BOULDER — Colorado could be on the cusp of cracking the Top 25 after a come-from-behind-turned- dominant 38-16 victory over UCLA at Folsom Field on Friday to open its Pac-12 schedule in convincing fashion.
The Buffaloes’ aerial attack between quarterback Steven Montez and star wide receiver Laviska Shenault sliced its way through the Bruins’ oft-confused secondary, while the Buffs’ defense disrupted UCLA freshman quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson and limited the Bruins to just 289 total yards, securing their fourth win in as many games.
“We haven’t been 4-0 since I don’t even know how long,” safety Evan Worthington said.
Since 1998, to be precise – a season in which Shenault, who was born that October, was still in diapers. Fast forward two decades, and the star sophomore has firmly entrenched himself in the conversation as the nation’s top receiver. Shenault entered the week leading the FBS with 151.7 yards and 8.7 receptions per game, and as Friday’s game – and the season – have progressed, the Buffs continue to use the 6-foot-2, 220-pound more creatively.
Shenault hauled in a 57-yard touchdown in the first quarter, scored on a one-yard touchdown rush via a direct snap and drew UCLA’s defense away with double- and triple-team coverages that helped set up Montez for his effective zone-read plays and create open lanes for tailback Travon McMillian, the Virginia Tech transfer who ran for 102 yards on 21 attempts with a touchdown in the third.
“He can really do it all,” Montez said of Shenault.
“When guys are doubling him, there (are) less guys in the box, so it opens up the run game for me,” McMillan said.
Shenault, who caught 12 passes for 126 yards, was even lining up as a tight end in some formations.
“Whenever he’s not getting the ball, he’s drawing two, three defenders because thatap how many guys it takes to get him on the ground,” Montez said. “I mean, I think he’s a very special player for us. I think he makes a lot of great plays. He plays a little quarterback back there in the Wildcat. He can do it all.”
Montez also widened his sample size of efficiency through the air, finishing the night 22 of 26 for 237 yards while churning out 81 yards on the ground for three total touchdowns. The junior, who entered Friday with the nation’s fifth-highest completion percentage, elevated that mark to 75.8 percent. It was also Montez’s 35-yard touchdown run with 7:15 remaining that squashed any chance of a Bruins (0-4, 0-1 Pac-12) comeback.
Behind its talented tandem of Montez and Shenault, Colorado (4-0, 1-0) showed offensive creativity in the second half, which proved all the more effective after a few notable miscues in the first two quarters. None was most glaring than its two-minute offense that had the Buffs on the cusp of scoring. An impressive 30-yard catch by Jay MacIntyre at the 9-yard line was wiped away after a personal-foul penalty against center Brett Tonz.
Yet the Buffs quickly bounced back and outscored the Bruins, 24-3, in the second half, while essentially eliminating any effectiveness from the dual-threat Thompson-Robinson, limiting the freshman to just 138 passing yards on 17 of 35 attempts.
“They like to blitz on third down a lot and when you have to gain a lot of yards to push it down the field, it makes it hard,” Thompson-Robinson said.
Buffs linebacker Drew Lewis finished with a career-high two sacks, his first of the season — and both within the Bruins’ first five plays of the game — while racking up half of Colorado’s six tackles for loss. And UCLA mustered just 98 yards on offense in the final two quarters, leading to a 22-point margin of separation that is the widest ever on the end of a Buffs victory between these teams.
“I think (UCLA) got a little tired because we were running that ball quick and making them run sideline-to-sideline and then getting them back on the ball and run another play,” Montez said. “I think the altitude kind of got them a little bit in the second half.”
The Buffs’ effective second-half adjustments are reflective of the tempo the team practiced in spring and fall camps, CU coach Mike MacIntyre said.
“We’re taking our whole package to the game, so therefore, when we get in a situation and they change some things, we can go to it because we’ve practiced it and done it enough,” MacIntyre said.
Colorado’s high-powered offense will bring its 40.25 points-per-game average into another Pac-12 showdown next Saturday against Arizona State – and almost assuredly as a Top 25-ranked team in any poll.