CBS SportsLine wire reports
Sept. 19, 1998

BOULDER, Colo. -- Mike Moschetti threw two touchdown passes to Darrin Chiaverini and Ben Kelly returned a punt 68 yards for another score as No. 15 Colorado beat Utah State 25-6 in a penalty-marred game Saturday.

The

Related Links Game summary Saturday's Top 25 roundup Forum: Is Colorado a Top 10 team?

Buffaloes (3-0) overcame an ineffective running game and eight sacks of Moschetti, who was playing with torn cartilage in his rib cage.

Utah State (0-3) had 15 penalties for 118 yards and finished with just 141 total yards. The bulk of those yards came on the Aggies' only two sustained drives of the game, one of which ended on cornerback Kelly's end zone interception.

COLORADO, WHICH WAS PENALIZED 11 times for 94 yards, scored two touchdowns just 38 seconds apart in the first quarter to take a 13-3 lead. Utah State was flagged nine times for 78 yards in that quarter alone.

Six minutes into the game, Moschetti was sacked and linebacker Tony D'Amato's hit forced a fumble, which Caleb Smith recovered at the Colorado 13-yard line. Four plays later, Brad Bohn kicked a 24-yard field goal.

Colorado countered with a 78-yard, 11-play scoring drive that included two 15-yard penalties against the Aggies for face-mask and roughing-the-passer violations. Moschetti's 24-yard pass to tight end Tom Ashworth on third-and-7 kept the drive alive. Chiaverini took a pass in the left flat and ran over two defenders for a 7-yard scoring play with 3:28 left in the opening quarter.

Moments later, Kelly made it 13-3. The Aggies were penalized for intentional grounding, illegal substitution and holding on three straight plays, forcing them back inside their own 5-yard line. Quarterback Riley Jensen, in the shotgun formation, quick-kicked 64 yards, but Kelly -- sprung by a block from Rashidi Barnes -- returned it 68 yards.

TWO MORE PENALTIES SET THE AGGIES back on their 2-yard line. After another quick kick from Jensen, Colorado converted on Jeremy Aldrich's 44-yard field goal for a 16-3 lead early in the second quarter. It was Aldrich's ninth straight field goal, setting a school record.

After Aldrich missed a 42-yard field goal later in the quarter, Utah State mounted its first drive of the game. The Aggies marched 64 yards -- including Jensen's 14-yard pass to London McBride -- and Bohn kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired in the half.

Utah State committed three turnovers in the third period, and Colorado converted on the first -- running back John Roberts' fumble at the Utah State 36. Moschetti passed 32 yards to Javon Green and three plays later hit Chiaverini on a 2-yard scoring pass for a 23-6 lead.

JENSEN, WHO WAS SACKED FIVE TIMES, passed 23 yards to Robert Scott and 19 yards to Ricky Brumfield as Utah State reached the Colorado 8. But a holding penalty set the Aggies back, and Kelly picked off Jensen's third-down pass at the goal line.

Colorado tacked on a safety in the final quarter on a Utah State punt. Center Shawn Foster's snap was high and sailed over the head of punter Jerry Arguello through the end zone.