly mobile Bears won their first league road opener in 11 tries and prevailed for only the second time in 40 Big 12 road contests.

"It’s huge; it’s time for our kids to get a break," said Baylor coach Guy Morriss, whose team improved to 3-3 and 2-0. "They really hung in there and believed in each other, and they found a way to win it."

Starting the season’s second month under new coach Dan Hawkins, the Buffs painfully relived the first – making enough critical errors to cost them a victory. Hawkins called the defeat and its aftermath "another variety of life . . . another adventure you go through.

"It’s another battle . . . and you chalk that up and learn to handle it (and) deal with it. When you go through this deal, they’re not always wins, so you’ve got to be on both sides of it."

Baylor won in the third overtime when CU quarterback Bernard Jackson suffered his third interception of the afternoon. Making the game-ending pick was Baylor freshman middle linebacker Joe Pawelek.

"I just threw a bad ball,’’ Jackson said. ''It hurts and it’s tough. Especially losing the way we did."

But Jackson wasn’t alone in committing an OT error. The Buffs, leading 31-24 in the second extra period, allowed Bears quarterback Shawn Bell to complete a 10-yard touchdown pass to Trent Shelton on fourth down that, with Ryan Havens’ partially blocked PAT, tied the game and forced OT No. 3.

The Bears’ other scoring in the extra period was done by tailback Paul Mosley on a 1-yard run and a 22-yard Havens field goal that proved to be the game-winner. The Buffs’ overtime scoring came on a 10-yard pass from Jackson to tight end Riar Geer, a 25-yard run by tailback Hugh Charles and a pair of Mason Crosby extra points.

The Jackson-to-Geer pass was the Buffs’ first TD pass of the season.

With 2 minutes, 06 seconds to play in regulation and the score tied 17-17, CU ran two plays for 7 yards and called on Jackson for a third-down pass that fell incomplete at the CU 30-yard line and forced a punt.

The Buffs, with the nation’s top long-distance kicker in Crosby, appeared to turn conservative on that final possession and looked to be playing for overtime.

Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich indicated the Buffs were "playing to our strengths," which he said is not a drop-back passing game with Jackson at QB. So the three-and-out possession, plus two Bears plays that killed the final 41 seconds of regulation, sent the afternoon into overtime.

Jackson completed just nine of 24 passes for 75 yards, one TD and the three interceptions, while Bell was 31-of-44 for 272 yards and two TDs with two interceptions.

Baylor, which entered the game ranked last (No. 119) in rushing offense (27 yards a game), ran for 110 yards and finished with 382 yards in total offense. CU managed 351 (276 rushing).

Baylor owned a 10-7 halftime lead, and given CU’s lack of second-half productivity through five games – 10 points in third quarters, none in the fourth – the Bears had to feel good about the prospect of winning their first league road opener since Big 12 Conference play began in 1996.

On the game’s opening drive, the Buffs marched 80 yards in 11 plays and took a 7-0 lead on Mell Holliday’s 32-yard scoring run and Crosby’s PAT. They were the first points Baylor has surrendered in the first quarter this season.

That advantage held through the first quarter, but the Bears trimmed the deficit to 7-3 on Havens’ 47-yard field goal, capitalizing on the first of two interceptions thrown by Jackson in regulation play.

That theft was difficult to attribute to CU’s quarterback; he was hammered as he released the ball, which fluttered about 5 yards and was grabbed by Baylor defensive tackle Corey Ford at the Buffs’ 33-yard line.

Four plays later, Havens kicked his second 47-yarder of the season, and sixth in eight attempts.

Jackson’s second interception was thrown on the ensuing CU possession. This time, Jackson had time to pass, but his toss was just out of Buffs receiver Dusty Sprague’s reach.

Baylor corner Anthony Arline gathered in the ball, but Sprague appeared to wrestle it away from him as both players rolled to the turf. A replay review, however, allowed the call on the field to stand, and Baylor took over on its 19-yard line.

The Bears methodically marched 81 yards in 12 plays, scoring on a 17-yard Bell-to-Troy Payne pass and taking their first lead of the afternoon (10-7). But the Buffs blew a superb chance to recapture the lead – or at least tie the score – on the second-half kickoff.

After Alvin Wright recovered a Baylor fumble and a personal foul penalty gave the Buffs possession at the Bears’ 18-yard line, CU could manage only minus-one yard rushing and a pair of incomplete passes before Crosby badly missed a 37-yard field goal attempt.

Hawkins called that kick "probably the firsts bad ball he hit. In practice or in a game, ever."

Crosby concurred: "I hadn’t hit one that bad in a long time."

However, just under 10 minutes later, the Buffs’ sputtering offense awarded Crosby another chance – this time from 44 yards. CU’s All-America placekicker nailed it, tying the score at 10-10 with 2:35 remaining in the third quarter.

Crosby now has made eight of 13 attempts this season, including both of his tries from 40 to 49 yards.

With the score still tied as the fourth quarter opened, the Bears drove to the Buffs’ 4-yard line, had a first-and-goal at that point and looked more than ready to move ahead. But CU corner Terrence Wheatley wouldn’t allow it.

Wheatley, who intercepted Bell in the first quarter, made a leaping pick in the end zone to end that threat and give the junior the first two-interception game of his CU career.

Undaunted, Baylor forced CU into another three-and-out series, took over at its own 26-yard line and covered the 54 yards required for the go-ahead TD in six plays. Mosley, a 236-pound senior, ran 28 yards through the middle of the Buffs defense for the score, and Havens’ PAT pushed the Bears ahead 17-10 with 9:24 to play.

The Buffs had two challenges awaiting them – drive for a game-tying TD and score their first fourth-quarter points of the season. They met both, marching 80 yards in 12 plays and tying the game at 17-17 on Byron Ellis’ first career touchdown (a 9-yard run) and Crosby’s extra point with 4:13 remaining.

Baylor assumed possession at its own 20 with 3:50 to play, but was forced to punt, giving CU a final chance to end the game in regulation. The Buffs, having 2:06 to work with from their 22-yard line, advanced only 8 yards before Matt DiLallo’s 63-yard punt was downed at the Baylor 8-yard line.

The Bears had 41 seconds to mount any kind of scoring threat. They didn’t try, so this game was destined for overtime – and more heartache for the Buffs.

ETC.: Saturday’s game drew a crowd estimated at 44,565 (47,065 tickets distributed, 2,500 announced no-shows) to Folsom Field. CU’s two previous home games drew 45,513 (Montana State) and 47,723 (Arizona State). . . . CU is 60-27-5 in homecoming games and 3-4 in overtime games. . . . Senior defensive back Vance Washington underwent additional knee surgery that ends his CU career, according to a school spokesman. . . . The Buffs now are 17-14 against Big 12 South Division opponents. . . . CU plays its second consecutive South opponent, Texas Tech, at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Folsom Field (no television).

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