Colorado
USC
Buffs Come Up Just Short In Upset Bid As USC Escapes With Win
October 25, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Mel Tucker's Colorado Buffaloes bounced back in a big way Friday night, but came up just short in their upset bid as USC escaped with a 35-31 win.
The Buffs led for much of the game under the Folsom Field lights, but the Trojans overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to collect their 14th straight win over Colorado.
CU's fourth straight loss dropped the Buffs to 3-5 overall and 1-4 in Pac-12 play while the Trojans improved to 5-3, 4-1.
After falling behind early, 7-0, the Buffs rallied to take a 17-7 lead in the second quarter and still led 17-14 at the half. Colorado then scored two touchdowns in the first six minutes of the second half, sandwiched around a USC score, for a 31-21 lead.
But the Buffs couldn't find the end zone again and the Trojans managed two more touchdowns, the last coming with 2:12 left in the game, to collect the win.
Colorado quarterback Steven Montez accounted for all four CU touchdowns. The Buffs senior was 27-for-43 for 324 yards and three touchdowns passing, and he also ran seven times for 45 yards and a score. CU's Laviska Shenault Jr. caught nine passes for 172 yards and one score, Tony Brown had five catches for 67 yards and K.D. Nixon had three receptions for 30 yards and two touchdowns. Colorado also had 196 yards rushing and outgained the Trojans 520-518.
USC's Kedon Slovis was 30-for-44 for 406 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.
"That was a tough one for us," Tucker said. "Give USC credit. They made more plays than we made. They have a good football team, good players and good coaches. … I told the players and I think they can see what type of team we can have. The goal from here on out is to find ways to get the team to perform the way we know they can perform."
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Buffs held the lead for nearly 43 minutes, including much of the first half and the entire third quarter. CU's offense, which had struggled in recent weeks, found its groove and the defense came up with some big plays and big stops against a talented USC offense.
Colorado took at 17-14 lead into the locker room at halftime, then needed just two plays to boost the margin to 10 after intermission. After a 4-yard Montez pass to Nixon, the CU quarterback connected with Shenault for a 71-yard touchdown to give CU a 24-14 edge just 45 seconds into the half.
"They were playing a lot of man coverage on (Shenault) and anybody that knows anything about Laviska is man coverage is not for him because he will tear you apart," Montez said.
The Trojans, however, answered with a 75-yard scoring drive, needing just two minutes to close the gap back to 24-21 on a 21-yard Kedon Slovis pass to Tyler Vaughns.
But the Buffs responded again, driving 66 yards for a touchdown on their next possession. Shenault kept the drive alive with a 17-yard run on fourth down, and one play later, Montez scampered in from 17 yards out to give CU a 31-21 lead with 9:16 still to go in the third quarter.
Colorado then held USC on the ensuing possession, forcing a 40-yard field goal try that went wide left. The Buffs once again drove into USC territory, but the drive stalled and Montez suffered an injury on an incomplete pass on third down. That sent the CU quarterback to the locker room for a concussion test.
"I remember being tackled and going down," Montez said. "I went in (to the locker room), got checked out and passed the concussion protocol test. They were saying, 'You're good,' and I had to get back out there. It was crunch time."
USC punted on its next possession, and with Montez still in the locker room, the Buffs brought in Blake Stenstrom at quarterback. The redshirt freshman ran for 27 yards on the last play of the third quarter and Montez then returned at the quarter break.
But the offense couldn't rediscover the consistency it had produced earlier and the Buffs were forced to punt.
The Trojans then needed just five plays to go 66 yards for a touchdown, with Slovis throwing for 44 yards to Michael Pittman for the score to cut Colorado's lead to 31-28 with 11:25 left in the game.
Then, after two more Colorado punts, the Trojans finally took the lead, driving 89 yards in 12 plays for the score. USC converted two third downs on the drive before getting a 37-yard scoring pass from Slovis to Pittman for the score and a 35-31 lead. CU forced a fumble and nearly came up with an interception on the drive, but both times the ball bounced USC's way.
Colorado took possession after the ensuing kickoff at its own 25 with 2:15 left on the clock. The Buffs managed a quick first down on a pass to Brown for 12 yards, but the drive then stalled after a 6-yard pass, two incompletions and a 3-yard pass on fourth-and-4.
USC was then able to run the clock out for the win.
"We had our opportunities on both sides of the ball," Tucker said. "We felt like we were going to be able to get to the quarterback and get the ball on the ground and we did. We just didn't have enough guys there to get on it."
For much of the first 30 minutes, the Buffs controlled the tempo. After falling behind early — USC took the opening kick and went 75 yards for a score in 59 seconds — Colorado settled down and took control.
CU took the ensuing kickoff and drove 70 yards before settling for a 22-yard James Stefanou field goal as the Buffs once again ran into troubles in the red zone.
But those troubles soon disappeared. CU freshman cornerback K.J. Trujillo recorded his first career interception on USC's next possession and the Buffs proceeded to go 77 yards in 12 plays for a touchdown. Montez had runs of 15 and 13 yards on the drive, along with pass completions of 12 and 18 yards to Tony Brown.
Then, even after a pair of false start penalties inside the 10-yard line, the Buffs finally found the end zone. Montez connected with K.D. Nixon, who ran a route across the middle and found himself wide open on the left side for a 7-yard score and 10-7 Colorado lead.
Colorado's defense again answered the challenge with two more stops. Trujillo had a sack on third down on the first possession, then a pass breakup on the second on third down.
That set the stage for a 65-yard Colorado scoring drive. Montez threw a 33-yard completion to Laviska Shenault Jr, then again connected with Nixon on virtually the same play they ran for their first score to produce another 7-yard touchdown pass. Stefanou's PAT gave CU a 17-7 lead with 5:52 to go in the second quarter.
The Trojans, though, finally answered, going 75 yards in nine plays for a touchdown, aided by a 15-yard roughing the passer penalty on the Buffs. Colorado also just missed an interception and a fumble recovery on the drive before USC scored on a 3-yard Kedon Slovis pass to Kenon Christon to pull USC to within 17-14 at halftime.
TURNING POINT: Colorado led 31-21 late in the third quarter when Montez was hit on the sideline after releasing the ball. The defender took several steps before hitting CU's quarterback, but no penalty was called. While Montez did return in the fourth quarter, the offense was not the same and USC rallied for the win.
KEY STATISTICS: The Trojans had 153 yards offense in the fourth quarter … Colorado forced two USC fumbles but could not recover either one. CU did have one interception, but let another possible pick drop to the ground … The Buffs did not commit a turnover.Â
WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs should get a boost of confidence from their overall solid play, but they have to transform that into a win in a hurry if they want to keep bowl hopes alive.
NEXT UP: The Buffs travel to Los Angeles next Saturday for a 7 p.m. (MT) game with UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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