Travis Hunter scores Colorado’s first touchdown in the Buffs 48-21 victory at UCF. Photo by Debra Edgar
Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders brought his road show to Orlando and the Colorado Buffaloes, two-touchdown underdogs, pulled off the upset to stay unbeaten in Big 12 play.
“They stepped up, they stepped out, and they did the doggone thing,” Sanders said. “It’s when our young men go out there and do what they’re capable of doing, we know what the outcome is going to be.”
But it was his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who did the damage on the field. Sanders completed 28 of 35 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns in a convincing 48-21 victory over the homestanding UCF Knights in front of 45,702 at FBC Mortgage Stadium on Saturday.
It was the Buffs’ eighth-biggest upset against the spread, and the 27-point win is the largest margin of victory in a conference road game since a 34-0 triumph on Oct. 1, 2005, at Oklahoma State.
Sanders threw touchdown passes to three different receivers. His 47-yard scoring strike to Will Sheppard in the waning seconds of the first quarter broke a 7-7 tie and put the Buffs, now 4-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play, ahead to stay.
He opened the scoring with a 23-yard touchdown pass to star two-way athlete Travis Hunter, who caught nine passes for 89 yards and also contributed defensively with an interception, his second of the season, two tackles, and a pass breakup.
The game was salted away late in the third quarter when Sanders threw his final TD pass of the game, a 10-yarder to LaJohntay Wester, that increased Colorado’s lead to 41-21. With his three pass receptions (34 yards) Wester stands second in college football with 273 career catches. He has caught touchdown passes in four straight games, becoming just the eighth player in program history to catch a TD in four or more consecutive games.
Colorado tacked on the only points of the fourth quarter, a 95-yard fumble return for a touchdown by senior safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig. It tied for the second-longest fumble return in Colorado history.
The Buffs piled up 407 yards of total offense, which included a season-high 128 yards rushing to go along with Sanders’ passing stats. The offensive line was dominant in paving the way for touchdown runs of 14 and 1 yard by Dallan Hayden and Micah Welch respectively.
Photo by Debra Edgar
“We want that kind of balance,” said Coach Prime. “We desire that balance and I know these guys can do it. I believe in them wholeheartedly.”
It was an overall team effort with Colorado’s defense stepping up as well. The Buffs held the nation’s No. 1 rushing team, which averaged 375.7 yards per game, to just 177 yards on the ground.
The smothering defense totaled five sacks and 13 total tackles for loss. Four different Buffaloes recorded sacks led by redshirt freshman Taje McCoy, with two of his own. In all, 13 different Colorado players had their hand in at least a half-tackle for loss.
“We knew we had to take away something, so just trying to stifle the run a little bit to get them to start over,” Coach Prime said. “But we knew we could score as well, so to keep up with our type of scoring that gets them out of their comfort zones and provokes them to throw the ball a little more than they would like to, because that’s not truly who they’ve shown that they’ve been.”
“It’s one of the first times we came out and played a collective game, offensively, defensively as well as special teams. I’m so darn proud of where we are.”
The Knights (3-1, 1-1) rolled up 461 yards of total offense, but four turnovers – three in the red zone – proved to be their undoing.
Quarterback KJ Jefferson completed 20 of 35 passes for 284 yards, but was intercepted twice. He tossed a 75-yard touchdown pass to running back RJ Harvey that tied the score, 7-7, late in the first quarter.
Jefferson, who also added 76 yards rushing, scored on a 1-yard run midway through the second quarter to cut the Buffs’ lead to 21-14.
But field goals of 36 and 46 yards by Colorado kicker Alejandro Mata allowed his team to take a 27-14 advantage at halftime.
Jefferson struck again late in the third quarter with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Townsend to pull UCF within 34-21. But that’s as close as the Knights would get.
Colorado has a bye week before hosting Kansas State on Saturday, Oct. 12.
UCF travels to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators in a non-conference game at 7:45 p.m. EDT on Saturday, Oct. 5.
