Analysis: Colorado’s Omarion Miller-fueled rally comes up just short to USC
Neither Deion Sanders nor Shedeur Sanders believe in moral victories, but it’s hard not to feel good about Colorado after it nearly stormed back to beat No. 8 USC on Saturday.
After falling behind 34-7, the Buffaloes’ offense picked up its play late in the second quarter en route to outscoring the Trojans, 34-14, from that point.
Ultimately, though, the only score that Coach Prime and Co. care about is the 48-41 final, which went in favor of USC.
In that energetic second half, true freshman wide receiver Omarion Miller enjoyed a breakout performance for the ages with several clutch plays. I’ll have more on him below:
The good: Colorado's second-half fight
Although Deion Sanders prefers Colorado to show fight for all four quarters, the Buffs proved they can hang with college football’s best in that second half. Unlike last week at Oregon, CU’s sideline morale didn’t dip when things appeared to be getting out of hand.
The bad: Special teams
In Coach Prime’s own words, “The special teams wasn’t special.” Placekicker Jace Feely missed a 41-yard field goal early, and punter Mark Vassett had a rugby-style punt blocked in the second quarter that turned into a USC score.
Standout stat: 318 yards of second-half offense
Colorado turned what appeared to be a blowout into a shootout thanks to its second-half offensive outburst. Led by Miller’s surge, the Buffs put up 318 yards of second-half offensive with four touchdowns.
Standout player: Omarion Miller
Meet Omarion Miller ?? pic.twitter.com/gXlQEPYuXB
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 30, 2023
Omarion Miller was the talk of college football throughout his electric second half. The true freshman finished with 196 receiving yards, a CU freshman single-game record, and one touchdown.
Quotable
Coach Prime on how Colorado finished the game: “It’s tremendous belief-wise, but we got to believe no matter what.”
What's next?
Colorado heads back onto the road for a Week 6 matchup against Arizona State next Saturday. As of this writing, the Sun Devils are down 17-13 to Cal in the fourth quarter of their Week 5 game.
Kickoff between the Buffs and Sun Devils is set for 4:30 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Network.
MORE
READ: Must-see moments from the first half
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