Our 5 takeaways from Colorado’s home loss to the USC Trojans.
From the Arizona State loss to this USC loss, it didn’t really feel like much changed. It honestly felt like one, long 120 minute football game. The final scores of 35-13 and then 37-14 tell a similar story.
That being said, we did learn a thing or two about the Colorado Buffaloes in Week 5. Freshman QB Brendon Lewis did have arguably his best performance, but the defense once again couldn’t limit the big plays. As Karl Dorrell mentioned repeatedly, this upcoming bye week will be crucial to correcting these errs.
Here are five things that I took away from another disappointing afternoon at Folsom Field.
Colorado’s kickoff time vs. Arizona was announced on Monday.
Following a Week 6 bye week, the Colorado Buffaloes will stay in Boulder for a 1:30 p.m. MST matchup against Arizona on Oct. 16. This will likely be a must-win game for the 1-4 Buffaloes, who just lost their fourth consecutive game on Saturday courtesy of USC. The Wildcats entered their Week 5 bye winless; they’ll face 3-2 UCLA on Oct. 9.
Also announced on Monday was the Week 7 television information. With just one win currently between Colorado and Arizona, the Pac-12 Network will take this one.
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It will be the third day game in a row at Folsom Field after Northern Colorado opened the season at 7 p.m. The Minnesota game kicked off at 11 a.m. and USC kicked off at noon.
As is typical after another difficult loss, several Buffaloes were asked about the vibe in the locker room. Colorado’s losing performance on Saturday was its fourth in a row and wasn’t particularly inspiring. Obviously, a locker room culture feeds off wins but the Buffaloes at least did their best to stay positive following the game. Here’s what a few of Colorado’s leaders said of the locker room morale:
Dimitri Stanley: I think the morale is still pretty high. We know what we got in the locker room, and we have a whole bunch of talent on this team. It’s just breaking the film down and seeing what we’re doing wrong in order to fix it for next week. Going into this by week, we have a lot to focus on and a lot to work on to get ready to play Arizona.”
Brady Russell: I’d say the vibe in the locker room is it’s still good. It’s kind of the older guys are trying to bring the young guys along with us. We’ve been through some of these kind of things, me Mekhi (Blackmon), Carson (Wells), those kind of guys. They’re just trying to keep people’s heads up because we still got a lot of great players, and we still got a lot of capability. We just need people to understand that they are a lot more capable than they think they are.”
Sep 3, 2021; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Dimitri Stanley (14) returns a punt in the second quarter against the Northern Colorado Bears at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Isaiah Lewis: I think that bye week timing is crucial right now because we’re not where we want to be. Our headspace isn’t where it needs to be. We understand how important this bye week is going to be. We’re going to take the rest but also we got to handle the details.
Guy Thomas: We love each other so I don’t see any of us giving up on each other.
Only Oregon and newcomer Arizona State represent the Pac-12 in this week’s USA TODAY AFCA Coaches Poll. The Colorado Buffaloes don’t have to worry about No. 25 Arizona State anymore as the Sun Devils beat the Buffs handily in Week 4. But No. 9 Oregon is still certainly on the radar for Colorado as they’ll meet in Eugene on Oct. 30.
After sitting confidently at No. 3 in last week’s poll, the Ducks dropped six spots following their 31-24 overtime loss to Stanford. The defeat was Oregon’s first of the season and likely erased any hope of making the College Football Playoff. Unless Oregon State can keep up its strong play, the Ducks probably won’t even see another ranked team in their regular season.
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Similar to what we saw on the basketball court last season, those Beavers are equally confident on the gridiron this fall. Oregon State didn’t have a particularly impressive Week 5 (a 27-24 win over Washington), but it was enough to earn 27 points in the poll. Colorado and Oregon State will square off in Boulder on Nov. 6.
The main reason we saw Arizona State sneak into the top 25 was because of its convincing 42-23 win over previously No. 20 UCLA. Because of the loss, UCLA, which Colorado faces on Nov. 13, was voteless in the poll.
Head coach Karl Dorrell was shown knocking down a videographer’s camera following Colorado’s loss.
In a video tweeted out by CBS Denver’s Ryan Greene, Karl Dorrell knocks away a CBS Denver sports photographer’s camera while jogging off the field following Colorado’s 37-14 loss to USC.
The video was posted after Dorrell’s postgame press conference and he was not asked about the incident.
“Coach Dorrell sends his apologies to the local journalist who he intercepted after today’s game. We treat journalists with respect and apologize for falling short of that today,”
As of 7 p.m. MST, the video had over 39,000 views.
Colorado dropped to 0-15 all-time against Southern California.
Even with a struggling USC team coming into Folsom, the Colorado Buffaloes wrote a familiar script throughout another uninspiring performance.
Colorado lost its fourth consecutive game and lost even more patience from Karl Dorrell. Now into the heart of Pac-12 play, the Buffs’ inexperience—and they’ve got plenty of it—isn’t an excuse anymore.
“We’re at that point there’s an urgency about being more productive and more demanding about what we’re doing,” Dorrell said. “Not that we haven’t done that already, but the pacifier, or the binky, is going to have to go. We got to grow up fast.”
