Buffaloes take down Houston on Friday the 13th for first top-15 win in 19 years
The Colorado Buffaloes needed some Folsom Field magic on Friday the 13th to take down No. 14-ranked Houston.
They got that and more, putting together their best offensive display of the season and posting a 42-32 signature win of the Coach Prime era in Boulder.
“Everybody showed up together. And that's what we're indicative of doing when we're all playing together as one,” head coach Deion Sanders said following the win.
It was a tale of two halves with the Buffs scoring 28 unanswered points after falling behind 20-7.
The Buffaloes had their best rushing performance of the season, totaling 249 yards on the ground and five rushing touchdowns, the first time they had accomplished that feat since 2020. Running back Richard Young had another impressive game on the ground, nearly eclipsing 100 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
“We showed them different looks that I'm pretty sure they weren't ready for”, Coach Prime said. “We changed things up quite a bit tonight, and it was successful.”
The Buffs defense couldn’t slow down the Cougar duo of Re’Shaun Sanford and Makhi Hughes in the first half, but did a great job tightening up in the second half and limiting them to just 63 yards in the final two quarters.
Explosive plays were the biggest key to unlocking the offense, with four of their touchdowns coming from 30+ yards.
“Those plays are humongous. We've been searching for explosiveness from the offense and you containing explosiveness on the defensive side. But they got it together tonight,” Sanders said.
Winning the turnover battle against a ranked opponent was crucial to the Buffs controlling the flow of play in the second half. Colorado forced two massive, game-changing turnovers in the second half: a forced fumble by Randon Fontenette and an interception by Boo Carter.
Houston’s secondary has been its main defensive flaw so far this season, ranking in the bottom four of the Big 12 in passing yards given up per game. Colorado thrived on easy completions and screen passes, exploiting Houston’s secondary in the second half.
Joseph Williams stepped up in the passing game when needed, posting 5 receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Houston entered the game with the highest conversion percentage in the Big 12, and third-down completions were pivotal in Houston’s following touchdown drive.
On a third-and-14 that the Colorado defense needed to get off the field, Houston tight end Patrick Overmeyer converted a screen pass from Weigman for a first down. Weigman and Walker connected for another third-down conversion a series later, putting Houston in the red zone.
Makai Hughes took his seventh carry of the game eight yards to the end zone, putting the Cougars up 10-0 at the start of the second quarter.
The Buffaloes were forced to start their second drive from their own five-yard line after Dekalon Taylor briefly muffed the kickoff. Isaac Wilson threaded the needle on 2nd down to Ernest Campbell for a 24-yard gain as the Buffs began moving the ball.
On running back Young’s first carry of the night, he went 38 yards for a house call and got Colorado on the board. Young has been getting more work in the Colorado backfield over the past couple of weeks and looked explosive when called on all night.
The Cougars' running game has been dominant all season, and both backs ran all over Colorado in the first half. They marched down the field efficiently, and receiver Amare Thomas caught his ninth touchdown of the season to push it to 17-7.
The Buffaloes got the ball and needed a response drive, and they delivered, with DeKalon Taylor following Young and taking his first carry of the game for 67 yards and a touchdown.
Ja’Quail Smith scored another 30+ yard touchdown on the next possession as the Buffaloes kept racking up explosive plays in the first half. Folsom Field was rocking heading into halftime as Colorado took a 21-20 lead.
But the first 10 seconds of the second half featured a wild turn of events on both sides.
Isaac Wilson threw an interception on a ball tipped off a lineman's helmet and picked off by Javion White. Just one play later, Fontenette forced a Weigman fumble and immediately got the ball back to the offense.
“The turnover kind of brought us some life back. I mean, the offense went down and scored, so it worked out perfectly,” said Fontenette.
The game took another twist when Williams caught a 53-yard slant pass to the end zone for Colorado's fourth long touchdown, extending the lead.
The Buffs defense came up with a massive fourth-down stop on the following drive, as they began to feed off the electric second-half atmosphere at Folsom.
Wilson looked confident passing the ball, but the third quarter took yet another unexpected turn as Wilson suffered an injury, forcing freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne into the action. He wasted no time settling in, taking an option read for 14 yards for Colorado’s fourth rushing touchdown of the game. Colorado took a two-possession lead for the first time since week five of last season.
“That was a tremendous moment,” coach Sanders said. “He was prepared to play regardless.
Wilson re-entered the game in the following drive after a three-and-out from Houston, but Colorado was forced to punt back.
The defense continued to step up in the second half. Boo Carter picked off Weigman on just his third interception of the season for the Buffs second takeaway of the half, giving them good field position with a two-score lead. A questionable decision looked like it could flip the game around, as Colorado chose to go for it on fourth-and-3 from their own 37-yard line, and Wilson rushed for a loss to give the ball back to the Cougars.
Houston went for it on a crucial fourth-and-5 of their own, converting for a 22-yard touchdown by Overmeyer to cut the lead back to nine. They opted for the 2-point conversion and were unsuccessful, keeping it a two-possession game.
Colorado scored another touchdown to ice the game late on, and Houston was left with too little time to respond. The students stormed the field for the second consecutive home game as the Buffs pulled off their first win against a top-15-ranked opponent since 2007.
The Buffaloes now have two games remaining in their season, as their hopes of bowl eligibility remain alive. They’ll need to go 2-0 over their final games against Cincinnati and UCF to qualify for a bowl game.
“We're all approaching it like we're going to do it. We got two games left,” said Williams on the rest of the season.
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