Trojans let kids have run of place

BOULDER, COLO. —  USC showed off a little bit of the future Friday night in a 42-17 victory over Colorado at Folsom Field.

Linebackers Lamar Dawson and Tre Madden made their first college starts, adding to an already sizable contingent of USC freshman first-teamers.

Counting redshirts, the Trojans had seven freshmen in the starting lineup against the Buffaloes.

Dawson started at middle linebacker in place of senior Chris Galippo. Madden started at an outside spot in place of the injured Dion Bailey, another freshman.

Dawson finished with four tackles. Madden had one.

The other freshman starters were wide receiver Marqise Lee, tight end Randall Telfer, guard Marcus Martin, linebacker Hayes Pullard and placekicker Andre Heidari.

Serra scorecard

Three receivers from Gardena Serra High played in the game, two from USC and one from Colorado.

USC sophomore Robert Woods caught nine passes for 130 yards and two touchdowns. Woods now has 90 catches for 1,121 yards and 11 touchdowns this season. He also returned a kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, but the play was nullified by a holding penalty.

Lee had seven receptions for 104 yards and two touchdowns in the first half for USC and finished with nine catches for 124 yards.

Colorado sophomore Paul Richardson returned after sitting out four games because of a knee injury. He had two catches for 18 yards.

USC defensive lineman DaJohn Harris, also a Serra alumnus, batted down a pass and had two tackles.

Safe and sound

USC played without both starting safeties, T.J. McDonald and Jawanza Starling, in the first half.

McDonald played in the second half after serving a two-quarter suspension for an illegal hit against Stanford. Starling missed the game because of an unspecified injury.

Junior Drew McAllister started in McDonald’s place and made three tackles. Senior Marshall Jones started in place of Starling and made two tackles.

Special plays

Rhett Ellison and Telfer blocked field-goal attempts, giving the Trojans six blocked kicks this season.

Ellison blocked a 31-yard attempt in the second quarter. Telfer knocked down a 37-yard attempt in the third quarter.

Offensive tackle Matt Kalil, who is 6 feet 7, has blocked two field-goal attempts and two extra-point kicks.

Buffalo run

Ralphie V, Colorado’s buffalo mascot, provided a bit of excitement during a pregame run, leaving three handlers on the ground over the course of his jaunt from his pen to a trailer.

Before the second-half kickoff, Ralphie V made the same run without incident.

Men in black

Colorado warmed up in its traditional gold helmets but came out for the start of the game in black helmets. It was only the second time the Buffaloes have donned black, the first since 1998 against Baylor.

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