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The play of second-year freshman quarterback Brendon Lewis isn’t exempt from Dorrell’s expectations either. But statistically speaking, Lewis did have his best passing performance this season. Scoring two touchdowns won’t win many games in the Pac-12, but Lewis threw for a season-high 162 yards and one touchdown. His 58.8% completion rate was also his best since Northern Colorado.
The O-line, however, remained a glaring problem. Yes, Lewis’ pocket presence needs improvement, but Colorado can’t allow USC to get five sacks and three QB hits.
“They’re not playing at a level that they should given their experience,” Dorrell said of the O-line.
For the Trojans, who improved to 3-2, they gave Colorado plenty of help by committing 12 penalties for 115 yards. That turned out not to matter much, though, as USC improved to 15-0 all-time against CU.
Oct 2, 2021; Boulder, Colorado, USA; USC Trojans linebacker Drake Jackson (99) pass rushes at Colorado Buffaloes offensive lineman Jake Wiley (60) in the second half at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
It would be a major disrespect to Drake London to continue further without mentioning his prowess. The 6-foot-5 wide receiver was simply unguardable. Whether it was Christian Gonzalez, Nigel Bethel or Mark Perry trying to guard him, London even exceeded the hype en route to 130 receiving yards and an impressive one-handed touchdown catch.
“We knew 15 (London) was going to be a threat and he was still making plays regardless of how tightly covered he was,” Isaiah Lewis said.
While the expectations weren’t exactly high, the agony on Saturday was at its worst when USC took a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.
After USC tacked on a 44-yard field goal to make it 20-0, the Buffs regained a little hope courtesy of their defense. Guy Thomas laid a fumble-inducing hit on USC running back Keaontay Ingram and Mark Perry recovered to give CU’s offense a prime opportunity around midfield. The Buffs fully capitalized when Deion Smith’s goal line patience led to a 1-yard touchdown.
Pretty much the only other positive moment came with a third quarter touchdown drive. Soon after Lewis and Russell connected for a 65-yard catch and run, which was CU’s longest play of the season, true freshman wide receiver Chase Penry caught the first touchdown of his career. The seven points gained cut USC’s lead to 30-14 and, if nothing else, made it less of a blowout.
A fourth quarter that began with USC taking a commanding 23-point lead was not enough to get backup QB Drew Carter into the game. When asked what the quarterback situation looks like moving forward, Dorrell once again said it’s under discussion. He added that there is risk involved with removing Lewis too early and potentially hurting his confidence.
With a 1-4 record now graffitied next to Colorado’s name, Dorrell’s upcoming bye week will be a busy one.
We like to look at the positives here at Buffs Wire and we’ve got another one with Colorado putting together an efficient third quarter touchdown drive.
Brendon Lewis was finally given some protection in the pocket which helped him find Brady Russell for a 65-yard reception. It was Colorado’s longest play of the year and the only one over 40 yards.
— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) October 2, 2021
Russell’s surprising tight end speed brought Colorado all the way down to USC’s 9-yard line. One play later, Lewis stayed in the pocket long enough to connect with true freshman Chase Penry in the end zone. The 7-yard catch was Penry’s first as a Buff.
Deion Smith scored his second touchdown of the season.
For about the first 26 minutes of the first half, Colorado was playing some of its worst football of the season, and that is saying something. We saw the same uninspired offense combined with a secondary that simply couldn’t keep up with USC’s receivers, mainly Drake London.
Something finally went Colorado’s way when Guy Thomas forced USC running back Keaontay Ingram to fumble around midfield. Mark Perry was alert and picked up the fumble to give Colorado its best field position of the game at USC’s 48-yard line.
The momentum garnered stayed with the offense as Brendon Lewis immediately found Dimitri Stanley for a 7-yard gain. Jarek Broussard broke loose on the next play as well for a 19-yard rush, his longest of the game.
— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) October 2, 2021
Tight end Brady Russell got into the act too with a gutsy 13-yard gain.
With the Buffaloes just over one yard outside of the end zone, Deion Smith punched it home for his second touchdown of the year. The TD and extra point would bring the game to its halftime score of USC 20, Colorado 7.
Colorado’s newest member of the College Football Hall of Fame will be recognized at halftime.
In recognition of former Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Michael Westbrook’s induction to the College Football Hall of Fame, the 1995 graduate was honored following the first quarter of Saturday’s USC game.
Westbrook, who was inducted into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016, is a member of the 2020 College Football Hall of Fame class that will be inducted Dec. 7 in Las Vegas.
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Westbrook joined coach Bill McCartney, Byron White, Joe Romig, Bobby Anderson, Dick Anderson, Alfred Williams John Wooten and Herb Orvis as other Buffaloes in the CFB Hall of Fame.
We are honoring Michael Westbrook’s upcoming Hall of Fame Induction today. Go Buffs! pic.twitter.com/9lj8oHjCBD
How to watch Colorado take on Southern California.
The Colorado Buffaloes return home this weekend to open the month of October against USC. A Buffs win would break an 0-14 all-time record against their Pac-12 South rivals. However, it has been a rough season for not only the 1-3 Buffs but also the 2-2 Trojans, who recently fired Clay Helton. The return of DE Mustafa Johnson and USC wide receiver K.D. Nixon to Folsom headline this Week 5 showdown.
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How to watch/listen/stream Colorado vs. Southern California
