Junior quarterback Steven Montez accounted for three touchdowns and sophomore receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. scored twice as Colorado knocked off UCLA 38-16 on Friday night in the Pac-12 opener for both teams in Boulder, Colo.

Montez completed 22 of 26 passes for 237 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 81 yards and two scores for the Buffaloes (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12). Shenault caught 12 passes for 126 yards and one touchdown and also added a rushing score.

Senior Travon McMillian rushed for 102 yards and a score for Colorado, which has won its first four games for the first time since 1998.

Junior Joshua Kelley rushed for 124 yards for the Bruins (0-4, 0-1). Freshman quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson passed for 138 yards and one score as UCLA dropped its first four games for the first time since 1971.

Colorado outgained the Bruins 477-289.

The Buffaloes were trailing by two, 16-14, in the second half before scoring 24 unanswered points.

The onslaught began when Shenault scored on a 1-yard direct snap to give Colorado a 21-16 lead with 7:45 left in the third quarter.

McMillian added a 6-yard rushing score to make it 28-16 with 1:04 remaining in the period. Sophomore James Stefanou kicked a 41-yard field goal to increase the Buffaloes' lead to 31-16 with 11:46 left in the game.

Montez then delivered a 35-yard scoring run down the left sideline. A receiver from the left came in motion, Montez faked a handoff to the running back and saw nothing but open space as he darted for the score with 7:15 remaining.

UCLA struck first when Thompson-Robinson tossed an 11-yard scoring pass to freshman Michael Ezeike with 7:26 left in the first quarter. The Buffaloes knotted the score when Shenault shredded the one-on-one coverage of Bruins sophomore cornerback Darnay Holmes to haul in a 57-yard touchdown pass from Montez with five minutes left in the quarter.

Junior JJ Molson kicked a 21-yard field to give UCLA a 10-7 advantage with 57 seconds left in the stanza. Colorado moved ahead by four when Montez scored on a 10-yard run with 6:13 left in the half.

Molson booted a 50-yard field goal with 1:40 left in the half to pull the Bruins within 14-13. Molson kicked a 40-yarder to push UCLA ahead by two with 10:36 left in the third quarter.

--Field Level Media