Buffs Fall To BYU In Alamo Bowl

SAN ANTONIO — Colorado's offense struggled for much of the night Saturday and the No. 20 Buffaloes dropped a 36-14 decision to No. 17 Brigham Young in the Valero Alamo Bowl at the Alamodome.

Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders Buffs finished the season 9-4 as CU lost its fifth straight bowl game. BYU improved to 11-2.

The Cougars scored a touchdown on their second possession of the game and pushed their lead to 20-0 by halftime. BYU then extended its lead to 27-0 early in the third quarter before the Buffs finally got on the board.

Both teams then added another touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Buffs finished with a season-low 210 yards offense, including just 2 yards rushing. CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns, but was also intercepted twice and sacked four times. The Buffs ran just 42 offensive plays, tying their season low.

CU's Heisman Trophy winner, Travis Hunter, had four catches for 106 yards and a touchdown while Micah Welch led CU with 25 yards rushing.

BYU finished with 331 yards offense, including 180 yards on the ground, and also had a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown.

Defensively, CU did record three interceptions, one each by DJ McKinney, Anquin Barnes Jr. and Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig.

But despite the loss, it was still a successful season for the Buffs. The nine wins were the most by a CU team since the 2016 team won 10 games and Colorado did finish in a tie for the top spot in the final Big 12 standings.

"We've established expectations," Coach Prime said. "So now you expect us to perform a certain way. You expect us to win. You expect us to be exciting. You expect us to be a lot more disciplined than we displayed today. You just have expectations of us now. That's what we've established."

HOW IT HAPPENED: Nothing went right for the Buffaloes in the first half. CU finished the first two quarters with just 61 yards offense while giving up three sacks and the Buffs were flagged for seven penalties as well, leading to a 20-0 BYU lead at the break.

"We started identifying, we started getting the rhythm of things, but we just weren't connecting overall," Shedeur said. "That's what stopped us overall, ourselves."

The Cougars scored their first touchdown on their second possession of the day after Shedeur threw incomplete on fourth-and-1, handing the ball to BYU at the Cougars 48-yard line. Seven plays later, BYU punched it in from the 1-yard line for a 7-0 lead.

Colorado then went backward on its next possession after a 10-yard sack of Sanders and a short punt gave BYU the ball at CU's 41-yard line.

But CU's defense made a stand that included a Chidozie Nwankwo sack, forcing the Cougars to settle for a 51-yard field goal and 10-0 lead.

BYU then caught the Buffs off-guard on the ensuing kickoff with an onside kick that the Cougars recovered at their own 46. But CU's McKinney thwarted the drive with an interception, giving Colorado the ball at its own 30-yard line.

CU then put together its best offensive possession of the half. Hunter turned a short pass into a 58-yard gain and a BYU penalty gave the Buffs a first down at the BYU 9-yard line.

But the drive stalled after two short gains and a 23-yard sack of Shedeur on third down. Alejandro Mata's 48-yard field goal try then drifted wide left, leaving the Buffs still trailing 10-0.

Colorado's defense then produced another big play on BYU's ensuing possession. The Cougars drove to the CU 21-yard line before Buffs defensive lineman Barnes plucked a deflected pass out of the air to halt the drive and give CU possession.

But the Buffs' offense continued to struggle and Colorado was forced to punt after the third sack of Shedeur in the half. BYU's special teams then delivered another big play, a 64-yard Parker Kingston return for a touchdown and 17-0 lead.

CU then endured a three-and-out, giving BYU enough time to drive into position for a 54-yard field goal as time expired in the half, sending the Buffs into the locker room trailing 20-0 at the break.

BYU extended its lead to 27-0 early in the third quarter after a Sanders pass to Jimmy Horn Jr. was tipped up and the Cougars intercepted. Brigham Young then methodically drove 55 yards in nine plays for a touchdown.

The Buffs finally found some offense on the ensuing possession. CU drove into BYU territory and Sanders completed a 63-yard drive by scrambling out of the pocket and throwing a 43-yard touchdown pass to Hunter to close the gap to 27-7.

The Buffs then recorded their third interception of the game on BYU's next possession. Silmon-Craig picked off a Jake Retzlaff pass in the end zone to stop a potential Cougars scoring drive but the Buffs couldn't move the ball and punted.

BYU then put the game away for good with a four-play, 42-yard scoring drive. The two-point try failed but Colorado still trailed 33-7 with 10:27 to play.

Any slim hopes of a CU comeback were squashed on the ensuing possession. Sanders threw his second interception of the game, giving BYU the ball at the Colorado 31-yard line, and the Cougars added a field goal with 5:28 to play to push their cushion to 36-7.

The Buffs then wrapped up the scoring with their best drive of the day, a seven-play, 82-yard march. Shedeur completed passes of 19, 38 and 25 yards before finishing the march with a 2-yard scoring toss to tight end Sav'ell Smalls to cut BYU's lead to 36-14.

"BYU, well, coached," Coach Prime said. "They did a phenomenal job of running the football, special teams kicked our butts. We couldn't do nothing offensively, not much at all defensively. I think we had some stops, but we didn't have enough and we came up short. But not to take nothing away from them. They played a heck of a football game."

UP NEXT: The Buffs are scheduled to open the 2025 season on Aug. 30 with a home game against Georgia Tech.

Team Stats

Players Mentioned

Anquin Barnes Jr.

Jimmy Horn Jr.

Travis Hunter

Alejandro Mata

DJ McKinney

Chidozie Nwankwo

Shedeur Sanders

Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig

Sav’ell Smalls

Micah Welch