No. 8 USC Trojans rout Colorado Buffaloes 55-17
USC Trojans #13 Caleb Williams (QB) had three touchdowns and one interception against the Colorado Buffaloes. Photo by Darwin Walker/TGSportstv1.
LOS ANGELES, CA - The #8 USC Trojans (9-1, Pac-12, 7-1) moved closer to getting into the Pac-12 Championship after beating the Colorado Buffaloes (1-9, Pac-12, 1-5) at the Memorial Coliseum 55-17.
Caleb Williams had three touchdowns for 268-yards and one interception and ran for two touchdowns after carrying the football eight times for 30-yards.
"I just care about competing and winning," Williams said. "If I come out with five (touchdowns), I come out with five. If I come out with one, I come out with one."
USC Trojans #26 Travis Dye (RB) went out the game with a season-ending leg injury. Photo by Darwin Walker/TGSportstv1.
The Trojans led 2-0 with a safety in the first quarter after the Buffaloes were penalized for holding in the endzone trying to pass protect for their quarterback J.T. Shrout.
USC's lead didn't last for long, as Colorado took the lead 3-2 after a 28-yard field goal by Cole Becker.
The Trojans regained the lead 9-3 when Williams scored on a 2-yard touchdown run.
USC lost their leading rusher Travis Dye in the second quarter, who left the game with an air cast on his leg after being tackled in an awkward position ending his season.
"There's no way we would be sitting here as a football team if it wasn't for him," coach Lincoln Riley said.
The Buffaloes trail the Trojans 23-3 at the end of the second quarter after Wiliams threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Brenden Rice.
Colorado Buffaloes #8 Alex Fontenot scored on a 3-yard touchdown run against the USC Trojans’ defense. Photo by Darwin Walker/TGSportstv1.
Colorado got their first touchdown in the third quarter when Alex Fontenot scored on a 3-yard touchdown run, trailing USC 26-10.
The Trojans led 41-10 at the end of the quarter after Williams threw a 61-yard touchdown pass to Tahj Washington and a 12-yard touchdown pass to Austin Jones.
USC Trojans #22 Darwin Barlow (RB) 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Photo by Darwin Walker/TGSportstv1.
In the fourth quarter, Miller Moss replaced Williams and threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Raleek Brown to give USC a 48-10 lead. Colorado would trail 48-17 with an 8-yard touchdown run by J.T. Shrout.
Darwin Barlow gave the Trojans a 55-17 lead with his 3-yard touchdown to end the game and put them in the driver's seat in the Pac-12 Conference with UCLA and Oregon.
USC finished the game with 531 total offense and Colorado end the game with 259-yards in total offense.
Shrout finished the game by completing 11 of his 21 passes for 124-yards and one interception, and Fontenot carried the football twenty times for 108-yards and one touchdown.
The Trojans will play next Saturday against their cross-town rivals, the UCLA Bruins, at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, with a trip to the Pac-12 Championship Game on the line for the winner.