Buffaloes RB Rodney Stewart Named Big 12 Player Of The Week

Buffalo running back Rodney Stewart has been named the Big 12's offensive player of the week for the first time this season. Stewart had a third straight huge game, against Kansas State running for 195 yards and two touchdowns and throwing for another.

Rodney Stewart, Colorado, TB, Jr, Westerville, Ohio
Rodney Stewart amassed 219 yards of total offense in Colorado's win over Kansas State. He rushed 34 times for a career-high 195 yards and scored two touchdowns. The tailback also caught two passes for 49 yards and threw his first career touchdown pass on a 23-yard strike to Toney Clemons. The junior has 1,230 rushing yards on the year, the seventh-highest single season total in CU history. He improved his career rushing total to 2,656 yards, which is seventh in career annals. Stewart had his 14th career 100-yard rushing day - tied for second most at CU. He became the 23rd player at Colorado to score 20 touchdowns, finishing the day with 21. Stewart was responsible for 11 first downs vs. KSU with eight rushing, two receiving and one passing). 

Rodney Stewart, Colorado Buffaloes Defeat Kansas State Wildcats, 44-36, On Senior Day

The Colorado Buffaloes won their final Big 12 home game by defeating the Kansas State Wildcats, 44-36, on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon. Junior running back Rodney Stewart led the offensive charge with 195 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, but it was his 23-yard touchdown throw to receiver Toney Clemons in the second quarter that gave Colorado the lead for the rest of the game. Stewart had a 51-yard rushing touchdown in the third quarter.

The Buffaloes overcame and early 14-3 deficit (two Collin Klein touchdown runs), but gained the lead once and for all on Stewart's pass. After that Buffaloes were able to keep pace with the Wildcats' offense in trading touchdowns. Senior Cody Hawkins, son of former Buffs head coach Dan Hawkins, threw for 202 yards and three touchdowns, including a 37-yard touchdown to receiver Scotty McKnight.

The 5-6 Colorado Buffaloes are now one game closer to being bowl-eligible, but will need to defeat the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln, Neb. on Friday, Nov. 26. Both teams will play their last Big 12 conference games, with Colorado off to the Pac-12 and Nebraska to the Big 10 in 2011.

Wildcats Vs. Buffaloes: Colorado Leads, 23-14, At Halftime Over Kansas State

On Senior Day in Boulder, the Colorado Buffaloes lead the Kansas State Wildcats, 23-14, at halftime. This will also be the last Big 12 game played at Folsom Field, so the Buffs are already halfway to ending their home schedule in the Big 12 on a high not. 

The Wildcats took an early 7-0 lead on the Buffs when Ty Zimmerman returned a punt for 41 yards to the Buffs' one-yard line. Only a play later, quarterback Collin Klein rushed into the end zone for a touchdown. Colorado's Aric Goodman cut into the lead with a field goal, but Collin Klein answered yet again with a one-yard touchdown run.

However, the Buffaloes came back at the end of the first quarter with a Rodney Stewart one-yard touchdown run to make the score 14-9 in favor of Kansas State (Goodman saw his extra point attempt blocked). Then about five minutes into the second quarter, Kansas State's Daniel Thomas was stripped of the ball by Buffs' linebacker Liloa Nobriga. Jimmy Smith recovered the ball and brought it to Kansas State's 22-yard line. Running back Rodney Stewart then completed a 23-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Toney Clemons to put the Buffs ahead, 16-14.

With 1:10 left on the clock until halftime, quarterback Cody Hawkins connected with wide receiver Scotty McKnight for a 37-yard touchdown, putting the Buffs ahead, 23-14.

Cody Hawkins is 7-of-14 with a touchdown, while the Wildcats have predictably stayed on the ground, attempting only six passes. Buffs running back Rodney Stewart has 18 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Buffaloes Take On The Wildcats In The Last Big 12 Game At Folsom Field

(Sports Network) - The Colorado Buffaloes will attempt to go 2-0 under interim head coach Brian Cabral, but they'll have to tame the Kansas State Wildcats when the two square off in a Big 12 Conference clash in Boulder on Saturday afternoon.

Kansas State has lost three of its last four games, the most recent of which was last Saturday's 38-28 loss at 15th-ranked Missouri. At 6-4 overall, K- State is already bowl eligible with a non-league game at North Texas looming next week. Still, after finishing 6-6 last year and being shut out of a bowl bid, don't expect the Wildcats to let off the gas pedal.

