UCLA 44, Colorado 20


Posts Tagged ‘La’Vontae Shenault’

UCLA 44, Colorado 20

//posted 11.14.2021

Colorado squandered a 20-7 second quarter lead, giving up 37 unanswered points as UCLA ended up routing the Buffs, 44-20. The CU defense gave up only 69 yards rushing to UCLA offense in the first half, before giving up 149 yards rushing – and three touchdowns – in the third quarter alone.

Brendon Lewis threw for 158 yards, including some long completions to Daniel Arias and Brady Russell, but was ineffective in the second half. Jarek Broussard had his second 100-yard game, with 16 carries for 108 yards, but almost all of those yards were in the first half. Alex Fontenot had two one-yard touchdown runs in the first half, but the Buffs settled for field goals instead of touchdowns in first half red zone opportunities … before collapsing in the second half.

“They did a nice job. I take my hat off to them”, said head coach Karl Dorrell of UCLA’s 37-0 run in the second half. “They made the right adjustments at halftime. We thought we were making the right adjustments, but, of course, it didn’t work out that way.”

“The only other game that I remember being like that was the Oregon State game a few years back”, said tight end Brady Russell, who had five catches for 60 yards. “It was really unexpected, so that’s what’s most frustrating about it. I don’t think they elevated their game that much; I felt like we brought our level down after playing so well. It wasn’t that guys weren’t fighting or anything.  It was weird.”

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Freshman CU kicker Cole Becker calmly hit a 43-yarder in the second overtime, giving Colorado a 37-34 win over Oregon State. The Buffs seemingly had the game won when OSU kicker Everett Hayes missed a potential tying field goal with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. Becker was given a second chance, however, hitting a 60-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into extra time. After both schools scored touchdowns in the first overtime, Hayes missed a 38-yard attempt, giving CU’s Cole Becker a chance to win the game moments later.

“What a ball game that was”, said Karl Dorrell. “You know, there’s some really good things that happened in that game. We felt that our team grew up from a week prior. I felt like the offense a couple weeks ago was starting to find themselves and that was up there in Eugene”.

Buff quarterback Brendon Lewis went 15-for-24 passing, going for 170 yards and three touchdowns, also contributing a nine-yard touchdown run in the first overtime. Running back Jarek Broussard had his first 100-yard game of the season, with 151 yards on 24 carries. Overall, the Buffs had 392 yards of total offense, while giving up 475 yards of total offense to the Beavers.

Colorado came into the game with a 2-6 record, and were double digit underdogs to 5-3 Oregon State. Still, 47,984 (96% of capacity) were on hand for Homecoming. “We have one of the best fan groups in the nation”, said cornerback Christian Gonzalez. “They’re always out no matter what. It’s just great playing at home with them and them giving us energy and all that.”

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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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If you need to boil down the WR room to one word in 2021, it’s “potential” … Dimitri Stanley, only a sophomore, is considered by Darrin Chiaverini to be his “veteran guy” … Will Stanley live up to his All-Pac-12 preseason honor? Will La’Vontae Shenault or Brenden Rice have break out seasons? … TBD …

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Utah 38, No. 21 Colorado 21

//posted 12.15.2020

Utah went on a 28-0 run in the second half to turn a 21-10 deficit into a 38-21 victory over No. 21 Colorado. Utah freshman running back Ty Jordan, held in check most of the snowy afternoon in Boulder, broke free for a 66-yard touchdown to put the game out of reach after Colorado failed to convert a fourth-and-five in Utah territory down 27-21 with five minutes remaining.

Colorado quarterback Sam Noyer went 16-for-34 for 258 yards and two touchdowns, but also had an interception and a fumble. Jarek Broussard had his career-opening string of 100-yard games come to an end, collecting 80 yards on 14 carries. The lone breakout player for the Buffs on the day was freshman wide receiver Brenden Rice, who had an 81-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first half, and a 61-yard touchdown reception early in the third quarter

The game, the earliest kickoff in Folsom Field history (10:05 a.m.), was played in frosty conditions (23-degrees at kickoff, after several inches of snow had blanketed the field overnight). In addition to losing their first game of the season, the Buffs lost their leading tackler, Butkus Award semi-finalist Nate Landman, to a season-ending injury in the first half.

“It’s unfortunate, our guys are disappointed and most of our disappointment is because of our own shooting ourselves in the foot, more so than anything”, Karl Dorrell said. “The turnovers—we had a few dropped passes that were some conversions on third down, that could have happened. We just didn’t play our normal selves”.

