BOULDER — The Colorado Buffaloes came within a Hail Mary of forcing overtime Saturday night but ultimately fell to the No. 11 Utah Utes, 27-24, at Folsom Field, dropping to 2-4 on the season. Utah improved to 6-0 and extended its winning streak.
Late swing decided tight contest
Colorado trailed 13-0 at halftime before staging a second-half rally that produced 17 unanswered points and a 17-13 lead in the third quarter. The momentum shifted again late in the fourth when Buffaloes quarterback Isaac Wilson threw an interception with about five minutes remaining. Utah capitalized three plays later, and Colorado’s final Hail Mary at the end of the game fell incomplete.
The sequence left the Buffaloes with a narrow defeat but an emotional response from their head coach, who acknowledged the effort despite the outcome.
“I did something I never do after a loss,” Sanders said. “I stood up there on the podium and told those kids, ‘I’m really proud of y’all man.’ Because they fought. They didn’t give up. They had a chance.”
Sanders, known for a blunt assessment after losses, smiled and laughed during his postgame remarks, describing visible emotion among players and staff. He singled out execution as the dividing line in Colorado’s defeats this year, saying some losses felt winnable while others — like a heavy defeat at Northwestern — were different in scale.
What mattered in the game
- Turnovers: The late interception by Isaac Wilson shifted momentum in Utah’s favor.
- Second-half surge: Colorado recovered from a two-score halftime deficit to lead in the third quarter.
- Final sequence: Utah sealed the win after converting the takeaway into points; Colorado’s last-ditch Hail Mary was unsuccessful.
For the Boulder program, the loss continued a difficult stretch — the Buffaloes have now dropped four straight. Still, Sanders’ rare public praise suggested the coaching staff found positives to build on after a game that came down to the final play.
| Team | Score | Record (after game) |
|---|---|---|
| Utah | 27 | 6-0 |
| Colorado | 24 | 2-4 |
Colorado returns to practice this week aiming to convert the encouraging second-half performance into more consistent execution across all four quarters. The Buffaloes and their local supporters now shift focus to correcting mistakes that have kept winnable games just out of reach.
