Buffaloes can’t keep up in 44-20 loss to UCLA

A lot of the Colorado Buffaloes games this year haven’t given us many positives to latch onto. Last week, in an overtime win over the Oregon State Beavers, the Buffaloes offense finally seemed to turn a corner, even if it may have been a rounded corner. This week on the road against the UCLA Bruins that offense returned, if only for the first half. In the second half, the Bruins speed discrepancy over the Buffaloes was clear in a 44-20 loss.

Alex Fontenot had two touchdowns on the ground in the first half, and Jarek Broussard finished with 108 yards, the second straight game Broussard broke the century mark. The Buffaloes rolled up 242 yards in the first half, the most this season, but were held to 117 and zero points (Cole Becker missed a 43-yard field goal) for the rest of the game, only crossing mid-field twice.

Quarterback Brendon Lewis was 17 of 26 for 168 yards.

For the Bruins, Zach Charbonnet had three rushing touchdowns, Dorian Thompson-Robinson gained 356 yards through the air and on the ground and the win have gave them bowl eligibility. All of Charbonnet’s touchdowns came in the second half as the Bruins rallied from a 20-10 halftime deficit.

The Buffaloes now face a losing season for the ninth time since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, a year after going 4-2 and making a bowl game during the 2020 COVID-19 shortened season.

Next Saturday, the Buffaloes face Washington at 1:00 p.m. in their final game at Folsom this season