Saturday, October 22, 2016 03:00 PM (ET)

Thompson's interceptions lift Colorado past Stanford

The Sports Xchange
Oct 22, 2016

Safety Tedric Thompson intercepted two passes to key a dominating defensive effort as Colorado posted a 10-5 victory over Stanford to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2007 on Saturday in Palo Alto, Calif.

Thompson's second pick and 30-yard return set up the Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1 Pac-12) at the Cardinal 20 with 6:38 left. That led to a 22-yard field goal from Chris Graham with 2:13 remaining after the team earlier had missed three field-goal attempts.

Colorado, which entered the game tied with Utah atop the Pac-12 South, essentially sealed the game with an interception by cornerback Isaiah Oliver on a deep pass by Stanford quarterback Ryan Burns, who committed three turnovers in the fourth quarter.

Facing fourth-and-21 from its 2 with eight seconds left, Colorado took a deliberate safety by running out of the end zone. After a kickoff, Stanford's attempt of a multi-lateral final play quickly fizzled.

Stanford (4-3, 2-3) managed just 263 yards despite the return of running back Christian McCaffrey, the 2015 Heisman runner-up who missed last week's game against Notre Dame because of an undisclosed injury.

McCaffrey ran for 92 yards on 21 attempts, caught two passes for 27 yards and lost four yards on a punt return.

Colorado running back Phillip Lindsay rushed 12 times for 131 yards, but he missed the fourth quarter with an apparent ankle injury.

Burns completed 16 of 29 passes for 170 passes and was intercepted three times. Stanford was poised to take the lead early in the fourth quarter when he lost a fumble pulling away from center on first-and-goal from the 4.

Stanford, which entered the game ranked 125th out of 128 FBS teams in total offense at 305.2 yards per game, got its only offensive points on a 26-yard field goal by Conrad Ukropina for a 3-0 first-quarter lead.

Graham missed field goals from 42 and 28 yards before punter Alex Kinney was summoned late in the third quarter. Kinney missed a 31-yard try at the end of an 11-play drive that included a touchdown pass nullified by pass interference.
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