Colorado-USC Notes - University of Colorado Athletics

Wyoming

Sep 20 (Sat)

8:15 p.m.

Colorado Postgame Notes (pdf)

ATTENDANCE NOTES With today’s attendance of 48,913, the Buffs have drawn 203,593 for four games; the last time CU exceeded 200,000 for its first four home games was in 2011 (203,666), CU’s first year in the Pac-12. (CU’s final season ticket count for the year was 20,362, while students purchased the full allotment of 12, 254 sport passes).

QUICKLY Tonight’s game is the only one in the FBS; the last time CU played the lone game in the division was also against USC (Friday, Nov. 13, 2014); previous to that was against Alabama in the Independence Bowl (Sunday, Dec. 30, 2007) … There 13 are scouts from 10 NFL teams here tonight; with Dallas and Indianapolis present, 30 of the 32 teams have now scouted the Buffaloes in 2019 (only Cincinnati and the L.A. Rams haven’t attended games) … The first quarter took 33 minutes to play (and that was with 7:40 of commercials) … Colorado outgained the opponent in the first quarter for just the second time this season (135-126); also did versus Arizona State … The Buffs have dropped four in a row; three of the five losses this season have come by a combined 16 points.
- Ralphie. She did not run tonight because she wasn’t of the proper temperament, and her safety and that of her handlers is top priority. She has led the team out on Folsom 296 times since 1967; this was one of the few times she didn’t run.
- Uniforms/Series/Fridays. CU is now 23-29-1 when wearing all black uniforms (0-7 when donning black helmets with the look); CU is now 3-18 with the black headgear … USC now leads the series 14-0 (7-0 in Boulder) … All-time, CU is now 19-27 on Fridays (5-9 in Boulder, 10-13 in Colorado, 9-10 at night and 0-4 and against USC) ... The last time CU didn’t wear its official logo on its helmet was the 2009 Wyoming game (throwback units with the 50s/60s horns).
- CU set a school record with no fumbles for a fourth straight game (old: three on three occasions). CU had 91 touches tonight without a fumble, extending the streak to 418; the tailbacks now have 0 in 260 touches this season (rushes and receptions).
- First Half Woes (No More?): in the eight previous games against USC since the Buffs joined the Pac-12, the Trojans had outscored CU 180-47 in the first half and by 77-27 in the four games in Boulder. (USC owns a slight 132-118 edge in the second half).
Colorado outscored USC 17-14 tonight, just the second halftime lead in the nine Pac-12 games (17-6 in 2015).
- This marked the fourth time CU had a lead versus USC since the Buffs joined the Pac-12 in 2011: CU led 7-0 in ’11, 17-3 in ’15 and 7-0 last year. CU led for 42:40 tonight after leading for just 34:02 in the previous eight games.
- Colorado gained 219 yards in the third quarter, its second most in a quarter this year and third 200 quarter (258 vs. Nebraska in the 4th, 211 in the second versus Arizona State).
- The Buffaloes scored their most points ever against USC (31; old: 29 in 2013), had their most total offense (520; old, 486 in 2017), and their most rushing yards (196; old, 172 in 2014).

INDIVIDUAL LINER NOTES

WR K.D. Nixon (3-30, 2 TD, 1 FDE receiving)
—He became the 31st Buffalo to have 1,000 receiving yards in a career (he came into the game needing seven), and did it with his second TD of the season on a 3rd-&-goal from the SC7 five seconds into the second quarter. He finished the game with 1,023 career yards (31st; Jay MacIntyre holds the 30th spot with 1,035).

WR Laviska Shenault (9-172, 1 TD, 5 FDE receiving; 1-17, 1 FDE rushing; 189 all-purpose yards)
—He is now tied for 12th in career receptions at CU (127; tied with Charles E. Johnson); he moved into 11th in receiving yards (1,693), passing two former teammates, Bryce Bobo (1,638) and Devin Ross (1,621);
—He now has 2,020 all-purpose yards, the 48th player at Colorado to attain the 2,000-yard plateau (he is 47th); and with 1,911 yards from scrimmage, he is poised to become the 33rd player to reach 2,000 in that category;
—He had 10 touches and six first downs tonight, giving him 29 first downs for the season (and 93 on 159 touches in his career).
—This was his seventh —100-yard receiving game, tied for the sixth-most at Colorado (Johnson leads with 12);
—He became the 52nd player in CU history to score 100 career points (102; tied for 48th with four others);
--His 17 career touchdowns have covered 503 yards (29.6 per).

CB K.J. Trujillo (6,0—6 TT, 1 QBS, 1 INT, 2 PBU, 1 QBH)
—The true freshman corner had his first career interception as well as quarterback sack, a career-high in solo stops (subject to coaches review) and also had two third down stops.

QB Steven Montez (43-27-0, 324, 3 TD, 149.1 QBR passing; 7-45 rushing; 369 yards total offense).
—He is 15-20 as CU’s starting quarterback; his 35 starts tied Darian Hagan for second-most at Colorado and trail his predecessor, Sefo Liufau (40); his 33 consecutive regular season starts are a record, as he snapped a tie with Gale Weidner (31, 1959-61) tonight;
—He now has 8,888 passing yards, trailing only Sefo Liufau (9,568, 2013-16); with 745 completions, he is second only to Liufau’s 870;
—He remains third at CU with 59career TD passes, but the record is within sight, as he trails only Liufau and Cody Hawkins who both had 60;
—He now has 9,775 yards of total offense (Liufau: 10,509);
—This was his top rushing game of the season; taking out the sack, he had 57 true rushing yards on six carries: that gives him true rushing yards for his career, as he passed Liufau (1,382) into sixth for true rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,422.

TB Jaren Mangham (7-38 rushing, 2-19 receiving; 0 TD)
—He now has 319 yards rushing on the season (74 carries, 4.3 average); he is the 15th freshman at Colorado to gain 300 or more yards in a season (14th on the list) and is the 10th true freshman to do so.

P Alex Kinney (6-42.3, 60 long, 5 In20)
—His five kicks inside-the-20 give him 16 for the season and 89 for his career; he trails only Darragh O’Neill (2011-14) who had 95. Four of the five boots were inside-the-15 (13 of his 16 this season have landed inside-the-15).
--His average suffered a bit tonight, as two of his punts took place in USC territory and overall, the six punts were made from the CU 42 on average (and from the CU 38 for the season).

PK James Stefanou (4-4 PAT, 1-1 FG, 7 points)
—He is now within seven points of becoming the eighth player (and fourth kicker) in Colorado history to score 200 points, ending tonight with 193.