After only scoring on two of nine drives to begin the game, the Buffs found some momentum to pull themselves out of a 27-point hole Saturday.
A no-quit mentality came over Colorado at the end of the third and rolled into the fourth after being down 48-21. Ultimately, the Buffs (3-2, 0-2 Pac-12) ran out of time to come out on the losing end of a 48-41 game at Folsom Field.
Michael Harrison had his biggest play of the day with a 21-yard touchdown helping spark the comeback attempt for CU. Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig came up big on the next drive forcing Caleb Williams’ first interception of the season, and right after that the Buffs’ offense responded by turning to a pass catcher who hadn’t seen the offense all season — Omarion Miller.
Shedeur Sanders threw a 9-yard dart to the freshman for a touchdown to cut the Buffs’ deficit to 48-34 with 11:55 in the fourth. Prior to that he had two large gains, one for 44 yards and one for 65 yards. Later in the fourth he also broke free from a Trojans defender and still gained 28 yards.
Sanders stayed with him for the rest of the game and Miller finished the day with a game-high 7 catches for 196 yards and 1 touchdown on nine targets.
Addressing the slow starts and pass protection was a priority going into this game, and the Buffs did a better job in both of those areas. The first USC sack of the day came during the third quarter. Even though the offense was moving the ball a bit better, Shedeur Sanders and the Buffs couldn’t find the end zone until the beginning of the second quarter. The offensive electricity felt better than the game against Oregon, but not the same as it was during their 3-0 stretch.
The Buffs defense did struggle during USC’s drives, but it came up with two big stops, one of the two, Omarion Cooper came up with a huge sack for a loss of 8 yards.
During the Buffs’ scoring drought in the first half, Caleb Williams and the Trojans (5-0, 3-0) flew around the field and ended with a nice 34-point cushion going into the third quarter.
Sanders tapped into his legs in the first half to give the Buffs a 25-yard touchdown before the end of the half. He finished 16 for 24 with 109 yards and one passing touchdown to go with 56 rushing and one rushing TD in the first 30 minutes.
Caleb Williams had his way with the Buffs’ defense as he recorded 260 yards passing and 4 touchdowns on 17 completions in the first half. He ended the game with 403 yards passing and 6 touchdowns.
Scoring Summary
Q1
USC: MarShawn Lloyd Lloyd 27-yard rush (PAT KICK by Denis Lynch GOOD) 7-0
USC: Tajh Washington 71-yard reception (PAT KICK by Denis Lynch GOOD) 14-0
Q2
USC: Dorian Singer 8-yard reception (PAT KICK by Denis Lynch GOOD) 21-0
CU: Jimmy Horn Jr. 30-yard reception (PAT KICK by Alejandro Mata GOOD) 21-7
USC: Mario Williams 24-yard reception thrown (PAT KICK by Denis Lynch FAILED) 27-7
USC: Brenden Rice 26-yard reception thrown (PAT KICK by Denis Lynch GOOD) 34-7
CU: Shedeur Sanders 25-yard rush (PAT KICK by Alejandro Mata GOOD) 34-14
Q3
USC: Brenden Rice 6-yard reception (PAT KICK by D.Lynch GOOD) 41-14
CU: Anthony Hankerson 2-yard rush (PAT KICK by Alejandro Mata GOOD) 41-21
USC: Jude Wolfe 3-yard reception (PAT KICK by Denis Lynch GOOD) 48-21
CU: Michael Harrison Harrison 21-yard reception (PAT PASS to Omarion Miller FAILED) 48-27
Q4
CU: Omarion Miller 9-yard reception (PAT KICK by Alejandro Mata GOOD) 48-34
CU: Jimmy Horn Jr. 16-yard reception (PAT KICK by Alejandro Mata GOOD) 48-41
Nicolette Edwards, CUSportsReport.com
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