actually working for a chunk of the first half. I'm specifically stating that our last possession prior to halftime had to result in points to have a chance to win the game. The odds of CU taking the second half kick and failing to score (they actually did fail to score, but that's irrelevant), were low. Of all the outcomes of their second half kickoff possession, I would have bet most heavily on CU touchdown, which effectively ends the game anyway.

So - there is no reasonable (winning) strategy called run out the clock and play defense.