At halftime, leading UCLA, 20-10, the Buffaloes appeared to be in pretty good shape to keep their 2021 bowl hopes alive.

After all, by the halfway point of Saturday evening’s game in Pasadena, the Buffs’ 20 points represented a season-high that the offense had managed in the first half this season.

But as the second half got underway, very quickly momentum began to shift considerably into UCLA’s camp.

On both offense and defense, the Buffaloes suffered breakdowns that allowed a competitive game to turn into a complete blowout, with the Bruins going on to score 34 unanswered points from the beginning of the third quarter.

Offensively, CU managed just 117 yards in the final 30 minutes of play after putting up a respectable 242 yards in the first half.

Quarterback Brendon Lewis was efficient in the first half, completing numerous short-yardage passes as well as a deep shot to Daniel Arias in the second quarter that went for 42 yards.

With 57 seconds left before halftime, the Buffs held a 20-7 lead.

Colorado wound up allowing a field goal to UCLA as the second quarter ended, which turned out to be the first of five consecutive scoring drives the Bruins mounted leading well into the fourth quarter.

It also marked the first if many drives that the Bruins would move the ball, on the ground and through the air, with impunity.

“We played a decent first half,” Karl Dorrell said after the game. “I thought, offensively, there were definitely some positive signs. We got some run game established. We hit a few things in the passing game, but it was good to churn out some points and get some drives going.”

“We knew that, coming into halftime, it would still be a tremendous – we tried to approach it as a 0-0 game and to come out with a blank slate to win the second half. That’s where we didn’t get the job executed the way that we thought we would.”

Given the Buffs’ offensive performances over the last few weeks, and coming off of a dramatic, double-overtime win over Oregon State, Saturday’s loss at UCLA serves as quite the wet blanket as far as Colorado having anything left to play for in 2021 is concerned.

At 3-7 (2-5 Pac-12), the Buffaloes won’t be playing in any postseason bowls in the first full season under Dorrell.

As far as the offense is concerned, Saturday featured a regression from an impressive two-game stretch that had inspired hope regarding that unit potentially turning a corner under Lewis.

On defense, CU’s issues proved to be far larger than Nate Landman’s continued absence; Landman being out for the third straight game can’t be used as an all-encompassing excuse, given the multiple chunky plays through the air that Colorado allowed to Dorian Thompson-Robinson and his corps of wide receivers.

All in all, Saturday's loss featured a collapse by the Buffs matched only by the overtime loss CU suffered at the hands of Oregon State in 2018 after leading, 34-3 early in the second half.

“The only other game that I remember being like that was the Oregon State game a few years back," junior tight end Brady Russell said. "It was really unexpected, so that’s what’s most frustrating about it. I don’t think they elevated their game that much; I felt like we brought our level down after playing so well. It wasn’t that guys weren’t fighting or anything. It was weird.”

As the fourth quarter got underway, the Buffs were trailing, 30-20, and in desperate need of some traction on offense.

On 4th and 1 at his own 34-yard line, Dorrell at first opted to send the punt unit onto the field, but after calling timeout and reconsidering, decided to go for it.

Russell, lining up in the backfield as a fullback, was given a quick handoff from Lewis but got stuffed behind the line of scrimmage.

Working with a shortened field, UCLA promptly embarked on a fourth straight touchdown drive, taking a 37-20 lead.

"We just lost our rhythm from that point forward," Dorrell said. "It was really challenging to stop their offense both from a pass perspective and their run game, which was starting to churn out some yards. And then, offensively, we weren’t able to capitalize on a couple things that we did engineer in the second half."

"...It was really, in our opinion, our fault as a team. We didn’t execute. We didn’t have the right play calls. It was one of those things where we could have been much better and it didn’t end up that way."

As if that wasn't emphatic enough of a backbreaker for the Buffaloes, after a fast 3-and-out on their ensuing offensive possession, UCLA's Kyle Phillips returned a Josh Watts punt 82 yards to the house to put the Bruins up, 44-20, in what would be the last points scored by either team in the game.

A home game next Saturday against UW and then the season finale at Utah is all that remains for CU looking down the barrel.

For Russell and Colorado's players, now denied a shot at a bowl game, staying focused and attempting to pull out any more additional wins is all that remains to be done.

“It’s all about having a neutral mindset," Russell said. "I don’t care if we are winning or losing, I have been a steady guy all year. When we have the highest of highs, I don’t want to be acting different than when we are all the way down here."

"We have to come to work every day. We have some seasons to ruin if we want to — I know Washington's having a poor season — but Utah, we can affect them in a big way. That’s motivation, for sure, and just pride also — that's big, going out with some dignity."