Sunday Afternoon Quarterback


2018 Season Archive

Sunday Afternoon Quarterback

//posted 10.15.2018

Oregon is my new No. 1 in the Pac-12 Power Rankings, while the Buffs fall from the top three … Two matchups which will play a huge role in deciding division champs coming this weekend: USC at Utah and Oregon at Washington State …

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Rankings and Ratings

//posted 10.15.2018

CBS Sports Rankings: CU still the highest-rated team from the Pac-12 South … CU falls out of the Associated Press Top 25 (in at No. 30) … Buffs remain ranked, at No. 25, in USA Today coaches’ poll …

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USC freshman quarterback J.T. Daniels passed for 272 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Trojans to a 31-20 victory over No. 19 Colorado. Daniels hit wide receiver Michael Pittman for two of those scores late in the second quarter, taking a 7-7 game and making it a 21-7 halftime lead for the Trojans.

CU all-everything wide receiver Laviska Shenault led the Buffs in both rushing and receiving. Shenault had nine receptions for 72 yards, but was held without a receiving touchdown for the first time all season. Shenault also had two carries for 46 yards, including a 49-yard scamper for a touchdown early in the second quarter, giving the Buffs a 7-0 advantage, the only CU lead of the game.

Steven Montez hit on 25-of-46 passes, well below his season average of over 75% completions. Montez had 168 yards passing, adding a 19-yard touchdown run late in the contest. Montez also threw a pick-six early in the third quarter, making it a 28-7 USC advantage.

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Un-Lucky 13

//posted 10.14.2018

The beatings date back to 1927.

On November 12, 1927, the University of Colorado Silver-and-Gold football team – still seven years away from taking the nickname “Buffaloes” – traveled to Los Angeles to take on the University of Southern California Trojans.

USC won that day, 46-7, setting the tone for the series, which now stands at 13-0 after the 31-20 setback in the Coliseum.

The Buffs tried again in the early 1960’s to earn a victory over the Trojans, but the result was a pair of shutout losses. USC triumphed in Boulder in 1963, 14-0, then won again the next year in Los Angeles, 21-0.

Nine more losses in the series followed, beginning in 2000 with a 17-14 loss, ending with a 38-24 loss in Boulder in 2017.

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Pac-12 Notes

//posted 10.13.2018

Oregon takes control of the Pac-12 North with 30-27 OT win over Washington … UCLA wins first game under Chip Kelly with 37-7 win over California … Utah emerges as a Pac-12 South contender with rout of Arizona …

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Colorado Daily – USC

//posted 10.13.2018

DL Mustafa Johnson: “We’re very prepared. We’re very ready” … Pat Rooney: USC game a “prove-it” moment for CU program … Neill Woelk’s Friday’s Fast Five: Keys to CU picking up first win over USC …

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“T.I.P.S.” for CU at USC … Three zeroes figure into CU’s trip to the Coliseum … 0 – as in CU’s 0-12 all-time record against USC … 0 – as in the number of points the Buffs have scored in the first half of its last two games against the Trojans (34-0) … 0 – as in CU’s first 5-0 record in twenty years … Which “0” will be changing this Saturday? ….

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Rankings and Ratings

//posted 10.9.2018

CU still getting no love from ESPN’s Football Power Index … CBS Power Rankings: CU No. 20 … Sports Illustrated: CU v. Michigan in Holiday Bowl … CU up to No. 19 in AP poll (up to No. 18 in USA Today/Coaches’ poll) …

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Laviska Shenault scored four touchdowns, with two scoring receptions and two scoring runs, leading No. 21 Colorado to a 28-21 win over Arizona State. For the game, Shenault had 13 receptions for 127 yards, to go with five carries for 13 yards.

Quarterback Steven Montez went 24-for-33 for 328 yards and two touchdowns, while Travon McMillian had 30 carries for 136 yards, becoming the first CU running back since Rashaan Salaam to post four 100-yard rushing games in the first five games of the season.

The game was tight throughout, with Arizona State taking 7-0, 14-7, and 21-14 leads, with the CU offense responding each time. Late i the third quarter, the Buffs took their first lead of the game on a Montez-to-Shenault three yard score. The Sun Devils appeared ready to respond, but cornerback Delrick Abrams, Jr., knocked away a Manny Wilkins pass on fourth-and-goal from the CU three yard line to preserve the lead.

“When you are the underdog you have to try and steal a possession and go for it even more”, said first-year head coach Herm Edwards of his decision to go for it on fourth-and-goal in the fourth quarter. “That is the logic behind it … If you do not you feel like you have nine minutes left—you hold them they punt, you can hopefully get the ball on the fifty and you get another shot. So it just didn’t work out.”

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For the unbeaten Colorado Buffaloes, it was kind of a rough week.

Instead of being celebrated as being the only team in the Pac-12 to emerge from the month of September without a loss, it was a week of Buff-bashing for the No. 21 team in the nation.

Brad Crawford at 247Sports had this to say … College football’s worst unbeaten Power 5 team is Colorado, per ESPN’s analytics model. Ranked No. 53 this week in the FPI, there’s still a good chance the Buffaloes (4-0) fail to reach bowl season believe it or not. Colorado isn’t expected to win against Arizona State, USC, Washington, Arizona, Washington State, Utah or California the rest of the way. That would be a cataclysmic collapse for Mike MacIntyre and Co. This week’s game vs. Arizona State is the first loss.

Crawford was not alone:

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Grading CU’s effort – unit-by-unit – against Arizona State … Pac-12 Power Rankings: Buffs move into the top three, with a showdown with No. 5 USC (at least in my rankings) coming up this weekend …

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Pac-12 parity … Conference games raise more questions about the hierarchy in the conference … Utah topples struggling Stanford … Washington 31-24 win over UCLA raises questions about both teams … Arizona needs two defensive touchdowns to defeat Cal, 24-17 …

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