Despite a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, the Buffs could do nothing right in the last 15 minutes to put a final nail in the coffin of Southern California, which beat Colorado 35-31 in Boulder Friday night.
The Trojans move to 14-0 all-time against CU and benefitted greatly from another penalty-filled performance by the Buffaloes (3-5, 1-4 Pac-12).
Up 31-21 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Buffaloes offensively had plateaued. Dating back to the final six minutes of the third and until the clock read all zeroes, the Buffs went on five drives — four were punts, the final a turnover on downs with less than two minutes in the game.
All in all, 25 plays yielded 75 yards in the most critical stretch of the game. When it was all said and done, failing to close on offense plus the 13 penalties for 109 yards were the clear culprits in why the Buffs couldn't get it done on Friday.
"We weren't able to finish and get that final stop we needed," head coach Mel Tucker said after the game. "When you get 13 penalties for over 100 yards, it's really hard to win...when we don't turn the ball over and get takeaways, we always have a chance to win. That was the case (tonight). We have to be more disciplined and have less penalties."
For the 48,913 fans that packed Folsom Field to watch Colorado, clad in slick all-black uniforms with equally cool helmets featuring 1940s throwback logos, within 45 seconds of the game beginning it seemed as if the Buffs were in for a long night.
That's how long it took on Southern Cal's opening drive for the Trojans to get into the endzone, as USC marched downfield in three plays going for 11, 27 and 37 yards before taking a 7-0 lead courtesy of a TD run on the latter and longest play by Amon-Ra St. Brown.
With the Buffs returning home for USC following a 45-3 loss to Oregon and 41-10 loss to WSU in weeks past, the bad start seemed far from something easy to brush off given how the team had performed recently.
Colorado got on the board on its initial drive via a 22-yard field goal from James Stefanou, but even that was an ominous tiding — scoring touchdowns after entering the redzone has been a major issue for Colorado as of late and such a good drive (13 plays, 70 yards done in just under 5 minutes) ending with a field goal from the USC 5-yard line was no doubt a lukewarm result.
Down 7-3, the Buffs stole some momentum away from the Trojans as freshman cornerback K.J. Trujillo came up big for CU, intercepting USC's Kedon Slovis at Colorado's 23-yard line, stopping in its tracks a Southern Cal drive that had been gaining steam.
Trujillo, at 6-foot-0 and 165 pounds, had a tough task for the evening in defending USC's Tyler Vaughn, who has two inches and nearly 30 pounds on him, but Trujillo played his part throughout the night, registering a pick, a sack, two PBUs and six tackles.
"He has a lot of pride," Tucker said of him. "He wants to be a good player and wants to be productive and dependable. He has continued to get better...I am really pleased with his progress so far."
Senior QB Steven Montez hit junior WR K.D. Nixon for a 7-yard TD pass on Colorado's ensuing drive, making good use of the turnover generated by Trujillo.
With a 10-7 lead, the Buffs and Trojans traded some punts before Montez found Nixon again for another 7-yard TD, capping a 8-play, 65-yard drive as the Buffs took a 17-7 lead
After USC made it 17-14 with a responsive TD, the Buffaloes got the ball back with 2:48 left before halftime, hoping for a chance to put some points on the board before receiving the ball the begin the third quarter.
The Buffs were set to go for it on 4th-and-1 from their own 45-yard line, but a false start on senior LT Arlington Hambright pushed them back five yards and prompted a punt — the first of multiple shot-to-the-foot kinds of penalties that when added up together, played a significant role in sinking Colorado.
The Buffs' offensive line accounted for six flags and 40 penalty yards during Friday's game.
To begin the third quarter, the Buffs needed just 45 seconds to score, as Montez quickly found junior wideout Laviska Shenault on a quick slant route that turned into a 71-yard TD, putting Colorado up 24-14.
Shenault set season-highs Friday with nine catches and 172 yards. The Trojans responded again via a 21-yard TD pass to Vaughns from Slovis but on the Buffs' ensuing possession, Montez made it into the endzone on a 17-yard QB keeper, once again giving the Buffs a 10-point lead, as they were up 31-21 with just over six minutes in the third quarter.
It might be fair to say things completely went downhill from there. USC missed a 40-yard field goal on its next attempt and when the Buffaloes got the ball back, they stalled at the USC 42-yard line and punted.
On the Trojans' next drive, they punted and as Colorado took possession with the fourth quarter beginning, the Buffs seemed to be poised to deliver that K.O. blow to the Trojans.
Sophomore tailback Alex Fontenot gained 18 yards on the ground, placing the Buffs at USC's 41-yard line with a fresh first down, but a holding call on grad transfer senior TE Jalen Harris negated it.
From there, the Buffs took a sack and punted on 4th and 18.
"It's tough," Montez said. "Penalties definitely kill your momentum on a drive for sure, but I definitely think that we have the potential to clean those up and be a very good offense."
Montez, after throwing zero TDs and six INTs in his last two games, tossed three vs. SUC and ran in another. He thew for 324 yards on 27-of-43 passing.
The Trojans scored a TD on their next drive, making the score 31-28, as Colorado's defense began to falter under the pressure while the offense struggled to do anything to alleviate the pressure.
After USC's TD, Colorado's defense forced another punt only to see the offense gain -4 yards, go three-and-out and punt the ball right back to the Trojans, who proceeded to embark on a game-winning TD drive.
Demoralized and all but defeated, Colorado had one final possession to win the game, getting the ball back with 2:15 to play. The Buffs turned the ball over on downs, stalling out at their own 43-yard line and that was pretty much that.
Although certainly difficult to make any sort of moral victory out of a loss that Colorado in large part brought upon itself, an offense that had been totally inept in recent weeks, mustering just 13 points over the span of two games, got some of its groove back.
And a defense commonly thought to be lacking in talent won the turnover battle and largely kept a very talented offense at bay for the majority of the game.
"There was never a doubt in our minds coming into this game that we could win," Tucker said. "Even all the way to the end we felt like we could make a play. We are going to have to build on the positives of this game and then we are going to eliminate the negatives."
Colorado will head to Los Angeles next weekend for a showdown with UCLA at 7 p.m. MST on Saturday, Nov. 2.
