Previously undefeated Colorado dominated by USC, 31-20

Colorado’s chance to prove itself did not go well.

The Buffs entered Saturday night game’s at USC with a 5-0 record, but the five teams they beat had a combined 6-21 record and many were skeptical that CU could be a legitimate contender.

The skeptics were right. USC completely controlled play and went on to win comfortably, 31-20.

After a scoreless first quarter that included two interceptions from USC freshman JT Daniels, Colorado took a 7-0 lead on a 49-yard run from wideout Laviska Shenault from a wildcat formation. From there, however, it was all USC.

The Trojans scored on three of their next four drives. First, Daniels found Tyler Vaughns for a 27-yard touchdown to tie it. Later in the second quarter, Daniels connected on a deep ball with Michael Pittman, who adjusted to an underthrown pass and took it 65 yards to the house.

And on the last drive of the first half, Daniels threw another touchdown pass to Pittman. This one was a nine-yard score on a slant pattern to increase the lead to 21-7 at the break.

The Trojans’ offense didn’t get much done in the second half, but it didn’t need to. The defense dominated the Buffs and put the nail in the coffin when CU quarterback Steven Montez was intercepted by Ajene Harris, who returned it six yards for a score.

That proved to be to far be far too large of a deficit for Colorado, who did add two late touchdowns, to overcome.

What does this mean for Colorado?

Despite its formerly undefeated record, Colorado was never really perceived as a College Football Playoff contender. But CU certainly had positioned itself well early in the Pac-12 standings.

At 5-1 overall and 2-1 in league play, that’s still the case. But Saturday night’s loss is a setback in the South Division standings.

Another difficult road trip is around the corner, too. Next week, the Buffs will head out to Seattle to face Washington, a team ranked No. 7 before an overtime loss to Oregon.

What does this mean for USC?

USC, winners of three games in a row, is now 4-2 overall with a 3-1 mark in Pac-12 play. The Trojans have sole possession of first place in the South heading into a road game vs. divisional foe Utah next Saturday night.

The Utes look much-improved having dominated Stanford and Arizona in their last two games. The winner of next weekend’s game would likely have a leg up in the divisional race.

USC is looking for its second Pac-12 title in a row. Utah is the only Pac-12 South member to never win a division crown.

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