USC 37, Colorado 14


Posts Tagged ‘Alex Fontenot’

USC 37, Colorado 14

//posted 10.3.2021

USC methodically pulled away from Colorado, racing out to a 20-0 first half lead and never being seriously threatened thereafter, posting a 37-14 win in Boulder. In raising its all-time record against the Buffs to 15-0, the Trojans had 494 yards of total offense, with quarterback Kedon Slovis hitting 19-of-29 passes for 276 yards and three touchdowns. All-American candidate Drake London had nine receptions for 130 yards and a score, with eight of the receptions coming in the first half when the Trojan offense made a statement.

The Colorado offense, playing at historically poor levels, was held to 234 yards of total offense. Quarterback Brendon Lewis completed 10-of-17 passes for 162 yards and a touchdown pass to Chase Penry. Lewis also had a fumble and an interception, and was slow to pull the trigger on numerous passes, being sacked five times by a defense which had only three sacks in the first four games of the season. Tight end Brady Russell had three catches for 87 yards, including a 65-yarder, giving the Buff passing “attack” its first completion over 20 yards on the season.

“We can’t be talking about baby steps anymore,” Karl Dorrell, who fell below .500 for the first time as CU’s head coach (5-6), said. “We scored two touchdowns and that’s not enough. There’s an urgency about being more productive and more demanding about what we’re doing. The pacifier is going to have to go … We’ve got to grow up fast. There’s only so long you can take those incremental steps. We’re at that point right now. This season is in the balance.”

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The Colorado offense posted its first points in eight quarters with a long field goal just before halftime, and its first touchdown in forever on its first drive of the second half, but it wasn’t enough – not nearly enough – as the Buffs fell in Tempe to Arizona State, 35-13. The Buffs scored early in the second half to make it a 14-10 game, but did not threaten again when it mattered, as the Sun Devils scored three touchdowns in four drives in the second half to run away with the win.

Brendon Lewis was ineffective again at quarterback, hitting on only seven of 17 pass attempts, for all of 67 yards. Alex Fontenot had 65 yards on 14 carries, including a one-yard scoring run, giving the Buffs their first touchdown in nine quarters. Jared Broussard had 35 yards on 12 carries, becoming the fastest Buff to reach 1,000 yards in a career, doing so in his ninth career game.

“We have to just keep bringing this team along,” CU head coach Karl Dorrell said. “We have a lot of young players playing and a lot of new players playing. It’s challenging every week … We have to keep working at getting better each week and hopefully that light bulb starts to glow a little bit brighter for us to be a more productive team and do as well as we need to do.”

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Minnesota 30, Colorado 0

//posted 9.19.2021

Colorado put on an offensive debacle for the record books, falling at home to Minnesota, 30-0. In extending its scoreless streak to seven quarters, the Buff offense managed only 63 yards of total offense … 82 yards passing and … wait for it … minus-19 yards rushing. The Buffs were outgained by the Gophers, 443 yards to 63, had only seven first downs, and held the ball for only 19:47 of game clock (to 40:13 for Minnesota).

If it not for a poor kicking performance by the Gophers (two missed field goals and a missed extra point), the score would have been even worse. Minnesota was led by running back Treyson Potts, who had 121 yards rushing on 26 carries, scoring three touchdowns. Quarterback Tanner Morgan was an efficient 11-for-17 for 161 yards and a touchdown.

The offensive Colorado “offense” was “led” by an ineffective Brendon Lewis, who was 8-for-16 passing for all of 55 yards. When he wasn’t holding the ball instead of throwing, he was harassed into multiple sacks … by a defense which came into the game with exactly zero sacks in its first two games.

“We ended up having a very difficult game and not looking very good”, said CU head coach Karl Dorrell. “You don’t enjoy looking at those opportunities when they come up and it’s unfortunate that is something that happened this Saturday. That was a complete beatdown”.

The 63 yards on offense was the eighth-lowest in school history (the fewest since 46 against Oklahoma in the 2004 Big 12 title game at Kansas City). It was the third-lowest output in a home game (51 vs. Nebraska in 1964, 61 vs. USC in 2002).

“We got a lot of work to do”, said Dorrell. “I’m not blaming the players. It’s going to be us coaches. We’ve got to get the same page. I’ve been through this scenario many times before in other places that I’ve coached. We can overcome it, we can get back, but it’s going to take a great deal of work”.

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Colorado held the lead for three quarters of the game, but wore down in the end, surrendering the winning touchdown with 2:41 to play, falling to No. 5 Texas A&M, 10-7. The Buff defense held the Aggie offense to 1-for-10 on third downs through the third quarter, but A&M went 7-for-10 on third downs the remainder of the game, culminating in a game-winning 11-play, 77-yard drive to pull out the victory.

The Colorado defense held Texas A&M, which had 595 yards in their opener, to 289 total yards (with 145 of those yards coming in the decisive fourth quarter). The Buff offense, though, mustered only 260 yards of total offense, with only 54 of those yards coming after the break. Both teams had only 14 first downs (A&M had 29 in its opener), with the only stat line of any solace being CU’s two penalties for 17 yards (a week after posting 12 penalties for 118 yards against Northern Colorado in Week One).

Brendon Lewis went 13-for-25 for 89 yards passing, also leading the team in rushing, with 76 yards on nine carries. Jarek Broussard had 51 yards on 12 carries, scoring CU’s lone touchdown on a two-yard run late in the first quarter.

“We had opportunities in the first and second half and we didn’t do what we should have done,” Dorrell said. “We didn’t do well enough offensively. Defensively I thought they played their butts off. We just have to get better. I don’t make excuses. For us to be the team we need to be, we must get better in a heartbeat.”

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Colorado opened the 2021 season with a 35-7 win over Northern Colorado, a score which was both accurate and deceiving.

