Omarion Miller barely got on the field in the first half Saturday.
His second half was sensational, however, and on Monday he was named the Pac-12 freshman of the week.
In Colorado’s 48-41 loss to USC, Miller had a breakout game with seven catches for 196 yards and a touchdown.
Miller’s first catch of the game – and of his career – didn’t come until 7 minutes, 14 seconds to play in the third quarter, when he caught a short hitch and went 65 yards.
His emergence helped CU rally from a 41-14 deficit to have a shot to win in the final minutes.
According to the Pac-12, Miller’s 196 yards are the most for any Pac-12 player since 1996 for the same game in which he had his first career catch.
Miller also set a CU freshman record for receiving yards in a game and his total was the eighth-best in program history for any player.
After the game, NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin gave Miller some words of encouragement.
“It meant a lot,” Miller said. “Coming from Michael Irvin, that kind of pumped me up a little bit. That message just telling me to just keep working. I got so much to prove. This is just one game. Y’all ain’t seen nothing yet really. So just telling me to keep working, keep doing what I do best.”
Miller is the second Buff to win the Pac-12 freshman of the week honor this year, joining Dylan Edwards in Week 1.
Other Pac-12 winners on Monday were: USC quarterback Caleb Williams (offense), Oregon State’s Easton Mascarenas-Arnold (defense), California’s Lachlan Wilson (special teams), Oregon State’s Tanner Miller (offensive line) and Utah’s Jonah Elliss (defensive line).
Ralphie update
Several CU fans have wondered whatap going on with the Buffs’ live mascot, Ralphie VI this season.
Typically, Ralphie will take off from the northeast end zone and run to about the 30-yard line on the south end of the field before turning and heading back to her trailer on the northwest side of the field.
At the home opener on Sept. 9, Ralphie ran just past the south 40-yard line, making basically a complete run. But before the second game, Sept. 16, she began to turn around the north 35-yard line and never went past the north 40 before heading back to the trailer. On Saturday before the USC game, she had an even shorter run, turning at the north 30-yard line before going back to the trailer.
Also different from tradition is that the team is not running behind Ralphie as they take the field and instead coming out of the locker room after Ralphie is already back in her tailer.
BuffZone contacted CU for comment about Ralphie’s short runs and the team not running behind her. A CU spokesperson told Buffzone, “We’re not discussing either matter regarding Ralphie right now.”
Ralphie VI is in her third season as the Buffs’ mascot.
Notable
CU has had seven players record at least 100 receiving yards this season. Thatap already the most for a CU team since 2018. … Colorado is tied for fifth nationally in turnover margin, at plus-7 (12 takeaways, five turnovers). … The Buffs are one of only seven teams nationally to be perfect in the red zone this year, going 17 of 17, with 12 touchdowns.
