The Colorado Buffaloes hosted the Utah Utes on Saturday in a Week 12 Big 12 match up that had conference title and College Football Playoff implications. The Buffaloes came in needing to win out this season to end up in the Big 12 Championship Game. Meantime, Utah was fresh off a tough loss to their rival BYU, had lost five in a row and was now in the unusual position of just playing spoiler.
And while it was Utah who got on the board first in the Big 12 match up with a field goal in the first quarter following an interception of Shedeur Sanders, the Buffaloes were able to dominate the rest of the game on their way to a 49-24 win.
Here are the three biggest takeaways from the game.
The Buffaloes Were Not Phased By Utah’s Start
As noted above, the Buffaloes had a quick turnover and then Utah kicked a field goal to take a 3-0 lead. Knowing that Utah was playing with house money, while Colorado was playing with conference title implications, there was no sign of Colorado getting shaken early. After the turnover and being down a field goal, Sanders led the Buffaloes on a five-play touchdown drive, capped off by a 40-yard strike to Will Sheppard. And then it was LaJohntay Wester with a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown on the very next drive and Colorado was right back in front 14-3 and never looked back.
This team was confident the entire time and never appeared like a team that was feeling early nerves. Travis Hunter had an interception in the first half and then the first two quarters ended with CU putting together a 14-play, 85-yard drive that took nearly five minutes off the clock. Sanders found Will Sheppard for a six-yard touchdown as the Buffaloes took a 21-9 lead into halftime. The second half was mostly coasting for the Buffaloes.
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Utah’s Offense is Abysmal
Colorado’s defense continues to improve, but Utah’s rough season continues on, with the offense remaining the Achilles heel for this team. Isaac Wilson keeps getting reps as the starting quarterback, but with each passing game it seems more and more unlikely the Utes can go into the 2025 season with Wilson as their guy.
Colorado basically forced Utah to try to beat them through the air. They stacked the box and held Utah to 31 rushing yards on 30 carries. That included an 18-yard rush to end the game. And even if you exclude the sack yardage of Isaac Wilson (-19), it’s not much better, with 30 carries for 51 yards. Not good.
Wilson had one solid drive early in the fourth quarter that cut a three-score deficit down to a two-score deficit, but Wilson also threw three interceptions on the afternoon. There is a lot of work to do for this offense to turn it around in the offseason.
Travis Hunter’s Heisman Chances Skyrocket
Travis Hunter entered the weekend as the favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, but those chances only got better after an epic performance on Saturday against Utah. He played every snap of the game up until the final two minutes, including 66 snaps on offense and 66 snaps on defense. He had 55 receiving yards, his first rushing touchdown of his career that unofficially put the game away with under three minutes left, along with an interception in the first half.
Hunter is doing things we haven’t seen in decades, if ever, in college football, and it’s hard to see anyone beating him out for the Heisman Trophy at this point.
