Colorado Has Hard Time Despite Cushion

BOULDER, Colo. — Trailing 28-21 midway through the third quarter to lightly regarded Iowa State, No. 7 Colorado did what nationally ranked teams are supposed to do--take control.

The Buffaloes did that, scoring four touchdowns in a span of 13:55 en route to a 49-42 victory Saturday.

Koy Detmer completed 27 of 47 passes for 401 yards and five touchdowns while Herchell Troutman ran for the tying and go-ahead touchdowns in the second half.

The Buffaloes, 8-1 overall and 6-0 in the Big 12, capped their flurry with 5:54 left, converting an interception by safety Steve Rosga into a 42-yard scoring pass play from Detmer to Rae Carruth, his third touchdown reception of the game.

Detmer tied a school record with his five touchdown passes while Carruth set a school record with 20 career touchdown receptions, one more than Michael Westbrook (1991-94). “When our backs were to the wall,” Detmer said, “we knew what we had to do. I knew that 28 points was not going to win this game, because we’d been moving the ball well all day. It was fun to throw that many times.”

The 28-point outburst gave Colorado a seemingly comfortable 49-28 lead, but Iowa State (2-7, 1-5) threw scare into the Buffaloes by scoring two late touchdowns.

“It was a wilder game than expected,” Colorado Coach Rick Neuheisel said. “It got a little bit hairy at the end.”

Iowa State’s late scores came against Colorado’s second- and third-team players, and Neuheisel defended his substitution pattern. “We might have made a strategic error,” he said, “but I believe the game belongs to the players and I will always err on the side of getting players into the game.”

But Iowa State (2-7, 1-5) wouldn’t quit. Led by running back Troy Davis, who rushed for 228 yards in 35 carries, the Cyclones went 73 yards for a touchdown with 2:24 left. The Cyclones then recovered a Colorado fumble, and quarterback Todd Doxzon ran four yards on a quarterback draw for a touchdown with 28 seconds to go.

Colorado recovered the ensuing onside kick, however, and ran out the clock.

Davis boosted his season rushing total to 1,822 yards, giving him a chance to become the first player in NCAA history to rush for 2,000 in two different seasons. The Cyclones have two games remaining.