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October 25th – Salt Lake City Utah 53, Colorado 7
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On the 39th anniversary of one of the greatest victories in Colorado history, the Buffs absorbed their greatest loss in the 72-game history of its rivalry with Utah, being routed by the Utes, 53-7. Instead of reminding CU fans of the 20-10 upset over No. 3 Nebraska in 1986, the Buffs reminded their fans of what they endured during the debacle of the 2022 season, when CU was out-scored by an average score of 44-15.
Utah freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin had a career day in his first start, with 20 carries for 151 yards and a touchdown, while completing 10-of-22 passes for 140 yards and two more scores. Colorado, meanwhile, generated a grand total of 140 yards of total offense as a team, including 38 yards rushing on 38 attempts.
“This is probably the worst beating I’ve ever had except when my momma whooped me as a kid,” Coach Prime said of his team, which fell behind 43-0 by halftime, with a minus-18 yards of total offense.
The loss was the worst for CU in the series, and was the 12th loss in 15 games between the two schools since Colorado and Utah resumed playing annually as new members of the Pac-12 in 2011.
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Game Story … The game opened pretty much as every rout does, with an early score. After a 12-yard run to open the game, Utah scored on a 63-yard run by freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin, making his first career start. Utah 7, Colorado 0 … 37 seconds into the game.
After fumbling the snap on CU’s first play, Buff quarterback Kaidon Salter threw two incompletions for a quick three-and-out. First half drive tally: three plays, minus-six yards.
The Buff defense got its act together, briefly, forcing a three-and-out of their own. After a punt, CU took over in good field position, at their own 39 to start the drive. Kam Mikell gained six yards on a direct snap on the first play, with a three-yard completion from Kaidon Salter to Quentin Gibson giving the Buffs their first first down of the game two plays later. Most o the yardage was surrendered back on a sack of Salter on third-and-seven, forcing another punt. First half drive tally: nine plays, minus-four yards.
Utah’s next drive covered 40 yards in 11 plays, with the Utes settling for a 53-yard field goal by kicker Dillon Curtis. Utah 10, Colorado 0, with just under five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Down two scores, but still in the game, the Buff offense … went three-and-out, gaining one yard. First half drive tally: 12 plays, minus-three yards.
Moving in for the kill, the Utes needed only one play to score again. Running back Wayshawn Parker, who had 145 yards rushing on the night, scored on a 58 yard run. Utah 17, Colorado 0, after the 13 second drive.
Three consecutive Kaidon Salter runs netted 11 yards and a first down for the Buffs on their next possession, but on the next play, Salter was intercepted by Utah safety Tao Johnson. First half drive tally: 16 plays, 8 yards.
The Buff defense managed to force a punt on Utah’s ensuing drive, with the Buffs taking over at their ten yard line as the first quarter mercifully came to an end.
Except the second quarter would be even worse.
After two incompletions, the Buffs took a safety on an intentional grounding penalty on quarterback Kaidon Salter in the end zone. Utah 19, Colorado 0. First half drive tally: 19 plays, minus-two yards.
Taking over at their 28 after CU’s free kick, the Utes needed only four plays to cover the next 72 yards. A 22-yard touchdown pass from Byrd Ficklin to wide receiver JJ Buchanan made the new score 26-0 early in the second quarter.
A 13-yard completion from Salter to wide receiver Sincere Brown was the highlight of CU’s sixth drive of the first half, but five other plays totaled a loss of a yard, with the Buffs punting the ball away again after less than two minutes of possession. First half drive tally: 24 plays, 10 yards.
The game already well in hand, the Utes methodically drove down the field on their next possession. It took ten plays to cover 60 yards, but the Utah offense was not to be denied. A two-yard touchdown run by NaQuari Rogers finished off the drive of over seven minutes. Utah 33, Colorado 0.
Kaidon Salter was sacked for a loss of 18 yards on third-and-ten on CU’s next possession. Adding insult to much injury, CU’s usually reliable punter, Damon Greaves, shanked an 18-yard punt, giving the ball back to Utah at the Buff 21-yard line. First half drive tally: 27 plays, minus-eight yards.
Two plays later, it was a 40-0 game, with Ficklin connecting with Larry Simmons for a 20-yard score to culminate the 34 second drive.
Three plays and another sack of Salter later, the Buffs gave up the ball again, with CU’s “drive” taking all of 27 seconds of game clock. First half drive tally: 30 plays, minus-16 yards.
Aided by a penalty, the Buff defense was able to force a three-and-out of their own, with the Buffs taking over at the 20-yard line after a touchback with a minute to play before halftime.
As it turned out, that was plenty of time for another score … another Utah score. The CU offense again went nowhere, with Salter sacked again. This time, the punt by Damon Greaves was blocked, giving the ball back to the Utes at the CU seven yard line. First half drive tally: 33 plays, minus-18 yards.
Strangely enough, the Utes had to settle for a field goal three plays later, with kicker Dillon Curtis hitting from 23 yards out as time expired.
First half score: Utah 43, Colorado 0
The second half was mostly an exercise of both teams trying to finish the game without injury.
The Buffs opened the second half getting their total offense tally above zero, but still didn’t score. A 14-yard completion from Salter to Omarion Miller, combined with two runs by Salter totaling 26 yards, gave the Buffs their first possession inside Utah territory, but the drive ended when Salter was stuffed for no gain on fourth-and-one at the Utah 26.
