Breakout sophomore wide receiver Paul Richardson has been named the Pac-12's offensive player of the week for his record breaking performance in Saturday's loss to California. It only took two weeks of play as a new member of the conference for a Colorado player to win the honor, a feat that shouldn't be overlooked. It's unfortunate that the award was win because of a game the Buffaloes lost, but Richardson gutted out one of the best performances from a Colorado player in a long, long time. He was a relative unknown to anyone outside of Colorado before this Saturday, but it's safe to say that will be an issue no longer.

Wide receiver Paul Richardson of Colorado, linebacker Cort Dennison of Washington and defensive tackle Everrette Thompson of Washington have been named Bank of the West Pac-12 Players of the Week in football.

Richardson, a sophomore from Gardena, Calif., caught 11 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns (66, 78 yards) in CU's heartbreaking overtime loss to California, 36-33 in Boulder; 10 of his 11 catches earned first downs (school record for a receiver), 162 of the yards came after the catch and he had 297 all-purpose yards including one rush for 9 yards and a punt return for 4 yards. He set the Colorado record for the most receiving yards in a single game, and third most all-time in Pac-12 history, with the 284 yards (the third 200-plus game in CU history), and tied the CU single game reception mark of 11. It was also his fourth two-TD game, third most ever at CU. Richardson now has six career plays of 50 yards or longer, and his 10 career TD catches have covered 362 yards (3, 60, 62, 4, 3, 50, 15, 21, 66, 78).