Junior safety Isaiah Lewis takes down Texas A&M’s junior wide receiver Ainias Smith during the fourth quarter. Sept. 11, 2021. Kara Wagenknecht/CU Independent)
The Colorado Buffaloes football team faced the No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies at Empower Field at Mile High Stadium in Denver for its second game of the regular season but came up short in the last few minutes of play resulting in a 10-7 loss.
It was a defensive contest for the majority of the game as Texas A&M was only able to amass three points in the first half of the game. Head coach Karl Dorrell analyzed how they let an important win slip from their fingertips.
Senior inside linebacker Nate Landman takes down Texas A&M junior running back Isaiah Spiller during the first quarter. Sept. 11, 2021. Kara Wagenknecht/CU Independent)
“We didn’t do what we should have done,” Dorrell said. “We didn’t do well enough offensively. Defensively, they felt like they played their butts off, and we’re very proud of that. We just got to get better, we’re not where we need to be right now.”
Texas A&M’s starting quarterback, Haynes King, was escorted off the field in the first quarter with an apparent leg injury. Replacing King was sophomore Zach Calzada, who initially struggled against Colorado’s sharp defense. Calzada completed 18-of-38 passes for 183 yards and one touchdown.
After the Buffs started their first offensive drive with an interception, their defense stepped up against a tough opponent, allowing just three points through the first three quarters. The defensive trio of senior linebacker Nate Landman, junior safety Isaiah Lewis and freshman Christian Gonzalez led the defense as they combined for 22 tackles, four of which resulted in a loss. Junior linebacker Carson Wells discussed how Colorado’s defense impressed on Saturday afternoon.
“Texas A&M is a great program,” Wells said. “They had a lot of weapons on the field, and we did a great job holding them but we have to do a better job going forward.”
Special teams wasn’t much of a factor as Colorado freshman placekicker Cole Becker and Texas A&M’s Seth Small each missed a field goal in the first half of the game. Small was able to redeem himself when he hit a 41-yard field goal late in the second quarter, making it 7-3 at halftime.
Freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis and the Buffs offense looked completely different early in comparison to last week’s game against Northern Colorado. Lewis got into a groove running the ball with a 30-yard rush to set up a sophomore tailback Jarek Broussard touchdown in the first quarter. Lewis finished the day with 76 rushing yards on nine attempts and completed 13-of-25 passes for 89 yards.
The student section reacts to Texas A&M scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Sept. 11, 2021. Kara Wagenknecht/CU Independent)
In the middle of the fourth quarter, Calzada rushed past the offensive line and appeared to have crossed into the end zone. After further review, officials decided the play was a fumble and not a touchdown, giving Colorado the ball and preventing Texas from taking the lead. This fumble ultimately wasn’t a game-deciding play as Texas scored the following possession to go up 10-7.
“We lost a really tough game,” Dorrell said. “We should have won; we had a great chance to win. That’s really the bottom line. That’s the way I expressed it with the team and I don’t want to look at it any differently now. We have a lot to fix.”
The Buffaloes will take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers next at Folsom Field on Sept. 18 at 11 a.m. MST.
Contact CU Independent staff writer Brett Polley at brett.polley@colorado.edu.
