No. 25 BYU rallies past Colorado 24-21 behind Bachmeier, Hagen

BYU Colorado Football

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Cody Hagen’s 32-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter gave No. 25 BYU the lead for good, and freshman quarterback Bear Bachmeier accounted for three scores as the Cougars rallied to beat Colorado 24-21 on Saturday night. Bachmeier threw two touchdown passes to Chase Roberts and rushed for 98 yards, finishing 19 of 27 for 179 yards as BYU (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) overcame a 14-0 first-quarter deficit to remain unbeaten. Linebacker Isaiah Glasker sealed the victory by intercepting Buffaloes quarterback Kaidon Salter with 50 seconds left. “He did a great job,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said of Bachmeier. “Didn’t ever look like he was frazzled or shell-shocked at all. He was a cool customer and I loved the way he was leading out there.” Hagen’s decisive score came on a trick play that caught Colorado’s defense flat-footed. Bachmeier faked an inside handoff before flipping the ball to Hagen on an end-around, and the sophomore wideout raced untouched into the end zone with 14:02 remaining. Colorado (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) had opportunities down the stretch but was undone by costly penalties and poor clock management. The Buffaloes’ last drive began at their own 4-yard line with 1:49 left, but Salter’s late interception ended the comeback bid.

Salter finished with 119 passing yards, a touchdown, and 49 rushing yards with a score. Converted receiver Dre’lon Miller added both a rushing and receiving touchdown. The Buffaloes scored 14 points in the first quarter—more than BYU’s defense had allowed in any game this season—but couldn’t sustain the momentum. “Sometimes it felt like the moment was just too big for some of our athletes,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said. “They’ve got to step up. I don’t know what else I can say about it.” The Cougars extended their program record by scoring in 27 straight quarters, a streak dating back to last November at Arizona State. BYU also improved to 30-9 under Sitake when ranked in the Top 25.

“We just had to settle down and play football the way we know we can,” Sitake said. “It worked out—we had enough time to get the lead and hang on to it.”

For Colorado, the loss marked its seventh defeat in the last two seasons when failing to reach 30 points.