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Colorado 24, Arizona 13

//posted 12.7.2020

Sophomore running back Jarek Broussard had 301 yards rushing, the fourth-highest single game effort in CU history, leading the Buffs to a 24-13 come-from-behind win over Arizona. Broussard had carries going for 75, 72, and 59 yards … but didn’t score. Broussard did, however, become the first Colorado player to open up his career in Boulder with four consecutive 100-yard games (see multiple records set by Broussard in the Game Notes).

Arizona, which jumped out to a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter, had two second half drives covering in excess of 80 yards in the second half … but didn’t score on either of them. The Wildcats, who lost for a school-record 11th-straight game, had two 100-yard rushers of their own (Michael Wiley – nine carries for 126 yards; Gary Brightwell: 20 carries for 113 yards and a touchdown). The Buffs went for 499 total yards (dipping below 500 on the game’s final kneel downs), but gave up 422.

The Buffs ran their season record to 4-0, making first-year head coach Karl Dorrell only the second Buff coach since 1905 to open his career at Colorado with four wins (Rick Neuheisel opened with a 5-0 record in 2005 … but he was taking over a team which had gone 11-1 the year before). Dorrell became the sixth CU head coach to open with a 3-0 record in conference play, but the first since Jim Yeager in 1941.

“It just tells me a lot about this team”, Dorrell said about his team rebounding from a two-score deficit. “There wasn’t any panic, there wasn’t any concern that we were in trouble or that look that you get on players faces when they seem to lose confidence or something like that. I didn’t sense that at all. There was more problem solving. Trying to find answers and solutions as we’re on the sidelines making adjustments.”

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The Colorado defense dominated the entire game, forcing seven three-and-outs (and one four-and-out), holding San Diego State to 155 yards of total offense in a 20-10 win in Boulder. In a non-conference game put together 48 hours earlier after CU’s Pac-12 game against USC was canceled, the Buffs scored on their first drive of the game and then made it stand up, getting the Buffs to 3-0 in Karl Dorrell’s first season.

Running back Jarek Broussard had 32 carries for 124 yards (including a number of runs for losses in the fourth quarter as the Buff offense tried to take the air out of the ball. Quarterback Sam Noyer went 17-for-29 for 138 yards and a touchdown, but a mistake – a pick-six in the second quarter – gave the Aztecs their only touchdown of the game. The Buffs were held to 272 yards of total offense themselves, in a contest which featured 16 punts … eight by each team.

The defense, led by All-Pac-12 linebacker Nate Landman (who had 11 tackles and three sacks, earning him the Walter Camp National Defensive Player-of-the-Week honors), held the San Diego State offense to four-of-17 on third down attempts, posting four sacks and 11 tackles for loss.

“A good win for us as a team, a difficult win”, said Karl Dorrell. “One of those wins you are hoping that you’re able to do what we did today”.

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Colorado 35, Stanford 32

//posted 11.15.2020

For the second consecutive week, the Buffs built a large lead, only to have to hold on for dear life in the final minutes, defeating Stanford in Palo Alto, 35-32. Three consecutive touchdown drives by the CU offense built a 35-16 lead in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but the Cardinal posted two touchdowns – and two two-point conversions – in the fourth quarter to make it close.

Quarterback Sam Noyer had another strong outing, passing for 255 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 36 yards and two more scores. Running back Jarek Broussard had his second consecutive 100-yard game, with 27 carries for 121 yards. The receivers were led by Dimitri Stanley, who had six catches for 126 yards and a touchdown.

The Colorado offense was dominant … until the fourth quarter. Finishing with 432 yards of total offense (to 397 for Stanford), the Buffs were out-gained in the fourth quarter, to 155 yards to 29.

“This team is learning how to play in difficult circumstances,” said CU head coach Karl Dorrell, who improved to 2-0 at Colorado. “That can be a great experience for them to continue to build on so that when we’re in a championship type of game, we can say we’ve been there, we know how to gut it out and find a way to win.”

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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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Last December 5th, Mel Tucker was introduced as CU’s 26th full-time head coach … How do you rate his first year? A look at “Won/Lost Record”, “Hires”, “Recruiting”, and “Culture” …

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OT Will Sherman: “I’m glad we had our wakeup call before Pac-12 play” … CU at ASU a battle of contrasts …Pat Rooney: Pac-12 opener a chance for Buffs to try and rewrite history … OL Casey Roddick sees first action since 2016 – “It was a blessing to get out there” … *CU Video production – Relentess II: The non-conference games* …

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UPDATE: The wait is over – La’Vontae Shenault confirms commitment to Colorado … Four-star wide receiver had 73 catches and accounted for 1,421 all-purpose yards last season … Buffs pick up a commitment from a three-star defensive tackle, Lloyd Murray …

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