Colorado must beat Kansas State this weekend and then pull off a big upset at Nebraska next Friday in order to become bowl eligible. The Buffaloes kept their faint hopes alive with last Saturday's 34-14 triumph over Iowa State to notch their first Big 12 victory in coach Cabral's debut. In the days leading up to that game, Dan Hawkins was fired as head coach in the midst of a five- game skid, a decision tipped over the edge by a historical fourth-quarter meltdown against Kansas.

CU holds a 44-20-1 edge in the all-time series with the Wildcats.

Kansas State put up 420 yards of total offense against nationally-ranked Missouri, but miscues cost the Wildcats. In all, they turned the ball over four times (three fumbles, one interception) which led to 17 points for the opposition. The fumble came on a center exchange at the Tigers' 1-yard line in the final minute of the first half, costing the Wildcats even more points. Another costly turnover came in the third quarter after a sack, as Mizzou defensive end Jacquies Smith scooped up the ball and returned it 53 yards to the end zone. K-State quarterback Carson Coffman went 11-of-19 for 170 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Backup Collin Klein provided a spark by completing 4-of-6 passes for 65 yards and a TD, but most importantly he ran for a team-high 141 yards on 18 carries. Daniel Thomas carried 12 times for 66 yards and scored twice for the second straight game. Thomas has been the workhorse all season, ranking second in the Big 12 with 116.8 rushing yards per game to go along with 14 rushing TDs.

While Kansas State's offense is capable of picking up yardage in big chunks, the defense has been guilty of allowing the same. Out of 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision, K-State enters this tilt ranked 119th in rushing defense (220 ypg). In all, the Wildcats are allowing 436.1 total yards (104th) and 25.7 points (62nd) per contest. They also haven't made many plays behind the line of scrimmage, ranking 112th nationally in tackles for loss (4.1). Missouri exploited that run D early and often last week by churning out 232 yards and a pair of TDs on the ground. The Tigers averaged a staggering 6.1 yards per carry as a team, and quarterback Blaine Gabbert led the way with 89 yards and a TD rushing. He also completed 17-of-25 passes against the K-State secondary, finishing with 208 yards, two TDs and an interception. Freshman linebacker Tre Walker paced the Wildcats with 12 tackles and an interception, while junior defensive back David Garrett had 11 stops and a pass breakup.

With his recently-fired father in attendance as a spectator against Iowa State, Buffaloes' quarterback Cody Hawkins responded with an effort that would nab him Big 12 Player of the Week honors, throwing for 266 yards and three touchdowns. Hawkins has already approached several career passing records at Colorado, but his clutch performance under the circumstances certainly answered some questions about his leadership abilities. On the season, Hawkins has completed 100-of-180 passes for 1,368 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions. Scotty McKnight paces the receivers with 43 catches, and Paul Richardson tallied five catches for 121 yards against ISU. While the Wildcats have their thoroughbred back in Thomas, the Buffs can lean on Rodney "Speedy" Stewart, the conference's third-leading rusher at 103.5 yards per game. Stewart has scored eight times on the year, and he is coming off last week's 123-yard rushing effort against the Cyclones. He has five 100-yard rushing performances on the season.

After allowing Kansas to score a record 35 unanswered points in the fourth quarter a week earlier, Colorado's defense was determined to shut the door against the Cyclones. And the Buffs did just that, holding ISU to 229 yards of total offense. They also forced two fumbles and limited the Cyclones to 3- of-14 on third downs. CU entered the fourth quarter with a 20-point lead, and this time that lead would stick. The Buffs totaled eight sacks on the day, including two by Forrest West. Travis Sandersfeld led the charge with nine tackles. On the season, linebacker Michael Sipili leads the team in tackles with 76, while Ray Polk has notched 60 stops. B.J. Beattys five sacks are tops on the squad, and in the secondary, Jalil Brown leads the squad with three interceptions. CU still ranks 112th nationally in pass defense (266.5 ypg) and 106th in pass efficiency defense (147.2), but last week the mission was to get after the quarterback, and the result was hard to ignore.

For the Buffs, the big question is can they sustain their new-found momentum under Cabral? The interim coach has preached a three-game season with bowl eligibility at stake, so an emotional letdown is unlikely. The key matchup will be K-State's No. 2 rushing offense in the Big 12 (199.8 ypg) versus CU's second-ranked run defense (131.7 ypg allowed).