This was never going to be much of a game and after holding Colorado scoreless in the first half the Buffaloes were able to put 21 points on the board as Head Coach Kyle Whittingham started replacing his starters, including his QB, in the 2nd half to give them some much needed R&R. As reported by the Salt Lake Tribune; “The second half was a glorified scrimmage with Cam Rising on the sideline with a headset. No starter on either side of the ball saw the fourth quarter.” In spite of that, with 63 points of their own it was still a major blowout. As reported by the AP in their Recap of this game in Boulder; “The loudest roar from the Utah fans came at the end of a blowout of Colorado at Folsom Field and had nothing to do with what was happening on the field. It followed the scoreboard flashing Oregon State knocking off Oregon. A big hurdle cleared.” Utah’s win against Colorado, Oregon State’s victory over Oregon, the Huskies defeat of the Cougars and UCLA’s win over Cal all add up to Utah going back to the PAC-12 Conference Championship to face USC on Friday, December 2nd in Allegiant Stadium, Las Vegas.
Utah’s QB Cameron Rising only played in the first half but was deadly accurate completing 89% of his passes for 234 yards, 3 TD’s, and no interceptions. His backup, Sophomore Bryson Barnes, was almost as accurate connecting on 4-of-5 for another 45 yards and a TD of his own. On the ground Freshman RB Ja’Quindon Jackson was lethal rushing 10 times for 117 yards and 3 TD’s with Sophomore RB Micah Bernard and Freshman Jaylon Glover combining for 25 rushes, 153 yards and a TD each. Colorado, Freshman QB Maddox Kopp (the Buffaloes 4th starting QB this season) completed 15-of-28 for 123 yards and 1 TD while on the ground it was Freshman RB Anthony Hankerson and Senior Alex Fontenote who combined for 15 carries and 57 of Colorado’s 63 total yards of rushing in addition to a TD each. Utah had 20 more 1st downs, led significantly in Rushing, Passing, and Total Yards of Offense, and had possession of the ball almost 11 minutes longer than the Buffaloes.
Regarding Utah’s performance Kyle Whittingham was short and to the point when he said; “You have to look really hard at it to find a negative.” As reported by the AP; “The Buffaloes (1-11, 1-8) brought to a close a dreary season that saw head coach Karl Dorrell dismissed in October and interim coach Mike Sanford go 1-6 in his place. The team lost seven games by 30 or more points . . . and drop to 4-37 against AP top-25 teams since becoming members of the Pac-12 in 2011.” With No. 2 Ohio State getting beat soundly at home against No. 3 Michigan and No. 5 LSU dropping their game against Texas A&M, if USC were to beat Utah in the PAC-12 Conference Championship there’s a great chance that they will make it into the national playoff semi-finals. This year those games will be played in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl, both on New Year’s Eve.