The University of Colorado Boulder’s Football team’s Shedeu Sanders celebrates after a touchdown during their match against Cincinnati Bearcats at Folsom Field on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Scott Tan/CU Independent)
The Colorado Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) and Cincinnati Bearcats (5-3, 3-2 Big 12) met for a consequential football game under the lights Saturday. The winner would be right in the mix to compete for a championship in the Big 12, while the loser would find themselves separated from the top.
The Buffaloes walked away with a notable 34-23 victory on Saturday night and clinched bowl-game eligibility for the first time since 2020. The last time Colorado finished a full-season bowl qualified was in 2016, but they haven’t won a game since reaching it in twenty years.
Shedeur Sanders started his night 15 for 15 and set a school record, finishing with over 115 yards in the first quarter alone. The Buffs’ offense put together a near-flawless first half, scoring 24 points and going for 268 yards. At the end of the half, Sanders’ offense took over at midfield with 31 seconds remaining and was able to find Travis Hunter for a 34-yard touchdown.
Hunter was officially back to full strength Saturday night and showed off, ending with 153 total yards and a pair of touchdowns, helping his Heisman resume.
The University of Colorado Boulder’s Football team’s Travis Hunter talking in a interview during their match against Cincinnati Bearcats at Folsom Field on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Scott Tan/CU Independent)
Oddly enough, the Buffs elected to lean on the run game Saturday, feeding Isaiah Augustave and Dallan Hayden 32 times, while Sanders slung the rock on 31 plays. In a Pat Shurmur playbook that throws it around 60% of the time, the Buffs were able to keep the ground attack consistent. Augustave finished just shy of 100 yards with a touchdown in the third quarter.
Jimmy Horn Jr. shined in yards after the catch, leading the team with 57. Horn Jr. had a touchdown get called back in the first half after a taunting call, but the Buffs were able to punch it in on the drive anyway.
The Colorado defense continues to impress, holding the Bearcats to 3-10 on third downs. The Buffs’ secondary forced 14 incompletions by Cincinnati’s quarterback Brendan Sorsby, and held their offense to 351 total yards. That is a success in every sense of the word since the Bearcats unit was averaging around 450 yards a game.
Late in the fourth quarter, with the Buffs holding on to an eight-point lead, putting together a scoring drive would effectively put the game away. Like the Buffs tend to do in do-or-die scenarios, tossing it up to Travis Hunter will likely come with results, and that’s exactly what they did on first and ten.
With a clear pass interference call, Hunter was still miraculously able to make the catch and put the Buffs past midfield.
Junior athlete Travis Hunter catches a touchdown pass during the game against the University of Cincinnati at Folsom Field on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
“We were all over and held him, and he still made it. I mean, I don’t know what else you do, right?,” said Cincinnati head coach Scott Satterfield after the game.
Later that drive, Alejandro Mata came out for a season-high 47-yard kick to ice the game. He didn’t put a great foot on it but gave the ball just enough time to fall in between the uprights. The Buffs were able to close out the 34-23 win off the big kick. Mata was apologetic when asked about it after the game.
“It’s just not me, it just came off the foot wrong and I want to apologize for that,” Mata said.
All in all, the Buffaloes are going bowling. In the locker room after the win, Coach Sanders called Peggy to tell her firsthand that her Buffs were playing in a bowl game. This is an accomplishment on its own, but every player was focused on the four games remaining on the schedule.
Colorado also received a nod from the Associated Press College Football Poll Sunday. The Buffs are ranked No.23 in the country going into a well-earned bye week.
On November 9 the buffs will travel to Jones AT&T Stadium to face off against Texas Tech. With each game meaning more and more as the season goes on, we’ll see what these 2024 Colorado Buffaloes are made of.
Contact CU Independent staff writer Baylan Wysuph at baylan.wysuph@colorado.edu
CU Independent Managing Editor Lincoln Roch contributed to this story
