Five takeaways from Colorado’s devastating loss to Stanford

The Colorado Buffaloes were flying high in the first half on Friday night. Their offense scored on its first four possessions and Stanford could not muster any resistance on either side of the ball. My proclamation of seeing Shedeur Sanders and the starters get some well-needed rest in the fourth quarter going into the bye week looked promising. Then, it all came tumbling down.

The second half was a horror show. CU blew a 29-0 lead to one of the worst teams in the Pac-12, ultimately falling in double overtime. 46-43. Stanford could not be stopped, and CU’s offense was stuck in the mud.

Here are my takeaways from Colorado’s historic collapse:

Penalties killed the Buffaloes

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Colorado started the season playing very disciplined football. That has been lost in the past couple of games. CU was penalized 17 times for 127 yards, which allowed Stanford drives to continue and extra points to be scored, such as the personal foul penalty called on Travis Hunter after a third-and-22 stop that would have forced Stanford into a field goal attempt. The Cardinal scored a touchdown on that drive after the mistake.

New wrinkle on defense

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Trevor Woods played every snap at a new position, lining up at linebacker and playing closer to the line of scrimmage. Head coach Deion Sanders spoke about Woods’ willingness to help his team and commented on how well he played in his new spot.

The first half was awesome

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The Buffaloes were firing on all cylinders for most of the first half. CU’s offense scored on its first four drives and added a two-point conversion to race to a 29-point lead. Stanford could not move the ball as the Buffs’ defense was flying around the field and getting the Cardinal off the field.

A bad punt by Stanford gave Colorado a first down at the Cardinal 33-yard line. Because of penalties, CU moved backward and kicker Alejandro Mata missed a field goal attempt that could have made it 32-0.

CU was still up almost 30 points and Folsom was rocking. Surely that would continue, right?

Big plays and big drives killed Colorado in the second half

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The Buffaloes came out in the second half completely flat, and Stanford capitalized, rolling off 26 straight points courtesy of huge plays, including a 97-yard touchdown.

Colorado scored a touchdown to go back up by 10 but couldn’t score in regulation again. Stanford drove 99 yards on its last drive to tie the score and produced a timely interception in the second overtime to set up the winning kick.

This was worse than 2018 and 2010

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By the numbers, this was the biggest collapse in Colorado history. The 29-point lead it gave up was worse than in 2018 against Oregon State and worse than in 2010 against Kansas — both 28-point blown leads. Given how well the Buffs played in the first half and how close this would have put them to bowl eligibility, this is a demoralizing loss, CU will get the bye week to look inward and determine what it needs to do to overcome this loss.

Further reading

READ: What Deion Sanders had to say following Colorado’s historic collapse

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Story originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire