California Nightmare: Dawgs chew up Buffs in Pac-12 Championship

The Colorado Buffaloes fell hard on the national stage in Santa Clara on Friday night. The Buffs couldn’t stop the Washington Huskies’ run game or force the turnovers they needed out of quarterback Jake Browning. Perhaps more importantly, their offense failed to create momentum or protect the football, as Washington dominated Colorado 41-10.

The first play of the game drew a pass interference call on Colorado, and a huge gain for Washington. The Huskies scored on the initial drive and maintained control for the duration of the matchup. Their first drive would foreshadow the remainder of the night.

Colorado failed to contain the run time and time again. Big gains by running backs Myles Gaskin and Lavon Coleman burned the Buffs. Colorado continually struggled to find an answer for the run plays coming from the Huskies.

Following a big run into Washington territory, quarterback Sefo Liufau went down early in the first quarter, forcing backup Steven Montez to take over. The Buffs marched down the field and scored on a three-yard run by Phillip Lindsay. It would be the only touchdown of the night for Colorado, tying the game at 7-7.

The Buffs defense held strong for the majority of the first quarter, forcing a punt and a turnover on down for the Huskies. The Colorado offense was unable to match their level of play. After Montez’ second drive, the scoring drive, he struggled to move the ball down the field and the Buffs headed into halftime down 14-7 on the heels of another Washington touchdown.

Liufau returned to start the third quarter, tossing a pick-six on his first pass. Huskies’ freshman defensive back Taylor Rapp returned the interception 35 yards for a touchdown, extending Washington’s lead to 21-7.

Colorado’s next possession would end in a similar fashion. Rapp with another interception on Liufau, this time brought down at the Colorado 25 yard line. The Buffs’ defense managed to hold the Huskies to a field goal, and a 24-7 margin.

The rest of the game reads similarly. Washington punished Colorado repeatedly with the run game and a John Ross touchdown. They ended the third quarter with yet another turnover, this one at the hands of defensive back Ezekiel Turner.

While there were moments of hope in the third quarter, including a huge pickup by Lindsay on a near fumble that set the Buffs up in the Huskies’ end zone, the Buffs never regained momentum in the matchup. Colorado failed to convert and kicked a field goal to make it 10-34.

Washington went on to score another touchdown, composed entirely of run plays. The Buffs never found an answer for the Huskies’ running backs, and Washington preyed upon that weakness. Their final touchdown made the score 10-41, the last scoring possession for either team Friday night.

Washington finished with 265 yards on the ground, 159 came from Gaskin and 107 from Coleman. Colorado was able to contain Browning, who went 9-of-24 passing, but that’s about the only thing they did right.

Colorado’s offense was held to 163 yards on 54 plays while turning over the ball three times all on interceptions.

The Buffaloes were dominated on both sides of the football tonight. They failed to create momentum on offense and were unable to stop the run or keep the pressure on the quarterback on defense. Liufau did not look like himself after his injury, and the offense was far from the high-scoring powerhouse they have been for most of the season. A dominant season by the Buffs’ comes to an uncertain end, with their bowl game status yet to be determined.