The USC Trojans escape the Colorado Buffaloes 48-41 at Folsom Field to move to 5-0 for the second straight season on Saturday.

With this victory, USC pickups up their 2^nd conference win, as they defeated Arizona St. last week 42-28.

The Trojans were led by their Heisman frontrunner QB, Caleb Williams. Williams was masterful against the Colorado defense by throwing for 403 yards and 6 touchdowns on 30/40 passes. This was Williams’ 6^th game with 5 or more touchdown passes. He also threw his 1^st interception of the season late in the 3^rd quarter.

USC’s receiving duo of Tajh Washington and Bredan Rice also had good performances. Washington recorded 8 receptions for 117 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Rice totaled 5 receptions for 81 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Colorado fell short of the upset, but they had huge performances from Shedeur Sanders and Omarion Miller. Sanders bounced back from his struggling performance against Oregon last week by going 30/45 on passes for 371 yards and 4 touchdowns. Miller, who saw the field for the 1^st time this season, showcased his ability by compiling 7 receptions for 196 yards and a touchdown.

The Buffaloes fall to 3-2 on the season and lose their 2^nd straight game to a conference opponent.

USC established an early three score lead in the 2^nd quarter after Caleb Williams completed an 8-yard TD pass to Dorian Singer for a 20-0 lead.

USC dominated Colorado in the 1^st half scoring touchdowns on five of their seven opening possessions, with four of those touchdowns being completed passes from Caleb Williams. Colorado would score twice in the half but entered halftime down 34-14.

The Trojans would extend their lead midway through the 3^rd quarter after Williams completed a 6-yard TD pass to Brendan Rice, which pushed the score to 41-14.

Though Colorado was down big, they were not out. Colorado would respond to the Trojan TD with a TD of their own after Anthony Hankerson rushed 6 yards for the score to close the deficit to 41-21.

USC would immediately score on the next drive when Williams completed his 6^th TD pass, this time to Jude Wolfe, for a 48-21 lead late in the 3^rd quarter.

The Buffaloes would then score TDs on back-to-back possessions, when Shedeur Sanders threw a 21-yard pass to Micheal Harrison and a 9-yard strike to Omarion Miller to shorten the deficit to 48-34 early in the 4^th quarter.

Then, following a USC punt and a missed field goal attempt, Colorado would score yet again with 1:43 left in the game when Sanders threw his 4th TD pass to make it a one score game at 48-41.

Colorado went for an onside kick, but it was recovered by the Trojans. USC then chewed the clock to win the game and cut Colorado’s comeback short.

The USC Trojans made many mistakes in the 2^nd half, including an interception, a missed field goal, and multiple penalties.  USC’s head coach, Lincoln Riley, believes those faults helped the Buffaloes maintain within reach and make a late game push.

“[We] didn’t play very good [in] the 2^nd half really, on any of the three sides”, said Riley. “Penalties, we had one turnover, missed tackles. We did the things you don’t do when you’re trying to finish out a good opponent on the road”.

For Colorado, they faced a large deficit last week in Oregon, but never gained momentum to put some scoring drives together. Whereas against USC, they were down 41-14 and put together 21-7 run to have a chance to tie the game late. Head coach Deion Sanders credits the improvement and toughness of his team to bounce back in the 2^nd half.

“They were resilient, and they did not give up when they had multiple opportunities”, said Sanders. “They fought to the end. We sustained injuries, next man up came in and did their thing”.

Up Next

The USC Trojans return home next week, as they take on the Arizona Wildcats. Meanwhile, Colorado is on the road, as they travel to Arizona St. to take on the Sun Devils.