Nov. 30th – No. 6 Utah – Same Record; Different Outlook

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.

With the loss to Utah, CU’s streak of failing to get to win No. 6 hit 11 games, but Buff fans are looking past the 2019 season (and the play of its record-setting, but inconsistent quarterback) … As Mel Tucker put it: “This is really just the beginning for us” …

Utah and Oregon are clearly the top two teams, and will meet Friday to decide the Pac-12 title … The conference finishes with seven bowl-eligible teams, with two 5-7 teams (CU and Oregon State) and three 4-8 teams (UCLA, Stanford, and Arizona) …

Game Day! … Laviska Shenault: “We can’t really make mistakes and we just gotta do us” … *Video – Mel Tucker Friday Press Conference* … Mel Tucker credited with turning the tide of Ohio State/Michigan rivalry to Buckeyes …

Utes hoping fans will show up despite the weather and point-spread … Signs point to CSU football program moving on from Mike Bobo … Report: USC leaning towards keeping Clay Helton …

Neill Woelk’s Five Keys to Utah game … Mel Tucker on Utah: “They really don’t have weaknesses overall as a team” … What were the Utes called before they were the “Utes”? … Beware the Buffs in the third quarter … Which team leads the all-time series? …

Utah hasn’t given up a touchdown at home since September, but the Buffs aren’t intimidated. Nate Landman: “It’s a huge challenge but it’s one that we love” … Tim Lynott: “We are going to treat this week as if we are going to a championship” … Can the Buffs post elusive Win No. 6? …

Utah is the Pac-12’s only remaining College Football Playoff option, with CU and Oregon in its path … At the other end of the spectrum, Arizona is facing a season-ending seven-game losing streak unless they can pull off a Territorial Cup upset against ASU …