Absolute Cinema!
- Arjun Peroor
- Sep 22, 2024
- 5 min read
The Colorado Buffs take down the Baylor Bears in one of the greatest finishes you will ever see! This game had my ears ringing, and my voice shot for the rest of the day because of how loud I screamed and how noisy it was in that stadium. My goodness, it was an atmosphere I had never experienced before. So what happened?
The Buffs jumped out to an early 7-3 lead after Shedeur Sanders took it himself into the endzone. Then, on the next possession, Baylor QB Sawyer Robinson found Monaray Baldwin for an insane 30-yard TD down the right sideline as Baldwin made a diving catch in the rain! Colorado then answered with a decent drive of their win, and the game was tied at ten a piece. Then things got a little sideways for the home team in the altitude as the Buffs kicked it off after tying it 10-10 after their field goal and immediately gave up a kick-off return for a touchdown. Then, after not being able to do much in their ensuing possession, Baylor got the ball back and drove the ball to CU's 46-yard line and faced a 4th and 1. With each team needing a big play on this down, Sawyer Robertson took the snap, ran the ball himself for 46 yards, and made his way to the endzone to extend the lead to 24-10. Boulder was unable to score on their next possession again, but luckily, the defense was able to come up with a stop in the possession, which gave CU the ball with around 2 minutes left. After a few plays, CU found themselves in 3rd and 3 in their 42-yard line, and Shedeur made magic happen where he evaded a sack, something he did very well for a lot of the night, and found Omarian Miller for a 58-yard TD, which got CU right back into this game. Halftime arrived, and it was 24-17 Baylor.
The second half came about when Colorado received the second-half kick-off but was unable to do anything with it. Baylor then got the ball back and started driving and found themselves on the Boulder 41-yard line facing 4th and 1. A similar situation they faced in the first half when Robinson ran the ball into the endzone. With Baylor hoping for a similar result, they put the ball in the hands of their QB again and, this time, was stopped short of the first. Boulder and Baylor would trade empty possessions after that play. Then CU made some big plays on the drive after as Travis Hunter made two big catches, including one that was on 3rd and 15, which got them in the 5-yard line, and a few plays later, Micah Welch punched it in. The game was now tied at 24. Baylor was stopped once again, and Colorado had the ball to start the 4th and drove down to Baylor's 36-yard line, where they faced a 4th and 8. It was a weird situation where it was too far to kick a field goal, especially in rainy conditions, but it was also too close to punt. So they ended up going for it but failed to convert. Baylor took over and took advantage of the field possession as they scored off a sweet throw from Robinson to Hal Presley down the left sideline that put them up 31-24.
Then came the next possession, which had me convinced there was no way CU was going to come back in this game. The Boulder offensive line, which was decent all night, started giving up the pressure at an alarming rate and allowed back-to-back sacks leading to a 3rd and 32, putting their offense in their 2-yard line, and all Shedeur could do on 3rd down was throw the ball away. The punt was returned deep in CU territory, and with about 4 minutes left in the game, Baylor was in a good position to go up 34-24 and give CU the ball back with two and a half minutes up two scores. They ran the ball three straight times and didn't do much in terms of moving the ball. They went backward a little bit and had their kicker staring at a 46-yarder. It was not an impossible kick, but it was certainly not a gimme, given the rainy conditions. With every prayer of CU fans being answered, he missed wide right. CU had the ball with just over 2 min to go down 7 to tie the game. The first play was a sack, which was tough to watch. The next play was a deep shot to Tarvis as he got interfered with at the Baylor 30-yard line, but he caught it anyway. Well, it turns out he didn't after the replay, but Boulder got their 15 yards from the PI. But then a sequence of a sack and flat start put them back at 2nd and 24. Sheduer made arguably the biggest play of the game, using his legs to pick up as many yards as he could and not out of bounds and get CU in a 3rd and six situation. They would up the first down in the next two plays, which put them around midfield with 18 seconds left. On 1 and 10, no one was open, so Sheduer had to throw it away, burning 7 seconds off the clock. Then came second down. With 11 seconds left, CU needed a miracle to tie the game up, and that almost became a reality when Sanders hit Will Sheppard in the hands at the 3-yard line, but he dropped it, and he would have scored as the ball went past the defender. Everyone in the stadium thought that was their best shot at tying it up. Then came the play of the game. With 2 seconds left, Sanders took the snap, rolled left, had a defender in his face, launched it to the endzone...and it...was...CAUGHT by LaJohntay Wester!! A Mile High Miracle as Boulder tied it up 31-31, and to OT we went!
Boulder got the ball in OT and scored off a run by Micah Welch. Then came Baylor, who was driving in their attempt from the 25-yard line, and they got the ball to the 2-yard line. The Bears handed it off to Dominic Richardson, and as soon as he jumped to break the plane, Travis Hunter stuck his helmet in his arms, knocked the ball out, and it went out the back of the endzone. Ball game!! What a comeback by CU!!!!
Key Takeaways:
Travis Hunter is him and deserves that Heisman trophy. Made big plays on offense and defense all game long.
Shedeur is a baller. He can make plays out of nothing, and it was needed today.
Offensive line is still a question mark in terms of pass blocking. Most of the night, they needed a tight end to help them out in pass pro, but when they went with traditional 5 linemen, it was not pretty, and it was evident, especially in the 4th quarter.
Special teams were atrocious and need to be a lot better moving forward
The buffs got playmakers everywhere at the wide receiver position
This team is resilient. They may not be the best but they damn sure are not going down without a fight
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