Freshman Colorado wide receiver Brenden Rice, son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, became the first Buffaloes player with a receiving touchdown and a punt return for a TD in a game in the past 25 seasons Saturday against Utah.
Rice's punt return for a touchdown came with 1:30 left in the first quarter and went for 81 yards. Then, on the first play of the second half, he caught a 66-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Sam Noyer.
After the game, Colorado head coach Karl Dorrell said, "It was fun to see him get a chance to make a few plays. He's a good young player. He's a player we feel has a lot of upside and he's trending up and getting better week after week."
Dorrell also joked, "I thought he had a dropped pass today, though, so I won't be too high on his bandwagon. But he's making really good progress, so we're happy he's getting acclimated to the college level of play and he'll continue to get better."
Rice was a three-star recruit out of Chandler, Arizona, in the 2020 class, according to ESPN.
He scored his first career touchdown in Colorado's second game of the season against Stanford and now has six receptions for 120 yards and two receiving touchdowns on the season, along with his punt return for a touchdown against the Utes.