On Colorado's opening play of the third quarter, the Buffaloes increased their 14-10 lead by seven thanks to a screen pass from Sam Noyer to Brenden Rice, the latter of whom took it 61 yards to the house.
But CU's celebration was short-lived. From there, Utah scored 28 unanswered points, cruising to a 38-21 victory at Folsom Field, while the Buffs' day was blackened further by the mid-game injury to Nate Landman which will keep him out the rest of the year.
For the 4-1 Buffs, a shot at a Pac-12 Championship berth was dashed with the loss, popping the balloon on their perfect season in the process.
Colorado needed to win against Utah and then hope UCLA would manage to defeat No. 15 Southern California. With the Pac-12's tie-breaking rules imposed in this COVID-shortened season, were the Buffs and Trojans both to win or lose, the Trojans would still win the Pac-12 South.
That would be due to USC having a 5-0 record in league games with CU, had it won against Utah, being 4-0, with the Buffs' fifth win of the year coming from San Diego State, a game that was scheduled after COVID concerns within USC's locker room forced a cancellation of the original Nov. 28 meeting between the two teams.
At any rate, the loss — and the manner in which CU lost, blowing an 11-point second half lead — was deflating.
"We're all disappointed," head coach Karl Dorrell said. 'We had an opportunity and we didn't take advantage of it. We're going to learn from this ad continue to build this program."
Colorado was on its heels early on in the game, as Utah marched 60 yards downfield in six plays and scored a touchdown on the first possession of the game, taking an early lead.
But from there, the Buffalo defense settled in nicely, forcing punts on five of Utah's next six offensive possessions, with the lone Utes drive that wasn't a punt ending on a Mekhi Blackmon interception.
After Utah's early touchdown, the Buffs tied the game at seven when Noyer connected with Maurice Bell for a 21-yard touchdown, capping a 11-play, 90-yard drive that began late in the first quarter.
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