Colorado 41-27 Texas Tech (November 9, 2024) Game Recap

LUBBOCK, Texas – Shedeur Sanders threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, two-way star Travis Hunter had nine catches for 99 yards and a touchdown and No. 21 Colorado overcame an early deficit to beat Texas Tech 41: 27 Saturday.

Sanders was 30 of 43 for 291 yards. Shilo Sanders, Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders’ other son on the team, recovered a fumble in the end zone with 51 seconds left.

Colorado (7-2, 5-1 Big 12, No. 20 CFP) won its third straight game and is on track to play in the Big 12 Championship Game and have a chance to advance to the College Football Playoff 12 teams to qualify.

The Buffs led the Red Raiders (6-4, 4-3) by two touchdowns before Tech’s Behren Morton threw his second touchdown pass of the game for 21 yards to Jalin Conyers with 2:12 left.

Colorado followed four punts early in the game with four touchdowns and a field goal and led 31-20 after three periods.

“We started slowly. That doesn’t say anything about who we are,” Deion Sanders said. “But I was confident we would do what we ended up doing in the second half.”

“It was time,” Shedeur Sanders said. “It was never stressful. It was never a sweat. There was never any doubt.”

Shedeur Sanders threw a 23-yard TD pass to LaJohntay Wester midway through the second period, a 5-yarder to Will Sheppard in the third quarter and a 24-yarder to Hunter a few minutes later in the third quarter.

Alejandro Mata hit field goals of 25 and 33 yards for the Buffaloes.

Morton’s other touchdown pass to Conyers was for 17 yards on the game’s opening drive. Morton was 24 of 40 for 275 yards.

Gino Garcia hit field goals of 53 and 39 yards for the Red Raiders, who led 13-0.

Tech coach Joey McGuire complained about six sacks, three turnovers and a rough attack on the passer that kept Colorado’s first possession of the second half alive and led for the first time, 17-13.

“He (the officer) said, ‘I saw him hit him below the knee,’ and I don’t know who saw that,” McGuire said. “He hit him in the hip. I mean, it was a great, clean hit.”

Too much school spirit

While Tech fans were expected to follow school tradition and throw tortillas onto the field during the game, spectators threw trash along Colorado’s sideline early in the fourth quarter. McGuire got on the microphone and yelled at the fans to stop.

“I was brought a vape. A water bottle was brought to me. I mean, I was brought a beer bottle,” McGuire said. “We were very lucky we didn’t get a 15-yard penalty.”

Shedeur Sanders signed a tortilla and posed with members of the Tech band after the game.

Takeaways

Colorado: As the sun went down, the offense heated up. Colorado gained 26 yards in the first quarter, 178 in the first half and finished with 351 yards, 53.5 below its average.

Texas Tech: Tahj Brooks rushed for 137 yards, most of them in the fourth quarter, and passed Byron Hanspard as the school’s career leader with 4,236 yards in five seasons. He was limited to 35 yards on 17 carries in the first half.

Impact on the survey

Colorado is expected to rise in the new AP poll on Sunday. The Buffs finished 18th last season after winning their first three games under Sanders. This is their highest ranking since No. 9 in 2016.

Next

Colorado: Hosts Utah next Saturday.

Texas Tech: At Oklahoma State on November 23rd

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