Dorian Thompson-Robinson, making his fifth career start against Colorado, finally won in Boulder, leading UCLA to a 45-17 domination of Colorado. DTR, who had lost to the Buffs in starts at Folsom Field in 2018 and 2020, went 19-for-23 for 234 yards and two touchdowns (plus seven carries for 56 yards) in less than three quarters of work as the Bruins scored on their first three possessions of the game, never looking back.

Colorado freshman quarterback Owen McCown earned his first career start, and led the Buffs to their highest point total in CU’s 0-4 start. McCown went 26-for-42 for 258 yards and a touchdown (he also had a touchdown rushing), but also suffered an interception and a fumble. Eleven different Buffs had receptions on the afternoon, as the Buff coaching staff had an open casting call to try and insert some energy into CU’s lethargic offense. Daniel Arias led the Buffs with 82 yards on four receptions, with CU’s second touchdown coming on an eight-yard touchdown pass from McCown to Jordyn Tyson late in the fourth quarter.

The Buffs dropped to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in Pac-12 play while the Bruins improved to 4-0, 1-0.

“Frustrating day,” CU head coach Karl Dorrell said. “But I felt like there were some positive things, even though we weren’t a factor in getting a chance to win this one, It just got away from us. I was encouraged by the young freshmen that we decided to use … But we just didn’t do the things we needed to do in the second half. There’s a lot of areas that need a lot of work. We’re a young team that needs to continue to grow and mature as we go. But we just have a tremendous amount of work to do with this team.”