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Old 12-31-2007, 12:22 AM   #1
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Post Alabama holds off Colorado 30-24, in 2007 PetroSun I-Bowl

Alabama holds off Colorado 30-24, in 2007 PetroSun I-Bowl
Buffs ‘come-from-behind’ effort cuts ‘Bama lead to 27-14 at the Half


By: Tom Pace, Executive Editor, SBLive!
December 30th, 2007

47,043 rabid I-Bowl fans watched a real ‘barn-burner’ in the final quarter of the 2007 Petrosun Independence Bowl, in Shreveport, Louisiana, Sunday night.
The only bowl game on ESPN this Sunday night, started with Alabama running, and passing, rough-shod over Colorado.

Colorado spotted ‘Bama 27 points, before the Buffs found their stride, posting 14 points on two Cody Hawkins passes in the final 2 minutes of the first half.
The halftime score: Alabama 27-Colorado 14.

With a sea of Crimson on the west side of the stands, Tide-faithful outnumbered the Buffs by about 4-to-1. It’s estimated ‘Bama brought some 12,000-plus to Shreveport, while some 3,000 Colorado fans made the 1,500 mile trek to the Independence Bowl.

“We made some mistakes in the game, and let them (Colorado) come back,” said ‘Bama head coach Nick Saban, “We took the challenge, and actually competed and showed some great competitive character in the second half, to do the things we needed to do to win the game,” he concluded.

Colorado’s second-year head coach Dan Hawkins summed it up this way:
“You would have liked to win your last game and go 7-6, but I think this loss gives our guys a little juice going into the off-season workouts.”

When the second half began, the Buffs seems to play inspired. Redshirt freshman QB, Cody Hawkins found his groove, and spread his passes around.
Hawkins finished 24-40 with 2 int’s for 322 passing yards. Colorado rushed for 110 yards, compared t0 158 by Alabama.

Alabama’s Junior QB, John Parker Wilson, was voted Offensive MVP for the game. His final stats: 19-32 with 1 int. for 256 yards. It was quite an aerial show.

After Colorado scored a Lee Tiffin FG with 4:36 to play in the game…it seemed,
maybe, just maybe, the Buffs could pull this one out. And, sure enough, with 3:51 to go, Cody Hawkins finds Tyson Devree with a 14 yard TD-strike…that made the score: Alabama 30-Colorado 24.

But, alas, it was not meant to be- with 1.5 seconds to play, Colorado completed their pass, did the old “hook-and-ladder”, got tackled by ‘Bama as time expired.

Saban records his first bowl victory for Alabama: 30-24 over Colorado.

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