Colorado fell to No. 14 Utah, 63-21, Saturday at Folsom Field, marking the end of a season that the best thing one could say about it is that it’s over.

For the fourth time this month, the Buffs were overwhelmed in virtually every facet of the game by one of the Pac-12’s best teams, a program at a level that Colorado hopes it can reach under whatever head coach the university ultimately hires.

By halftime, the Utes built up a 42-0 lead, with three of those six touchdowns coming in the final five minutes of the period. With freshman Maddox Kopp at quarterback in place of an injured J.T. Shrout, the Buffs’ offense languished in a way it hadn’t previously, even in this ignominious season. In the first half, Colorado was out-gained by a 379-18 margin, averaging just 0.7 yards per play. It had just one first down and never got past its own 45.

After going three-and-out on its first possession, Utah scored a touchdown on six of its next seven drives. As they built a 42-point halftime lead, the Utes averaged 9.7 yards per play. By the first play of the second half, Utah’s offense consisted mostly of backups. For the game, the Utes racked up 383 rushing yards and averaged 8.9 yards per carry.

The 63 points were the most Colorado had given up in a game since allowing 70 to then-No. 2 Oregon in an Oct. 2012 loss.

The Buffs were able to salvage something in the second half, scoring 21 points to avoid the shutout, but they finished the day having been outgained, 662-185. It marked the seventh time this season that Colorado lost by at least 30 points. In the final four games of the season — in losses to Oregon, USC, Washington and Utah — it lost by a total of 166 points.

With the most recent setback, the Buffs finish the 2022 season with a 1-11 record, marking just the sixth time in program history in which they finished with just a single victory. It is tied for their worst win percentage ever in a season, matching the 2012 team’s 1-11 record in what would be Jon Embree’s second and final season as head coach.

First quarter

1st Q, 6:35: Micah Bernard 8-yard rush (Jadon Redding PAT)

1st Q, 2:20: Ja’Quinden Jackson 10-yard rush (Redding PAT)

Second quarter

2nd Q, 12:34: Jackson 2-yard rush (Redding PAT)

2nd Q, 4:43: Cameron Rising 41-yard pass to Thomas Yassmin (Redding PAT)

2nd Q, 0:52: Rising 9-yard pass to Money Parks (Redding PAT)

2nd Q, 0:03: Rising 29-yard to Dalton Kincaid (Redding PAT)

Third quarter

3rd Q, 11:47: Alex Fontenot 1-yard rush (Cole Becker PAT)

3rd Q, 10:59: Jackson 66-yard rush (Redding PAT)

3rd Q, 5:37: Bryson Barnes 21-yard pass to Makai Cope (Redding PAT)

3rd Q, 2:59: Anthony Hankerson 23-yard rush (Becker PAT)

Fourth quarter

4th Q, 8:34: Jaylon Glover 5-yard rush (Redding PAT)

4th Q, 2:46: Maddox Kopp 1-yard pass to Frank Fillip (Becker PAT)

With a 7-0 lead and about four minutes remaining in the first quarter, Utah marched 53 yards in just four plays, highlighted by a 31-yard pass from Rising to Jaylen Dixon, and got a 10-yard touchdown run from Ja’Quinden Jackson to double its lead.

Facing off against a Colorado offense averaging just 14.9 points per game, and one that was down to its No. 3 quarterback, it was effectively a kill shot.

In a game in which his team had few feasible – and no preferable – options at quarterback, Owen McCown didn’t have to enter the contest and, because of that, he was able to preserve his redshirt and leave this season with four years of eligibility remaining.

There were times when he got burnt — most notably, when he was hurdled by Utah tight end Thomas Yassmin on what would be a 41-yard touchdown in the second quarter that will assuredly end up on the Utes’ end-of-season highlight reel — but Nikko Reed provided the Buffs with their best play on what was arguably the unit’s worst outing of the season.

On Utah’s first drive in the second half, Reed picked off a pass from Utes backup quarterback Bryson Barnes and returned it 56 yards to the Utah 11, weaving around several opposing players on his way there. Two plays later, Alex Fontenot plunged in the end zone from one yard out, giving Colorado its first points of the day.

Though it came well after the game had already been decided, with Colorado trailing by 49 late in the third quarter, Anthony Hankerson burst through a gaping hole in the offensive line for a 23-yard touchdown run to give the Buffs their second score of the game. At the time, it was Colorado’s second-longest play of the game, behind only a 24-yard pass from Kopp to Jack Hestera. Hankerson finished the day with a team-high 46 rushing yards on eight carries.

It’s the same reason why it lost 10 other games this season — this is a team obviously short on talent that was out-manned by a far superior opponent. It’s the result of poor coaching, lackluster recruiting and a destructive cycle of having five different coaches, including interims, over the past five seasons, all things that the Buffs can only hope will end with its next hire.