BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Cody Hagen scored on a 32-yard run early in the fourth quarter and Bear Bachmeier threw two touchdown passes, helping No. 25 BYU rally from an early deficit to beat Colorado 24-21 on Saturday night.
Cougars linebacker Isaiah Glasker sealed the win by intercepting Kaidon Salter's pass with 50 seconds remaining.
Bachmeier was 19 of 27 for 179 yards and connected with Chase Roberts for two short TD passes. The freshman QB also rushed for 98 yards as the Cougars (4-0, 1-0 Big 12) started 4-0 for a second straight season.
“He did a great job,” BYU coach Kalani Sitake said of Bachmeier. “Didn’t ever look like he was frazzled or that he was shell-shocked at all. He came like that. Credit his family and the way he was raised. He was a cool customer and I loved the way he was leading out there.”
The Cougars, who trailed 14-0 midway through the first quarter, took the lead for good on an end-around play that befuddled the Buffaloes. Bachmeier faked an inside handoff before flipping the ball to Hagen, who sprinted into the backfield from his receiver spot. He was hardly touched and followed a convoy to the end zone with 14:02 remaining.
The Buffaloes (2-3, 0-2) had something going on the next drive, but Omarion Miller was called for holding on a big run from Salter. A play later, Salter was sacked for a 22-yard loss with Dre’lon Miller wide open. As Salter walked off the field, coach Deion Sanders appeared to be saying “wide open.”
Colorado finished with six penalties for 67 yards, including two defensive pass interference calls.
“Sometimes, it felt like the moment was just too big for some of our athletes, and they’ve got to do something about that,” Sanders said.
Can Sanders fix that?
“I'm not going to make excuses for them,” Sanders said. “They've got step up. They've got to step up. I don’t know what else I can say about it.”
On their last drive, the Buffaloes had the ball at their 4 yard line with 1:49 left and two timeouts. Colorado struggled with clock management before Salter's interception ended the comeback attempt.
This game wasn't nearly as easy for the Cougars as when they rolled over the Buffaloes 36-14 in the Alamo Bowl last season.
Salter rushed for 49 yards and a score and threw for 119 yards and a TD. Dre’lon Miller, a wide receiver who was moved to running back due to injuries, rushed for a TD and caught another.
Behind TD runs by Salter and Dre’lon Miller, Colorado scored more points (14) in the first quarter than BYU's defense has allowed in a full game this season.
“We had ‘em,” Buffaloes defensive back Tawfiq Byard said. “We had ’em.”
Quarter streak
The Cougars have now scored in a program-record 27 straight quarters. The last time they didn't score in a quarter was the first at Arizona State last November.
The takeaway
BYU: The Cougars improved to 30-9 under Sitake when the team is ranked. “Just settling down a little bit and playing football the way we know we can play,” Sitake explained of overcoming the early deficit. “It worked out we had enough time to get the lead and to hang on to it.”
Colorado: The Buffaloes are 1-7 over the last two seasons when they don't score 30 points.
Up next
BYU: Hosts West Virginia on Friday.
Colorado: At No. 24 TCU on Saturday.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
