– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BOULDER, COLORADO — Coach Prime, a.k.a. Deion Sanders, has turned Boulder into the celebrities’ haven, attracting A-listers to the Centennial State to witness the turnaround currently happening with the Colorado Buffaloes’ football team. However, on Saturday morning, Sanders and the Buffaloes could not contain the biggest star on the field, who happened to be on the other sideline and who also happened to have a a career performance to add to an already-sterling college career.
Reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams tied a career-high with six touchdown passes, staking the eighth-ranked Trojans to a massive lead before USC hung on to defeat Colorado 48-41 inside Folsom Field on Saturday. Three of Williams’ six scoring tosses came in the second quarter, when USC built its first 27-point advantage of 34-7, as he ended the day with 403 yards through the air on 30-of-40 passing.
The blowout that Sanders and Buffaloes suffered last week in Eugene at the hands of Oregon looked to repeat itself when Williams’ three-yard touchdown pass to Jude Wolfe late in the third restored a 27-point bulge at 48-21. But Colorado answered back with three unanswered touchdowns, all touchdown passes from Shedur Sanders, with the first coming 72 seconds after Wolfe’s touchdown on a 21-yard scoring pass to Michael Harrison.
During the third quarter, Sanders developed a partnership with Omarion Miller, playing in his first collegiate football game. and they hooked on for 65-yard reception that led to a Colorado touchdown three plays later. They continued to cause havoc for the Trojans secondary in the fourth, as Miller went into a dive to catch a nine-yard pass in the end zone on fourth down to bring the Buffaloes within 14 at the 12:06 mark of the fourth.
USC had a chance to open up a two-score lead again, but Denis Lynch missed a 39-yard field goal. On the ensuing drive, Sanders and Miller connected on three different pass plays accounting for 50 yards, the last moving the ball to the Trojans’ 11-yard line. After a false start penalty, Sanders found Jimmy Horn Jr. for an 11-yard touchdown with 1:50 left and the Colorado deficit was just seven.
USC, however, recovered the onside kick and the Trojans were able to kneel on the ball to escape the Buffaloes’ last-ditch comeback and notch its first back-to-back seasons starting 5-0 since 2005-2006.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s contest, with all photos taken by Las Vegas-area photographer Arnie Bazemore. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are six pictures in total.
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