Sloppy Colorado holds off equally bad Stanford 10-5

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) -- Phillip Lindsay rushed for 131 yards despite being held out most of the second half and Colorado overcame a sloppy day offensively to beat Stanford 10-5 on Saturday to become bowl eligible for the first time in a decade.

Chris Graham kicked a 23-yard field goal with 2:13 remaining after being benched following two earlier misses, propelling the Buffaloes to their first win over the Cardinal since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.

Colorado (6-2, 4-1) went into the day tied with Utah for first place in the South division and inched one step closer toward a possible berth in the conference title game despite an off day by the offense.

The Buffaloes missed three field goals and had a touchdown called back by a pass interference penalty but held the Cardinal to three points while winning for the fourth time in five games. Quarterback Sefo Liufau passed for 135 yards with one touchdown despite being sacked six times.

Stanford (4-3, 2-3) failed to score a touchdown for the first time this season despite getting running back Christian McCaffrey back in the lineup.

The Buffaloes intercepted Stanford quarterback Ryan Burns three times, twice on consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter to stall the Cardinal's comeback hopes.

THE TAKEAWAY

COLORADO: It wasn't pretty any stretch of the imagination but coach Mike MacIntyre will take the Buffaloes first win against the Cardinal since 1990. Colorado continues to control its own destiny and has a Nov. 26 showdown with Utah looming that could decide which team goes to the Pac-12 title game.

STANFORD: The Cardinal have lost three of four and are in danger of missing out on the postseason. Losing to a beefed-up Colorado team shouldn't hurt too much but this was a game Stanford needed to get back on track. Instead, it's another loss and another week of pondering what went wrong for coach David Shaw and his staff.

UP NEXT

COLORADO: The Buffaloes host UCLA on Nov. 3 and have put up nearly 1,100 yards of offense combined in the last two meetings with the Bruins but lost both times.

STANFORD: The Cardinal play at Arizona next Saturday and have won four straight and nine of the last 11 games against the Wildcats. Arizona was idle this week and has lost four consecutive games going in while being outscored 164-89.