Buffs fall to UCLA after disastrous second half

UCLA finished off Colorado despite a 10-point Buffaloes lead.

The Colorado Buffaloes headed to California to take on the UCLA Bruins at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night. For the first half, Karl Dorrell’s team hung tough in a return to Los Angeles for the Buffs head coach.

It wasn’t an easy task for the Buffs, especially with the explosive UCLA offense. But, somehow, the Buffs took a 20-10 lead into the half in what was looking to be an upset at the Rose Bowl.

Unfortunately, Colorado failed to score in the final two quarters and the Bruins rattled off 34 second half points to walk out with a 44-20 victory.

The first half, however, was full of highlights for the Buffs. Alex Fontenot started the scoring for the Buffs and finished the game with 11 carries for 52 yards and two trips to the end zone.

Jarek Broussard ran well for the second straight week, and this time he totaled 108 yards on just 17 carries, including this run in the first half.

He almost had the score before being brought down from behind. Fontenot would punch in the one-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 17-7.

And the Buffs had a defensive highlight also, this one from the first quarter, as Mark Perry intercepted Dorian Thompson-Robinson. What made this even sweeter for Perry is that he is from Rancho Cucamonga, just a short drive from UCLA.

Besides the first half, there wasn’t much to get excited about. The Buffs had the lead and it seemed like they would pull off a massive upset. However, UCLA stormed back and won easily at the end of it all. Zach Charbonnet led the way with 17 carries for 67 yards and a hat trick of touchdowns.

Buffs tight end Brady Russell rattled off a huge 35-yard catch-and-run in the third quarter, but the Buffs failed to score as Cole Becker missed a 43-yard field goal.

The offense did show signs of progress for the second week in a row, although the second half is one they will like to forget about.

Next up for the Buffs is the Washington Huskies in Boulder, and who knows if Jimmy Lake will be there or not.

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