The Colorado Buffaloes' near-upset of the No. 11 Utah Utes was made possible by the team playing an inspired second half of football. The Buffs looked like a completely different team after halftime and left fans feeling positive despite the 27-24 loss.
Quarterback Isaac Wilson had an improved game compared to his performance in Week 5 against the then-No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders, nearly leading Colorado on a game-tying or winning drive at the end of the game. In his postgame presser, Wilson broke down that inspired second half, as well as the things Colorado still needs to improved on.
What Isaac Wilson said:
The fight shown by his team in the second half
“Yeah, starting out with zero points in the first half is not how we want to start. We need to play for all 60 minutes. So if we get 14 in the first half, as we should have, we let penalties affect us, but just going into halftime and them having that effort and energy going throughout the room of, ‘we're going to win this game no matter what. We're going to get everything and everything going right now,” Wilson said.
“And that just really says a lot about the guys and how they're going to play all 60 minutes. They bought into it. Everyone's buying into it, and we want to win. I feel confident. I just need to eliminate the ‘little hookups,’ some might call it, but they're big mistakes in my eyes. I need to eliminate those, and then I need to get the ball to my playmakers. You saw that. Some dudes were catching jump balls, back shoulders, playing on the run with me,” Wilson said.
“The offense can do it. We have the ability to do it. We can execute. Coach [Brennan] Marion's dialing it up for us, and he believed in me through and through. I threw those two interceptions. He walked to me and said, ‘Hey, love you, man. I know you're gonna die for this team. Let's roll.’ And just having that energy in the room, and us finally scoring points-it's not enough. We could definitely score a lot more, and I see that throughout the offense. We could score a lot more,” Wilson said.
Illegal forward pass with five seconds left
“We called the verts play. They caught us. They dropped into it. The line did a great job holding up. I saw the seam. I took off, and I was thinking in my head, ‘Oh, there's five seconds. I can't get tackled in bounds.’ So I was trying to just get it out to the edge. I’ve just got to stop Quanell [Farrakhan Jr.] with that and just kind of just lob it at him, stop him, so it doesn't cause the penalty there. But the O-line did a great job holding up,” Wilson said.
Playing against his former team
“Yeah, I wanted this one bad. I wanted this one really bad. I was there. One man's trash is another man's treasure. So hopefully I can keep it rolling for Colorado. We need a win. That starts with me. I had a bad, bad turnover in that second half, and it really caused the downfall. Defense held their own. Yeah, I gotta put them in better positions. But I, I really wanted this one bad. I was willing to put it all on the line,” Wilson said.
What changed after halftime
“Yeah, we took a new approach. We hit halftime; I talked to the team. A bunch of players chipped in, and we had a players meeting more like that. And we just came out hot. Offensive line wanted to kill. I knew JaQuail [Smith] was the guy to do it. And coming out, I knew that it was a touchdown. After I pitched it, after I countered the box, I knew it was a touchdown. I was running down with my hands up, but they came out hot. We came out hot, and we did what we were supposed to do, and we kept rolling,” Wilson said.
If this team has what it takes to win
“Yeah, I think it's always been in us. We execute to a point, and then we just let penalties hurt us. We all rallied together. We all know when each other is down or stuff like that. So we're always pushing to be positive, pushing to do more, pushing to win. You guys see it. We should be winning. We should be winning. Offense needs to step it up even more. Like, that game made me so angry,” Wilson said.
“I'm so mad inside about that game because I wanted it so bad. I'm going into every game like that, and I think the O-line sees it. The wide receivers see it for sure. They want that. There's blood in the water, and we're gonna go get it.”
What happened on the broken play that led to JaQuail Smith’s touchdown
“We got it in a little late. I was trying to move things around, get motions, and then we just kind of set it up, and it kind of just worked to perfection, I guess,” Wilson said.
Playing for his defense
“I hate seeing zero on the board. I know the defense is relying on us. They were preaching to us all week, ‘Score, score, score, score, score. We're going to get you the ball back,’ which they did. We need to convert off of Nate [Naeten Mitchell]'s interception. He did a hell of a job. We need to get seven off of that. But just like I was saying, I need to take care of the ball and move things like a well-oiled machine,” Wilson said.
His interception intended for Charlie Williams
“Yeah, they they give us a two-high look, almost like quarters or cover-two. I saw it as quarters after the corners dropped, but Charlie [Williams] bent it in like he was supposed to. I tried to put on his chest, and it was just kind of a 50-50 play. But I know Charlie's going to make more of those. I'm not losing any hope in him, so he's going to keep getting the ball. I'm going to keep trying to strike it,” Wilson said.
What happened on his second interception
“They went back to that two-high defense. That quarters. They played a lot more zone than I thought this week, but we were prepared for it. I just need to be smarter with balls, trying to make a big play. I could definitely just checked it down or run myself, but I was trying to do a little extra, fit it in a tight window,” Wilson said.
Eliminating his turnover struggles
“Yeah. For sure, I'm always trying to get rid of that. I'm always trying to make a perfect game. I like to be a perfectionist. I like to know how everything's happening, where everyone's going, where the ball is going to be, all the little details. I think I can make any throw on the field if you give me the chance. I just need to eliminate the, ‘Okay, we're down, we're behind the sticks. Let's make something happen.’ I just need trust in my guys, like JaQuail popping out and taking it for what, 70? I just need to let that ride,” Wilson said.
JaQuail Smith’s standout performance
“He really cleaned up the box for us, making that extra cut, getting downfield, cutting up the field. He started out a little slow, but we got him going. And I feel like after he got that touchdown, he's going to keep going. It helped out the O-line; the O-line played its butt off, giving us great run lanes, keeping us protected, and it's going to open up the pass game, and we know we have weapons out there,” Wilson said.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on Google