The teams then traded punts before Utah put together an eight-play drive, culminated by a 45-yard field goal by Dillon Curtis late in the third quarter. Utah 46, Colorado 0.
After CU’s ninth punt of the game finished off the third quarter, Utah’s offense set off yet again, opening with a 49-yard run by Wayshawn Parker. The drive stalled, though, thereafter, with a missed field goal attempt from 59 yards out by Dillon Curtis giving the ball back to the Buffs at their 41-yard line.
With Ryan Staub in at quarterback, the CU offense finally put together a scoring drive. A 13-yard run by Kam Mikell on a direct snap put the ball inside Utah territory on the first play, with a 13-yard completion from Staub to Sincere Brown on the next play giving CU a first down at the Utah 33-yard line. Four plays later, a 23-yard pass from Staub to Omarion Miller gave the Buffs a first-and-goal at the one. On his second try, Staub scored from a yard out. The Buffs were finally on the board … with 9:03 left in the game.
After a three-and-out from the Utah offense, Staub again led the Buffs into Utah territory. A 17-yard run by Kam Mikell, combined with a 22-yard completion from Staub to Omarion Miller, gave CU a first down at the Utah 32. A two-yard run and three incompletions later, though, the Buffs turned the ball over on downs.
It took the Utes all of two plays to close out the scoring, with NaQuari Rogers picking up his second touchdown on the night with a 56-yard run with just over three minutes remaining.
Final score: Utah 53, Colorado 7
“This was bad,” Coach Prime said. “Four hundred twenty-two yards rushing. You ain’t winning. Three hundred yards, you’re not winning. Two hundred fifty, you’re not winning. It’s not capable. Total offense, 140 yards, you’re not winning. Five hundred eighty-seven yards of total offense, you’re not winning. Special teams gave up a fake punt as well as a blocked punt; you’re not winning. So, all three phases, we got our butts kicked”
The final tally of the carnage: Utah had 587 yard of total offense, including 422 yards on the ground. Colorado, meanwhile, had 140 yards of total offense, including 38 yards rushing on 38 carries. Included in the rushing total were seven sacks of Buff quarterbacks.
“The way we practiced, the way we prepared, there’s no way that should have happened,” Sanders said. “There’s no way. The physicalness that we exuded all week long, there’s no way.”
Utah is one of the most physical teams in the Big 12, so the Buffs cranked up the physicality in practice. They even had quarterbacks, who are usually protected from hitting, go live in practice.
“We practiced real hard this week,” CU quarterback Kaidon Salter. “I feel like I did have a great week of practice. O-line had a great week of practice. Receivers did pretty well and even on the defensive side, it was all there this week at practice, but today was most definitely blindsided.”
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9 Replies to “Utah 53, Colorado 7”
Two weeks to prepare? The coaches seem to be out of touch with this team. We’ve been told how good they are. (Better than last years team)They had great practices leading up to the game. Bottom line is they are not very good. The game plan on both sides of the ball was concerning to say the least. The on field adjustments seem to be completely nonexistent. Maybe if they win another game they should retire some more players and their numbers. (A slap in the face to players like Darian Hagen). Meanwhile, teams like Nebraska seem to be getting better. I’m tired of all the hype and talk. Talk, talk talk. Why? Because they can’t walk the walk. This looked like a junior high team playing a high school varsity team. The good old days of kids playing because of the love of the game and the love of their school are gone. Show me the money. Pretty disappointing. This team was not at all prepared to play. Focus during practice and not on celebrity visitors.
Captain Obvious: “That was ugly.”
Captain Obvious’s dog: “Woof.” (Translation: “It wasn’t even that good.”)
This is the NIL era. Teams with lots of talent but mediocre coaching will overcome because of the disparity in college athletics. CU doesn’t have the best coaching nor the best players. Utah has a system. People are drawn to CU right now because some rapper is on the sideline, not because of a strong football identity.
Don’t think Deion is a rapper, that is what the draw is, and compared to what CU football was 5 years ago, I would take a rapper over that “Blinky the clown show”.🤫
Perhaps you missed all the celebrities on the sideline as a draw to play for CU? CU hasn’t beaten a quality team in decades. The winning seasons have humiliating losses to true power teams.
Coach Prime mentioned that some players did not return to Boulder after the bye week prior to the Sunday evening deadline. There are likely some internal issues on this team. Three examples, after the early sack that resulted in a big loss of yardage (and a missed open receiver downfield), Salter went to the bench without speaking to anyone. On the completion down to the one-foot line, the linemen were saying one thing to Staub and the coaches were saying something else to Staub (via the helmet). This was not a good look and forced a timeout. When Staub entered the game, Salter went to stand next to Lewis. Neither were up and verbally supporting Staub. Something is off, and the team is not acting like a team in their support of one another. So sad,…
That was Karl Dorrell era bad last night. Buffs appeared wholly unprepared and, once they got punched in the mouth, disinterested in punching back. Completely dominated on both lines of scrimmage.
Just brutal from start to finish.
It’s the apathy that concerns me the most… if nothing else, Coach Prime is supposed to be a tremendous motivator. Well, that reputation doesn’t seem to be holding up too well.
Well, based upon players’ remarks concerning the great practices they’ve had all week and the nature of results, perhaps they ought to consider skipping practice all together and saving up for games…just sayin.