The Bears from Greeley were never a serious threat to win the game, but a combination of penalties and miscues by CU kept the Buff Nation on edge throughout the night. Brendon Lewis completed 10-of-15 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown, adding 44 rushing yards on seven carries, but was hesitant on his throws, reminding Buff fans that this was the first start of his career. Jarek Broussard had 94 yards and a touchdown on his 15 carries, but left the game in the third quarter with a slight injury. The rushing attack was thereafter led by Ashaad Clayton (eight carries for 51 yards and a touchdown) and Alex Fontenot (eight carries for 40 yards and a score).

The Buffs outgained the Bears, with 385 total yards to 253, but were hampered all evening by penalties. On the night, CU was flagged 12 times for 117 yards … more yards than the Buffs gained through the air (102). The CU offense did churn out an impressive 285 yards on the ground, but didn’t have any consistency throughout the game.

“Good to come out with a win,” Dorrell said after the game. “It was a hard game because we didn’t know much about the team. Their defensive scheme was completely different from what they’ve done, so that was a little bit of a challenge for us offensively in the first half. In the second half, after we figured out what they were doing, we had a little bit more handle on controlling the line of scrimmage and getting some effective runs. We had some good series and good drives for touchdowns.”

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The best running backs room in 20 years? With Alex Fontenot (CU’s leading rusher in 2019), Jarek Broussard (2020 Pac-12 Offensive Player-of-the-Year) and Ashaad Clayton (2020 four-star recruit), the argument can certainly be made … How will the carries be divided to maximize the talent? …

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What will be CU’s offensive identity? … Will anyone challenge Alex Fontenot as the starting running back? … Is the CU receiving corps actually the worst in the Pac-12? … Any reason to believe CU will improve on its 83rd-ranked offensive output? …

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No. 6 Utah 45, Colorado 15

//posted 12.2.2019

No. 6 Utah used short fields and a punt return for a touchdown to turn a close game into a rout, taking the Pac-12 South title with a 45-15 win over Colorado. The Buffs became the only Pac-12 opponent in the 2019 season to score two touchdowns against the Utes in Rice-Eccles stadium, but an inability to convert on third downs (2-of-11) kept the Buff offense from creating any consistent movement on offense.

Senior quarterback Steven Montez completed his final game as a Buff completing 17-of-26 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns. The passing yardage, along with his 136 yards of total offense (after rushing losses due to sacks were taken into account), allowed Steven Montez to pass Sefo Liufau on the CU all-time lists for both career passing yards and career total offense.

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Colorado 20, Washington 14

//posted 11.25.2019

On senior night in Folsom, quarterback Steve Montez threw for a touchdown and led a long final drive from the shadow of his own end zone to run out the clock as Colorado beat Washington 20-14.

Alex Fontenot added 105 yards rushing and a touchdown on 24 carries, springing free for a couple of first down runs on the Buffaloes’ last drive, which ran off the final 5:09. It began at the Buffaloes one-yard and ended with Montez taking a knee at the Huskies 18 to run out the final seconds. The victory for Colorado (5-6, 3-5 Pac-12) snapped a nine-game losing streak to Washington (6-5, 3-5).

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Colorado 16, Stanford 13

//posted 11.10.2019

Red-shirt freshman kicker Evan Price, subbing for James Stefanou, connected on three fields, the last being a 37-yarder on the game’s final play, giving Colorado a 16-13 win over Stanford.

The Buffs took a 7-0 lead on their first drive of the game, but lost the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 79-yard touchdown pass from Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello to Simi Fehoko. Down 13-10, the Buffs launched two long fourth quarter drives – 14 plays for 69 yards and 13 plays for 61 yards – to tie the game and then post the game’s final points.

“I just wanted to go out there and pretend it was a practice kick and do what I normally do,” Price said. “Trust the holder, trust the snapper and trust the line, and everything just went right”.

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USC 35, Colorado 31

//posted 10.26.2019

Senior quarterback Steven Montez set his 38th school record in starting his 32nd consecutive game, and for 45 minutes against USC, Montez looked like a hero. Montez threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns, running for a fourth, but it was not enough to keep Colorado from losing to USC for the 14th-consecutive time, falling 35-31 before 48,913 fans in Boulder.

The Trojans rallied from a ten-point fourth quarter deficit for the victory. USC quarterback Kedon Slovis hit wide receiver Michael Pittman for two touchdowns in the final 11 minutes – with the scores covering 44 and 37 yards – to take down the Buffs.

The Buffs had 520 yards of total offense to 518 for the Trojans, but couldn’t sustain drives in the fourth quarter. Laviska Shenault had nine receptions for 172 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown reception, but the effort was wasted as the CU defense failed to hold an opponent under 30 points for the 12th consecutive game.

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Washington State quarterback Alex Gordon threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Cougars to a …. rout of Colorado. The Cougars raced out to a 21-3 first quarter lead, never looking back, handing the Buffs their third straight defeat.

Steven Montez, for the second game in a row, was ineffective. Montez went 16-for-30 for 129 yards and two interceptions before being pulled in the fourth quarter. Running back Alex Fontenot was a bright spot, going for 105 yards on 11 carries, but a porous defense and an ineffective red zone offense doomed the Buffs to a second straight rout on the road.

“We had a few turnovers and we couldn’t finish drives,” said Mel Tucker, who fell below .500 (3-4) for the first time as CU’s head coach. “We knew we would be able to run the ball but our passing game was inconsistent. Defensively, it just took us too long to settle down.”

“It is a little frustrating but you cannot let it get to you”, said running back Alex Fontenot, who had his second career 100-yard rushing game. “You have to keep the mentality of, when I am out there I am going to score, and just keep going.”

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