Aidan Chiles accounted for five touchdowns in a 41-7 Wildcats win that dropped the Buffs to 2-1.
Colorado lost 41-7 at Northwestern on Saturday, turning the ball over four times in its first defeat of the season. The Buffaloes fall to 2-1 with the Big 12 opener at Baylor next.
Aidan Chiles accounted for five touchdowns for the Wildcats, throwing three to Joseph Himon II and running for two more. Northwestern led 21-0 at the half on Chiles runs of 1 and 3 yards and an 18-yard throw to Himon. Colorado’s only points came early in the third quarter, when Julian Lewis found Joseph Williams for 50 yards. Himon caught two more scores before the quarter was out, and Jackson Kleather closed it with field goals of 36 and 21 yards in the fourth.
The Buffaloes weren’t overwhelmed on yardage. They gained 348 to Northwestern’s 423 and ran for 180, nearly matching the Wildcats on the ground. What they couldn’t do was hold the ball. Micah Welch and Damian Henderson II each fumbled in the first quarter, Lewis threw interceptions in the first and the fourth, and nine penalties cost 80 yards. Northwestern ran 73 plays to Colorado’s 62 and held the ball for 36 minutes and 53 seconds.
“I really feel like we’re better than that,” Deion Sanders said afterward, per 247Sports. “I really don’t think we played how we’re capable.”
Colorado opens Big 12 play at Baylor on Sept. 26 at 10 a.m. MT.
