SportsDirect Inc. staff
Nov 24, 2013
No. 25 USC 47, Colorado 29: Javorius Allen rushed for a career-best 145 yards and matched a career high with three touchdowns as the visiting Trojans built a 30-point lead before coasting past the Buffaloes.
Cody Kessler was 19-of-28 for 184 yards and a pair of touchdowns for USC (9-3, 6-2 Pac-12), which is 6-1 under interim coach Ed Orgeron. The Trojans limited the Buffaloes to 73 yards and five first downs in the first half and the special teams got into the act with a blocked punt for a safety as USC led 23-0 at the break.
Freshman Sefo Liufau misfired on 11 of his 15 first-half passes before finishing 17-of-33 for 188 yards and two touchdowns for Colorado (4-7, 1-7), which clinched its eighth straight losing season. Paul Richardson, who entered fourth in the nation with 120.1 receiving yards per game, was held to 88 on eight catches and a score.
Allen had scoring runs of 1 and 12 yards while Kessler connected with Nelson Agholor for a 20-yard touchdown 42 seconds prior to the break. The Buffaloes' defense took matters into its own hands when Jered Bell ripped the ball away from Allen, scooped it up and ran 31 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half.
The Trojans responded with touchdowns on their next two possessions with Kessler finding Randall Telfer for a 10-yard score and Allen running it in from the 23. Colorado didn't move inside the USC 40 until the first snap of the fourth quarter and Nelson Spruce made a circus grab for a 38-yard touchdown on the next play.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Trojans WR Marqise Lee, expected to be the first wide receiver taken in the 2014 NFL draft, did not play because of a shin injury and RB Silas Redd was also sidelined (knee). ... The game-time temperature was 29 degrees, which is believed to be tied for the second-coldest game in USC history. It was 20 degrees during the Trojans' 40-12 loss at Notre Dame in 1957. ... The Trojans' Pac-12 championship hopes came to an end when Arizona clinched the South Division title with a 38-33 victory over UCLA while USC and Colorado played the second quarter.