University of Colorado Athletics

BLOCK — Colorado took care of business on Friday as the Buffaloes cruised to a 52-0 win over Oklahoma State in their regular-season finale at Folsom Field.

Now the Buffs will have to wait for Saturday’s Big 12 games to see if they advance to next week’s conference championship game in Arlington, Texas.

Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ Buffs improved to 9-3 overall and 7-2 in Big 12 play with the win, while the Cowboys ended their season with their ninth straight loss, finishing 3-9, 0-9 .

Colorado’s path to the Big 12 title game still requires help from several other teams in the conference, but the Buffs obviously took care of their end of the deal on Friday.

CU jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter, extended the lead to 38-0 by the end of the third quarter and then put the finishing touches on the loss with 14 more points in the final period.

The Buffs were dominant in every phase – especially on defense. Colorado bounced back from a tough performance last week at Kansas and throttled the Cowboys, forcing four turnovers that led to 28 points. Three of the takeaways came inside OSU’s 30-yard line, with Colorado turning each one into a touchdown.

The fourth didn’t need any help from the offense DJ McKinney picked up an OSU pass in the fourth quarter and returned it 14 yards for a touchdown.

Offensively, the Buffs were efficient and effective. quarterback Shedeur SandersAnnounced Friday as the winner of the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, he finished the game 34 of 41 for 438 yards and five touchdowns.

Three of these goal passes went to two-way star Travis Hunterwho solidified his claim to the Heisman Trophy with 10 catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns as well as an interception and two pass breakups on defense. Wide receiver LaJohntay WesterMeanwhile, he had his best day as a Buff with 11 balls for 175 yards and two scores.

CU outscored the Cowboys 471-147, with most of OSU’s yardage coming on the final possession of the game. The Buffs went 5-for-12 on third downs while beating Oklahoma State 3-for-15 and Colorado recorded 26 first downs to OSU’s 10.

Perhaps the only blemish on CU’s day was Oklahoma State’s six sacks, but that had no bearing on the final result as the Buffs dominated from start to finish.

The game turned out to be exactly the type of performance Coach Prime wanted after last week’s disappointing loss at Kansas.

“That was a phenomenal defensive finish,” said Coach Prime. “It shows who we are when it comes to how we play football. Both coordinators, Rob (Livingston) and Pat Shurmurthese guys are so damn good. They have been so consistent all year long. You have exceeded all expectations. We have exceeded all expectations and I am really happy where we are. Last week we definitely wanted to go one step further, but we didn’t manage to do that. But look how we recovered. Look how we wiped our tears, stood up again, got on the horse and screamed at the top of our lungs. And I am proud of our young men.

The game marked the end of an era for Coach Prime and his sons Shedeur and Shilo, as it was almost certainly their last game together at Folsom Field. He has coached both since they were young and now they will head to the NFL while he remains in Boulder and continues to build the Colorado program into a national contender.

“It wasn’t until the end of the game that I realized that this was the last time Shedeur, Shilo and Bucky (Deion Jr.) could enjoy this moment with the four of us together,” he said. “That was a wonderful moment.”

But Coach Prime said he won’t be watching Saturday’s Big 12 games to see if the Buffs advance to the conference title game.

“I don’t want to go home and watch TV and wish someone would lose,” he said. “I won’t let myself fall like this.”

HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado’s defense set the stage for a big first quarter, picking up two takeaways – a Hunter interception and an interception Shilo Sanders Fumble recovery – that led to two touchdowns for the Buffs.

Hunter’s interception, his fourth of the season, came on the third play of the game and gave CU’s offense possession at the OSU 24-yard line.

Three pieces later, Micah Welch hammered in from the 1-yard line to give CU a 7-0 lead.

CU’s defense then delivered a three-point stop on its next possession and Colorado’s offense scored its longest drive of the half. quarterback Shedeur Sanders completed five passes on a 65-yard drive, including a 10-yard scoring toss to Wester, to give CU a 14-0 lead with 3:47 left in the first quarter.

OSU then continued to present the Buffs with their opportunity on a silver platter. Colorado Carter Stoutmire forced a fumble and Shilo Sanders rebounded at Oklahoma State 28.

Shedeur Sanders He then completed three straight passes and capped a 28-yard scoring drive with an 11-yard touchdown toss to Hunter that gave Colorado a 21-0 lead with 2:09 remaining in the first quarter .

“That was the plan last week, to reach out to them early and try to get them to understand who we are and who they are,” Coach Prime said. “It didn’t happen like that. We took note of that and focused on it throughout the meetings, throughout the training sessions and our pre-match speech. We wrote all of that down so we could do our business. “Early on, because if we score early and the defense scores three goals, it’s hard to deal with us.”

But the Buffs’ offense stalled in the second quarter. CU’s defense continued to throttle the Cowboys, but the offense’s next three possessions ended in punts before the fourth ended after three straight sacks and an incompletion in OSU territory.

Colorado then had two more chances with the ball before halftime, but neither resulted in a point, and the Buffs went into the locker room at halftime with a 21-0 lead after giving up five sacks in the first half.

This led to a conversation between Coach Prime and Shedeur at halftime and the result was that the offense got going again at the start of the third quarter.

“Dad sat me down and talked to me,” Shedeur said. “It was like a meeting where you came to Jesus… It was a kind of new start. It sparked a reset for us and then we were able to go out and continue to put up points and numbers.”

In fact, the Buffs only needed three plays to put together a 75-yard scoring drive to start the second half. After a short run and an incompletion, Sanders threw a short pass to Wester on the sideline and the CU receiver raced untouched 69 yards to the end zone for a 28-0 lead.

The Cowboys then continued their self-destructive mode on their next possession. CU’s Chidozie Nwanko recovered a fumble at OSU’s 25-yard line and the Buffs scored their fifth touchdown of the day four plays later. Sanders and Hunter scored for the day’s second touchdown, an 8-yard strike that gave Colorado a 35-0 lead less than five minutes into the second half.

The Buffs weren’t done yet, adding a field goal, McKinney’s interception return to the score and the game’s third Sanders-to-Hunter touchdown connection to complete the score.

TURNING POINT: This one was over early. When Hunter recorded his early interception and the Buffs scored three plays later, CU had momentum that would never reach the OSU sideline.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs will now have to wait for Saturday’s Big 12 games to see if they advance to the conference championship game or simply wait for their bowl assignment.

Next: The Buffs will now wait for the remainder of the weekend’s Big 12 games to see if they can secure a spot in next weekend’s conference championship game in Arlington, Texas. To advance, the Buffs need either losses to two of those three – Arizona State, BYU or Iowa State – or a loss to BYU and a win to Texas Tech.