Front Range
Colorado rally falls short as No. 11 Utah holds on 27-24 in Boulder
Down 13-0 at halftime, Colorado scored 17 straight points to lead No. 11 Utah in the third quarter. A late Isaac Wilson interception set up the Utes' winning touchdown, and a final Hail Mary was batted down at Folsom Field.
BOULDER
The first half was all Utah. The Utes scored a touchdown on their opening possession, as they have in every game this season, driving 75 yards in 12 plays and taking a 7-0 lead on Devon Dampier's 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Andrews. Dillon Curtis added field goals of 27 and 29 yards, the second as time expired, and Utah led 13-0 at halftime after outgaining Colorado 248-70 and holding the ball for 22:03 of the first 30 minutes. Colorado committed eight penalties for 82 yards before the break.
The game flipped in the third quarter. Three plays into the half, Wilson dumped a short pass to JaQuail Smith, who broke two tackles and completed a 68-yard touchdown play. DeKalon Taylor then scored on a run with 9:45 left in the quarter to put Colorado ahead 14-13, and after Naeten Mitchell intercepted Dampier, Elliott Arnold kicked a 32-yard field goal for a 17-13 lead with 4:24 left in the third. Linebacker Gideon Lampron said there was no rallying speech behind the turnaround. "We all believed, and we fought to the end," Lampron said, in comments published by USA TODAY. "There was no special speech at halftime. It was just we knew the jobs we had to do, and we had to be better than the first half."
Utah answered before the quarter ended. Dampier threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Braden Pegan with 1:06 left in the third to restore the Utes' lead at 20-17. The decisive play came with 5:09 remaining, when James Chenault Jr. intercepted Wilson and returned the ball 30 yards to the Colorado 22-yard line. Three plays later, Dampier found Pegan for a 6-yard touchdown and a 27-17 lead with 3:43 to play.
Colorado still nearly pulled it out. Wilson drove the Buffaloes 83 yards and threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Moore Jr. with 1:21 left to cut the lead to 27-24. The defense forced a punt, giving Wilson the ball back with 56 seconds left at his own 9-yard line, but a promising scramble and pitch play was wiped out by an illegal forward pass penalty, and Wilson's final heave toward the end zone was batted down as time expired in front of an announced crowd of 52,489, USA TODAY reported.
Dampier completed 24 of 41 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions for Utah, and Wayshawn Parker rushed for 98 yards on 23 carries. Wilson, a transfer who was facing his former team, completed 18 of 30 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for Colorado. Smith finished with 141 scrimmage yards, 73 rushing and 68 receiving. Utah improved to 6-0 and 3-0 in the Big 12 with its 12th consecutive win, while Colorado fell to 2-4 and 0-3 in conference play.
Afterward, head coach Deion Sanders did something he said he never does after a loss: he told his team he was proud of them. "I did something I never do after a loss," Sanders said, in comments published by USA TODAY. "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." Wilson took the blame for the late turnover. "I wanted this one bad," Wilson said, in comments published by USA TODAY. "Another man's trash is another man's treasure. So hopefully I can keep it rolling for Colorado. We need a win. That starts with me." Colorado next plays at Oklahoma State on Saturday, Oct. 24.
