Purify solidifies Colorado win

CU running back Bobby Purify helped put the game away in the late stages of the fourth quarter for the Buffaloes. After ISU quarterback Seneca Wallace went 6-for-6 on a 70-yard touchdown drive to bring the Cyclones within 34-27, Purify got the call six straight times.

His 50-yard scamper with just over three minutes left set up his touchdown run from five yards out to complete the 80-yard drive.

CU’s Brown injures sternum

Colorado’s Chris Brown, who came into the game as the nation’s leading rusher with 161 yards per game, bruised his sternum in the third quarter.

He underwent X-rays in the locker room and results were not yet known.

Brown’s last carry, a one-yard gain, put him at 127 yards on 25 carries. He has 1,744 yards this season.

Billups’ runback falls short of goal

With Iowa State trailing 17-14 early in the third quarter, Brown fumbled for Colorado and the ball squirted out underneath several falling players. JaMaine Billups was in the right place at the right time.

“I couldn’t really believe it,” Billups said. “I didn’t think it would come out like that.”

Billups, a former running back, grabbed the ball before others realized where it was and rumbled 39 yards to the Colorado 9-yard line before being caught by Derek McCoy.

“I picked it up and started running as fast as I could,” Billups said.

“I kind of slowed down a little bit [near the end] and couldn’t take it the whole way, but that’s how it goes.”

— Jeff Raasch