Buffs football won a sound 43-10 victory over the Charleston Southern University Buccaneers Saturday at Folsom Field.
The game marked the first start for freshman quarterback Sefo Liufau, which came later than expected. But it was another true freshman, running back Michael Adkins II, who stole the show for the Buffs.
Adkins rushed 137 yards and set the Buffs’ record for freshman rushing touchdowns in a single game at four.
“I didn’t score in my first three games, so scoring today really gave me a lot of confidence moving forward,” Adkins said.
Liufau came into the game just one week after he saw his first action of the season — replacing Connor Wood in Arizona State University’s 54-13 drubbing of the Buffs last week. After some shaky throws and a sack in the first quarter, Liufau settled in to the game. He finished the day with 198 yards passing and one touchdown, completing 14 of his 20 pass attempts.
“There are a couple things he can do better, no doubt, but he’ll see that on film,” MacIntyre said. “And now that he’s seen it, feels it and understands it, his nerves will calm down a little bit, and that will be good.”
Richardson continued his big season for the Buffs with eight catches for 122 yards and one touchdown.
The Buccaneers amassed 148 yards rushing but were shaky in their pass game. The Buffs limited Buccaneers freshman quarterback Kyle Copeland to 48 yards passing. Copeland began the year as the Buccaneers’ third-string quarterback and made his first start of the season in this game.
The Buccaneers, who are in first place in the Big South conference and ranked 24th in the FCS, left Boulder with their first loss of the season.
The Buffs are now 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the Pac 12.
Charleston Southern served as a fill-in opponent in the makeup of the Sept. 14 game against Fresno State University that was canceled because of mid-September flooding in Colorado.
“We’re very thankful that Charleston Southern wanted to play us today, or we wouldn’t have been able to play,” MacIntyre said. “That was great for the city of Boulder, great for our campus and great for our team.”
The Buffs will take on the University of Arizona Wildcats at 6 p.m. Saturday in Boulder.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sam Routhier at Samuel.routhier@colorado.edu.