The Colorado Buffaloes choked on a 29-0 lead and lost in overtime to the Stanford Cardinals for a 46-43 double overtime loss, dropping Colorado to 4-3 on the season.
This is not the first game this season where the team failed to play well in all four quarters. In the past couple of weeks, the team trailed Arizona State heading into the fourth quarter, pulling together a game winning drive with a field goal 12 seconds left. The week before that Colorado lost 48-41 to USC, after falling behind by more than 21 points they cut the gap to seven points with 1:43 left in the match but ran out of time to rally a comeback.
Even the Buffalo over-time win against Colorado State was plagued by terrible gameplay during key moments during the game.
But this game started different since Colorado played on a high level on all cylinders for the first half. The defense forced the Cardinals to punt on every single drive in the first half, and the Colorado offense scored touchdowns on four of their first half drives.
The team was then outscored in the second 36-10 in the second. To put it in perspective, the Colorado Buffaloes offense scored 29 unanswered points in the first half and only 10 in the second; while the defense allowed nothing in the first half and 36 points in second half, and another 10 points in overtime.
“I am truly upset, I am truly upset, I am truly disturbed… we started off the game wonderfully… 29-0 I believe the score was,” coach Deion Sanders said in the post-game press-conference. “Then we surrender three touchdowns unanswered, which I can’t fathom right now.”
Colorado also committed 17 penalties for 127 yards. Colorado’s defense also allowed Stanford receiver Elic Ayomanor to score 294 yards and 3 touchdowns, a record for the most receiving yards against the Buffs with one receiver.
Sanders said he felt like complacency creep into his locker room and the second half is proof of it.
“We come back out and here comes the complacency,” Sanders said. “Here comes that team that I can’t stand, that you you can’t understand how in the world that happens to us, but it did.”
Shader Sanders had another breakout game with 400 yards and 5 touchdowns; however, he was responsible for the game’s lone turnover in double overtime, giving the ball back to Stanford for the game winning field goal.
Cornerback and receiver Travis Hunter also had a breakout game offensively with 13 receptions, 140 yard and two touchdowns. But defensively, he allowed several touchdowns and contributed to Ayomanor’s record breaking receiving yards.
Colorado is heading into a bye week, and after will be on the road against 18 UCLA on Saturday Oct. 28.
