The regular season is in the books and now it is time for bowl season. Nine Big 12 teams will be playing over the next two weeks and BYU and Colorado are next up on the bowl list. The Cougars finished the regular season with a 10-2 record while Colorado went 9-3. It was a fun evening in San Antonio as both teams were looking to end their season on a high note.
Here are my three thoughts on BYU’s 36-14 win over Colorado in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday night.
Colorado Didn’t Show Up
For the last few weeks, we heard about Colorado being ready to play this game and how many guys they had that were suiting up. Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter both played in this game but that didn’t really matter much for the Buffaloes. Shedeur had one of his worst performances of the season as he threw two interceptions. As always, he was under a ton of pressure all game long, but this time he couldn’t make any magic happen. And because of that, Colorado couldn’t put together anything offensively.
As bad as the offense was the defense may have been worse. While they did manage to get several takeaways, they had no answer for BYU’s rushing attack giving up 180 yards on the ground. To make matters worse, they struggled against the pass and committed too many penalties in the first half. This was by far Colorado’s worst performance as a team since the Kansas game back in late November.
BYU Could Have Won by 50
If not for three ugly turnovers, the Cougars could have won by 50 or even more on Saturday night in the Alamodome. BYU had their way with Colorado on the ground as they ran for nearly 200 yards led by LJ Martin who finished with 88 yards and two scores.
But the credit for BYU should go to that defense of theirs. They completely shut down Colorado’s run game and put pressure on Shedeur Sanders every time he dropped back. What really impressed me was the way BYU played in the trenches. They won the battle up front on both sides of the ball.
What’s Next?
I hate to ask this immediately following Colorado’s final game of the season, but it’s a question that is running through the mind of many college football fans, especially the ones in Boulder. Will Deion Sanders remain at Colorado? That is the million-dollar question. Even though Deion has said that he has no plans to leave, there have been plenty of rumors floating around NFL circles linking him to multiple jobs.
You could see that Deion was very emotional on Saturday when he realized that this would be the last time he gets to coach his two sons in college. Obviously, Deion and his staff have done a lot in their brief time in Boulder, but I would love to see what he can build there if he ends up staying put.
As for BYU, Jake Retzlaff is coming back, and he could end up being one of the best quarterbacks in the Big 12 next season. However, the Cougars will have to replace several key players on both sides of the ball. I doubted Kalani Sitake this year and he proved me wrong, but I don’t plan to make that same mistake in 2025.
