SAN ANTONIO — The highly anticipated postseason matchup BYU quarterback Jake Retzlaff had dubbed “the People’s Big 12 Championship” turned into a rout as the Cougars dominated conference foe Colorado in a 36-14 Alamo Bowl win, spoiling the final game of quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter’s college careers as a large crowd of Buffs fans inside the Alamodome looked on in disbelief.
BYU led 20-0 at halftime and helped keep the Buffaloes in it with three turnovers and two drops of likely touchdown passes. But the Cougars picked off Sanders twice, limited Hunter to one highlight-reel touchdown and moved down the field with ease when they had the ball.
Kalani Sitake’s Cougars, picked by the Big 12 media in the preseason to finish 13th in the 16-team league only to finish 11-2 and part of a four-way tie for first in the conference, continued to pound away, as they have done for most of the season. Colorado gained only 66 yards on 23 plays in the first half, with 58 of those yards coming on one dazzling catch-and-run by Hunter. The two-way star pumped some life back into the Buffs midway through the third quarter, zig-zagging past BYU defenders on a 43-yard touchdown reception to put Colorado on the board for the first time. But Hunter finished with just two more receptions for five yards.
TRAVIS HUNTER
📺: ABC pic.twitter.com/iiyxw0AJ6m
— Colorado Buffaloes Football (@CUBuffsFootball) December 29, 2024
After BYU running back L.J. Martin carried Colorado defenders into the end zone to push the score to 33-7 with 10:27 left in the game, many of the Colorado fans in attendance headed for the exits.
Sanders and Hunter play out their college finale
Any shot at the College Football Playoff slipped from Colorado’s grasp in November, but Shedeur Sanders and Hunter kept their word in committing to capping their memorable seasons in Boulder by playing the program’s first bowl game since 2020 and its third since 2007. Sanders, who could be the No. 1 overall pick in next spring’s draft, took a beating for much of the game. Hunter, who already had the Heisman in hand, may be the first non-quarterback drafted.
It might have seemed like they had everything to lose and little to gain, but neither saw it that way.
“We don’t tap out. We don’t sit out. This is a blessing to play this wonderful game,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said earlier this month.
Hunter led the Buffs in receiving, and Sanders finished with 208 yards on 16-of-23 passing with two touchdowns and two interceptions. On the second pick, BYU linebacker Isaiah Glasker celebrated by mocking the Prime Time dance Deion Sanders made popular as a player, a move that Colorado safety Shilo Sanders has utilized after interceptions during his career.
Before the game, Sanders made his final, traditional walk up and down the sideline with his sons Shedeur and Shilo. In a pregame interview, he was overcome with emotion and paused several times trying to compose himself.
Deion Sanders was full of emotion after taking the final walk with his sons, Shedeur and Shilo ❤️ pic.twitter.com/PJchjwDKyh
— ESPN (@espn) December 29, 2024
Sanders had coached both in almost every game since they had played peewee football, and the chance to play one more game together was surely a motivator for participating in the Alamo Bowl, too, though the Buffaloes had no notable opt-outs on the rest of the roster.
On Colorado’s final drive of the game, Sanders was hit from behind and grabbed at his knee. He got up a little gingerly and finished the drive with Colorado’s second touchdown of the day. — David Ubben
A culture win for BYU
Sitake, who is now 72-43 as a head coach, likes to joke that he’s an old BYU fullback who played in an Air Raid like offense under legendary Cougars coach LaVell Edwards, but the affable 49-year-old from Tonga also developed as a defensive coach during his time as an assistant on Kyle Whittingham’s staff at Utah.
That toughness and grit is all over this Cougars squad, which won 11 games for the first time since the 2020 season. On Saturday night, the Cougars didn’t just beat the Buffs. They battered them all over the field. — Bruce Feldman
(Photo: Ronald Cortes / Getty Images)
