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Normally, the Utah Utes are a stone wall on defense. Ranked No. 1 in the Pac-12 Conference in points allowed, top three in yards allowed.

Nobody usually gets anywhere on these guys.

But the Colorado Buffaloes ran all over the Utes through most of a 17-14 victory at Rice-Eccles Stadium on Friday, stunning a team harboring hopes of reaching the inaugural league title game. The Buffs piled up 376 yards through the first three quarters — that's 32 more than their per-game average — and put the Utes in a hole they couldn't escape.

"They played a great game," linebacker Chaz Walker said. "They came out and outplayed us. They made more plays when they had a chance."

Especially early.

The Buffs gained 254 yards in the first half, with quarterback Tyler Hansen finding wide-open receivers for big gains across the middle. The Utes seemed crossed up in pass coverage and didn't tackle well, in coach Kyle Whittingham's estimation.

The Buffs did not do anything unexpected, Whittingham said, "they just did a nice job mixing up their play-calling. The quarterback, as I said all week long, when he gets hot, he can be effective. And he had some streaks there where he was very effective. … We let him escape too much. We let him out of the cage, and he did some damage running the ball."

Hansen finished the final game of his collegiate career 22-for-36 passing, for 264 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Only twice this season has he thrown for more yards.

"I told Tyler to go out, relax and have fun," coach Jon Embree said. "He played great."

The Buffs played most of the second half without leading rusher Rodney Stewart, who carried only once after halftime because of an apparent ankle injury.

But teammate Tony Jones was effective in his place, gaining 72 yards on 12 carries, while receiver Toney Cleamons burned the Utes for 102 yards on just four catches — even though the Buffs had minus-3 yards of offense in the fourth quarter.

"We knew they were going to run a lot of screens and draws," Utah defensive end Dave Kruger said, "and that's what they did. They just ran them more than we expected."

Stampeding Buffs

The Buffs slowed at the end, but the damage was done:

Qtr Yds Pts

1 185 7

2 69 3

3 122 7

4 -3 0