Colorado Stalls Late, Falls to BYU 24-21

A week after renewing a historic rivalry with regional rival Wyoming, the Colorado Buffaloes hosted another regionally close team that they haven’t played in the regular season since 1981: BYU. However, the game was a rematch of the 2024 Alamo Bowl, which BYU won handily.

BYU entered the game 3-0, with Colorado holding a 2-2 record in need of a season-steadying win.

Pregame History

Colorado leads the all-time series against BYU 8-4-1, but that hardly tells the full story of modern outcomes between these two teams.

Colorado, then ranked #25, and BYU, then ranked #13, last met just nine months ago in the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas, with BYU winning handily 36-14 in the final game of both Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter’s collegiate careers.

Before that, BYU topped Colorado 20-17 in the 1988 Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, California.

BYU and Colorado last met in the regular season in 1981, at Folsom Field, with BYU winning 41-20.

So while Colorado leads the series 8-4-1, their wins all came between the team’s first meeting in 1923 and fourth-most recent meeting in 1947.

Colorado entered the matchup 6-1 against their regional rival at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado. Colorado is 2-1-1 in Provo, Utah.

Game Recap

Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter opened the scoring with a three-yard run, and wide receiver Dre’Lon Miller punched it in from five yards out to put the Buffs up 14-0. Miller was excellent in a new set of wildcat packages, finishing the game with 8 rushes for 52 yards and a score on top of two catches for 27 yards and a TD.

BYU scored the next 17 points, first on a field goal and then on back-to-back touchdowns scored the same way: from quarterback Bear Bachmeier to wide receiver Chase Roberts, both from a few yards out.

It looked like another game that might slip out of Colorado and Coach Prime’s hands, but Salter and the Buffaloes offense responded swiftly, scoring that Salter to Miller passing touchdown to cap off a quick six-play, 75-yard drive.

BYU punched right back with a 8-play, 77-yard drive, scoring from 32 yards out with running back Cory Hagan to take a 24-21 lead.

And then, the Buffaloes offense sputtered. Four plays, -15 yards. Three plays, 4 yards. Four plays, 20 yards, INT. These were the results of Colorado’s final three drives, all while down just three points.

What once looked like an upset of a ranked team quickly became BYU partying with their huge visiting supporter base in the Northwest corner of the endzone.

BYU improves to 4-0, with their first conference win of the season, while Colorado fell to 2-3, and 0-2 in Big 12 Play.

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