Colorado tried so, so hard to turn what looked like a blowout loss in the making into a compelling contest.

However, the Buffaloes fell just short in their bid to upset No. 8 USC. Down 48–21 with 2:14 left in the third quarter, Colorado scored the game’s last 20 points — just enough to make Trojans fans sweat.

One of the key culprits in the Buffaloes' comeback stalling out was shoddy clock management on their final scoring drive. It took 4:15 for Colorado to travel 78 yards to wide receiver Jimmy Horn Jr.'s 16-yard catch with just 1:43 showing on the game clock.

Fans of both teams, as well as neutral observers, had a lot to say about coach Deion Sanders's Buffaloes' lackadaisical approach.

Careless clock managers of years past were name-checked.

Some handed out strong superlatives as Colorado frittered away a shot at victory.

The Buffaloes' history caught a stray (from NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano, no less).

A question posed implicitly or explicitly by many fans: did Colorado realize it was down two scores instead of just one?

The Buffaloes seemed to meet their match in second half, as their coaching woes did battle with USC's porous defense.

Past temporal nightmares in the Centennial State were recalled.

The rough consensus: Colorado has some things to clean up before its visit to Arizona State next Saturday.