Cyclones Fall to Buffaloes, 40-27

AMES, Iowa (AP) - Cortlen Johnson's history-making game put Colorado in position to become a champion.

Johnson became the first Colorado player to gain 100 yards both rushing and receiving in a game and Jeremy Flores kicked four field goals as the No. 21 Buffaloes beat Iowa State 40-27 Saturday night.

With its third straight victory, Colorado (8-2, 6-1 Big 12) set up a showdown with Nebraska for the league's North Division title. Colorado will play the Cornhuskers at home Nov. 23, with the winner advancing to the conference championship game Dec. 1 at Texas Stadium.

"I'm real proud of where this team is," Colorado coach Gary Barnett said. "We finally are in position for a big game and it will be a big game. We've been shooting for it for 50 weeks."

Johnson hurt Iowa State (5-4, 3-4) all night, carrying 27 times for 172 yards and catching six passes for 105 yards. His biggest play came when he turned a screen pass from Bobby Pesavento into a 50-yard touchdown that gave Colorado a 23-14 lead with 15 seconds left in the first half.

Then, after Iowa State drew to 33-20 on Seneca Wallace's 23-yard touchdown pass to Jack Whitver, Johnson ran 15 yards straight up the middle for a touchdown to wrap it up.

"He's an amazing football player," Pesavento said. "He's hands down the best football player on this team. I knew he was playing good, but when he broke that screen pass for a touchdown, I knew it would be an awesome day."

Iowa State lost its third straight. The Cyclones led 14-10 but eventually were done in by Colorado's speed and their own sloppy play. Iowa State missed numerous tackles and dropped several of Seneca Wallace's passes.

The most costly dropped occurred on the first series of the third quarter. Lance Young had gotten behind the defense and was at the 10 when Wallace's perfectly thrown pass slipped through his fingers on fourth down.

Colorado capitalized with a 13-play, 62-yard drive that Bobby Purify capped with a 9-yard run to increase the lead to 30-14.

"That was as good a throw as Seneca made all night," Iowa State coach Dan McCarney said. "Lance Young is a fine receiver, but he's got to make that play."

Pesavento, playing his third straight game in place of injured starter Craig Ochs, also threw a 4-yard TD pass to Cedric Cormier. He finished 16-of-25 for 230 yards with no interceptions.

Flores, who had missed five of his previous six field goal attempts, was perfect, connecting from 37, 48 and twice from 35 yards.

"Us seniors really wanted this game bad," Johnson said. "A lot of national media have been overlooking us, which is fine. If we play our game, we can beat anybody."

Flores' 35-yard kick sent Colorado ahead 16-14 at the 4:51 mark in the second quarter, the fourth lead change of the opening half. The Buffaloes got the ball back at their own 19 with 1:27 left after a punt and scored in six plays.

On second-and-10 at midfield, Pesavento flipped a screen pass to Johnson on the right side and he took it the rest of the way, running through a cluster of five defenders at the 40.

"It's not like we had nine guys knocked down on that play," McCarney said. "We had guys in position to make the play. When you're watching from the sideline that's really disappointing. That's ridiculous."

Iowa State took a 14-10 lead late in the first quarter on Wallace's 1-yard touchdown run, set up by Willie Judd's sack of Pesavento. The ball popped loose and Iowa State's Jordan Carstens recovered at the Colorado 2.

Flores' 48-yard field goal cut the lead to 14-13 and started a run of 23 Colorado points that turned the game.

Iowa State led 7-3 lead after Wallace's 51-yard touchdown pass to Lane Danielsen. Colorado answered with an eight-play, 77-yard drive that Pesavento finished with his TD pass to Cormier.

"Probably our offense was too powerful and that was the difference in the game," said Barnett, whose team finished with 502 yards. "We lost of a couple of guys defensively and we were just hanging on at the end."

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Players Mentioned

Jordan Carstens

Jordan Carstens

Lane Danielsen

Lane Danielsen

Willie Judd

Seneca Wallace

Jack Whitver

Jack Whitver

Lance Young

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