BOULDER, Colo. - Heart-stopping finishes are getting to be a habit for Colorado.
One week after scoring the winning touchdown with 40 seconds left against Colorado State, the Buffaloes triumphed on a score with 2:15 left. Joel Klatt threw a 6-yard touchdown to Joe Klopfenstein, rallying Colorado to a 16-14 victory against UCLA on Saturday.
"I guess we'd better get used to it," coach Gary Barnett said. "Two weeks in a row, and it doesn't look like it will change much."
The Buffaloes trailed 14-10 with five minutes left before marching 63 yards in 11 plays for the winning score.
After Mason Crosby's extra point was blocked, UCLA had a chance to win if it could move into position for a field goal.
But after Maurice Drew fumbled the ensuing kickoff and returned it to the 10, Drew Olson, who replaced injured starter Matt Moore late in the first quarter, threw four consecutive incompletions.
A roughing the passer penalty triggered Colorado's winning drive. Klatt completed an 8-yard pass to Derek McCoy on third and 7 and a 10-yarder to D.J. Hackett on third and 3. Rolling right, Klatt, who earlier left the game for one play after being hit in the head, found Klopfenstein in the right side of the end zone.
"We went to the two-minute drill," Barnett said of the winning drive. "We knew they were tired."
Colorado's victory spoiled the coaching debut of UCLA's Karl Dorrell, who was an assistant at Colorado for six years during the 1990s.
It was one of several Colorado connections for the Bruins, who hired assistants Jon Embree and Eric Bieniemy and strength and conditioning coach Doc Kreis from Colorado during the offseason.
"I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be once the game started," Dorrell said. "We ended up losing our starting quarterback fairly early, so we were up against it. But I liked how we tried to hang in there."
Asked about his familiarity with Colorado, Dorrell said, "I never did say I knew the opponent so well. Everybody was anticipating that. This was a different team with a different quarterback."
KANSAS ST. 55, McNEESE ST. 14: Rashad Washington had two interceptions, returning one 45 yards for a touchdown, and blocked a punt to set up another score for the host Wildcats.
The Wildcats scored three touchdowns - one on offense, defense and special teams - in 2:05 in the late first quarter and early second. Darren Sproles started with a 34-yard touchdown run that made it 17-0 with 1:20 left in the first quarter. Twenty-two seconds later, Washington intercepted Scott Pendarvis' pass and took it all the way to make it 24-0.
Then on the second play of the second quarter, Maurice Thurmond blocked Jason Cook's punt at the Cowboys' 15. It rolled into the end zone, where David Rose fell on it.
"We didn't have the kind of game we wanted to have," Washington said. "There's no way we should be giving up 14 points and 200-something yards (267, officially) to a Division I-AA team."
NEBRASKA 31, UTAH ST. 7: Jammal Lord ran for 72 yards and a touchdown and completed 8 of 12 passes for 85 yards as the host Cornhuskers overcame a slow start. After allowing 145 yards and falling behind 7-6 in the first quarter, Nebraska gave up just 7 yards in the second and 93 during the final three quarters.
Demorrio Williams forced consecutive fumbles by quarterback Jason Cox, and the Huskers converted both into points. One play after recovering at the Aggies 1, Judd Davies bulled into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown.
Williams hit Cox's blind side on the first play of the next series, with Titus Adams recovering the fumble. A field goal, one of four by David Dyches, gave Nebraska a 15-7 halftime lead.
Jason Cox completed 13 of 15 passes for 132 yards in the first quarter. But he went 4-of-18 the rest of the way.
TEXAS A&M 28, UTAH 26: Jonte Buhl knocked quarterback Brett Elliott out of bounds on a two-point conversion with six seconds left to preserve the host Aggies' victory.
The Aggies led 21-0 at halftime, but the Utes rallied behind Brandon Warfield, who ran for three touchdowns and finished with 181 yards rushing on 36 carries.
The Aggies led 28-20 in the closing minutes when Elliott drove the Utes 76 yards and completed a 45-yard touchdown to John Madsen. Elliott rolled to pass for the 2 points then ran for the pylon, only to be slammed at the 2-yard line by Buhl.
OKLAHOMA ST. 48, WYOMING 24: Tatum Bell rushed for 215 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries and fullback Shawn Willis added two scores for the host Cowboys.
After a slow start, Oklahoma State's offense came alive after Gabe Lindsay's 55-yard punt return for a touchdown near the end of the first quarter.
From there, Oklahoma State put together consecutive scoring drives of 92, 98, 48, 86 and 76 yards/
TEXAS TECH 42, NEW MEXICO 28: B.J. Symons threw for five touchdowns and ran for another for the host Red Raiders. After D.D. Cox's 3-yard touchdown run pulled New Mexico within 35-28 in the fourth, Symons engineered a 66-yard, 12-play drive and took the ball in from the 1 on a sneak with 2:43 left. He finished 37-of-54 for 418 yards.
Three of Symons' touchdowns went to Mickey Peters, two for 8 yards and one for 52. Peters finished with 121 yards on eight receptions.
MISSOURI 35, BALL STATE 7: Quarterback Brad Smith had 229 yards of total offense in the first half and the visiting Tigers finished with 461. After falling behind 7-0, Missouri scored 21 consecutive points before halftime.
Smith, who scored on a 35-yard touchdown run to give Missouri the lead, rushed for 117 yards on 13 carries and completed 11 of 17 passes for 112 yards.
Damien Nash capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to tie it. And Zack Abron ran for a 1-yard touchdown just before halftime.
KANSAS 46, UNLV 24: Bill Whittemore threw three touchdowns and ran for another and Johnny Beck kicked four field goals for the host Jayhawks. It was Kansas' third victory in Mark Mangino's 14 games as coach.
Down 17-13 in the second quarter, Kansas scored 33 consecutive points. Beck made it 17-16 with a 37-yarder with 13 seconds left in the half.
After Beck's 29-yarder put the Jayhawks up 19-17 with 11:35 left in the third, Remuise Johnson intercepted a pass at the Kansas 3. Whittemore then engineered a 10-play, 97-yard drive.
A few minutes later, Whittemore hit Mark Simmons on a 39-yard score. Then Gabe Toomey, a sophomore linebacker, returned an interception for a touchdown to make it 39-17.
IOWA ST. 48, OHIO 20: Austin Flynn threw two touchdowns and had 330 yards of total offense and Michael Wagner rushed for 115 yards and two scores for the host Cyclones.
Fred Ray's 68-yard touchdown run and Ryan Hawk's 80-yard pass to Scott Mayle left Ohio trailing 17-14 late in the first quarter. Ray, who alternated with Hawk at quarterback, added a 1-yard touchdown run after completing a 71-yard pass to Anthony Hackett to make it 34-20 early in the third.
But Iowa State sealed it with touchdown drives of 88 yards and 78 yards.
NORTH TEXAS 52, BAYLOR 14: The host Mean Green turned six first-half turnovers into 17 points then scored on its first five possessions of the second half.
Baylor's first series ended with quarterback Aaron Karas fumbling and 315-pound Brandon Kennedy returning it 24 yards for a touchdown. The next drive ended with John Martin fumbling after making a catch for a first down. Patrick Cobbs ran for an 81-yard touchdown on the next play.
