UCLA Football Uses Big 2nd Half to Blow Out Colorado in Boulder

The undefeated Bruins were at risk of losing control late in the first half, but opened the second with 24 unanswered en route to a win.

After barely scraping by a week earlier, the Bruins are back to their blowout ways.

Undefeated UCLA football (4-0) took care of business against winless Colorado (0-4) at Folsom Field on Saturday, running away in the second half for the eventual 45-17 win. The Bruins were only up 21-10 at the half, making the Buffaloes look better than they had all season, but they once again turned on the jets after halftime and gave their backups plenty of garbage time snaps down the stretch.

The result somewhat resembled the UCLA-Colorado game from 2021, when the Bruins outscored the Buffaloes 34-0 in the second half at the Rose Bowl. A Buffalo touchdown in the final three minutes cost the Bruins their second-half shutout this time around, but it didn’t do much to change the end result thanks to their offense’s breakout day.

On their first three drives of the day, UCLA made it into the end zone all three times, and it didn’t take them particularly long to do so either.

None of those first three drives needed more than seven plays or took longer than 3:12. Quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who talked about thriving in the hurry-up offense earlier in the week, was in a rhythm from the get go, leading the way on the ground and through the air.

Thompson-Robinson hit receiver Matt Sykes for a 24-yard touchdown on the opening drive, delivering one to the junior wideout for the first time all season. While it was running back Zach Charbonnet who capped off the next two drives with 35-yard and 13-yard rushing touchdowns, Thompson-Robinson did a lot of the heavy lifting to get the Bruins downfield.

In the first half, Thompson-Robinson was 13-of-16 for 174 yards and a touchdown with an 81.3% completion percentage and a 193.2 passer rating.

UCLA was threatening to score on its fourth drive as well, making it all the way to Colorado’s 27 before facing a 4th-and-short. Instead of putting in Charbonnet, though, it was Keegan Jones who got the carry, and he was stuffed at the line.

That gave the Buffaloes’ offense a chance to flip the momentum before halftime, and that’s exactly what they did.

Colorado averaged 4.4 yards per play in the first half – far better than the 1.8 they averaged in first first half against Minnesota in Week 3 – with passing gains of 31 and 42 yards highlighting the relative resurgence. The first one set the Buffaloes up for a field goal early on, but they missed it.

The second big gain was Colorado’s longest of the season, and it was the key play in their 74-yard drive before the end of the opening half. True freshman Owen McCown rolled out to his left and galloped into the end zone for six, making it a 21-10 contest heading into the break.

That momentum didn’t carry over into the second half, however.

UCLA opened things up by going 75 yards in four plays, with Charbonnet’s juke-filled 46-yard touchdown putting them back up by three scores. When Colorado got the ball back, defensive end Laiatu Latu swatted down a pass at the line and sacked McCown to force the first three-and-out of the day.

Latu’s disruption was key to the Bruins’ defense holding relatively strong, considering Jay Toia left with an injury in the first quarter and Gabriel Murphy was ejected on a targeting call not long after. Veteran Bo Clavert was the one who came through with the tackle on a Colorado fake punt to hand UCLA three points, but Latu got the strip sack one the following drive to set the Bruins up deep in enemy territory yet again.

Thompson-Robinson was able to convert on the positive field position with a touchdown this time, finding receiver Logan Loya for a 28-yard gain before delivering a 2-yard touchdown to quarterback-turned-receiver-turned-running back Colson Yankoff.

That’s when Ethan Garbers came in to close out the blowout win, but the defense didn’t let up just yet. Edge rusher Carl Jones snagged an interception, leading to another touchdown reception for Yankoff. A tackle for loss and breakup at the line by linebacker JonJon Vaughns led to another Buffalo punt, keeping the Bruins' defense in charge.

In the second half, Colorado may have picked up eight first downs, but seven of those came in the final 10 minutes when UCLA was already up by 35. The Bruins’ defense held their opponent to 37 total yards and 1.8 yards per play between halftime and the Buffaloes’ final drive, all while also forcing three punts, a turnover on downs, an interception and a fumble.

Thompson-Robinson outdueled McCown by a wide margin, racking up 234 yards and two touchdowns on 82.6% completion with a 196.8 passer rating. McCown was able to rack up more yards with 258, but he turned the ball over twice and only boasted a 116.6 passer rating.

UCLA outrushed Colorado 249-51 behind Charbonnet’s 104 yards and three scores on nine carries.

The light start to the year is over for the Bruins, whose next three games come against ranked opponents – Washington, Utah and Oregon. Besides the 32-31 victory over South Alabama, UCLA's other three wins have come by an average of 30.3 points per game. 

Still, UCLA is 4-0 for the first time since 2015, and they won in Boulder for the first time since 2014.

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