FORT WORTH, Texas – Colorado is racking up the missed opportunities this season.
On Saturday night at Amon G. Carter Stadium, CU jumped out to a big lead early, but couldn’t on, falling to TCU, 35-21.
For the second week in a row, the Buffs led 14-0 early but wound up losing, falling to 2-4 overall and 0-3 in Big 12 play. It is CU’s first 0-3 start to conference play since 2017.
Senior quarterback Kaidon Salter threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns – both to Omarion Miller – but he was intercepted three times in the first half. And, CU managed just seven points on its last seven possessions combined.
This was the third time this season that CU was tied or had the lead in the fourth quarter before losing. The Buffs are now 1-6 in their past seven games against Power 4 conference opponents, dating back to last season.
TCU’s Josh Hoover threw for 275 yards and four touchdowns, two of them to Eric McAlister.
CU opened the game by stuffing a fourth-down attempt by TCU on the opening possession. The Buffs were unable to take advantage, however, when Salter was intercepted just three plays later.
TCU drove into scoring position, but Nate McCashland missed a 30-yard field goal attempt to keep the game scoreless.
The Buffs seized momentum after that. Salter completed all six passes on an 80-yard scoring drive that was capped by a toss to Omarion Miller for a 6-yard touchdown. That drive used up 6:54 off the clock.
CU’s defense forced a three-and-out on TCU’s next possession and set up the offense again. This time, the run game set the tone for a 45-yard drive resulting in a 10-yard touchdown run by Salter to give the Buffs a 14-0 lead.
As they did a week earlier, however, the Buffs quickly coughed up a 14-0 lead.
TCU marched 76 yards in 10 plays, with Hoover scoring on a 1-yard quarterback sneak, cutting CU’s lead to 14-7 with 2:38 to play in the half.
CU responded with a disastrous end of the half.
Two plays after the Hoover touchdown, Salter was intercepted by Bud Clark. That set up a game-tying, 23-yard touchdown pass from Hoover to McAlister two plays later.
The Buffs still had 1:26 to play in the half and drove down the field. Aided by a pass interference penalty on the Horned Frogs, CU had first-and-goal at the 2-yard line with 8 seconds to play, but Salter’s pass was deflected and intercepted by Namdi Obiazor to end that threat.
Coming out of halftime, CU got the ball but punted on two consecutive possessions.
The game remained tied until early in the fourth quarter, when Hoover found tight end Lafayette Kaiuway wide open in the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-2. That gave TCU its first lead, 21-14, with 14:04 to play.
On its ensuing possession, CU broke out of its offensive funk with a game-tying touchdown. Salter hit Omarion Miller from 31 yards for their second touchdown connection of the night, knotting the game at 21-21 with 11:42 to go.
Midway through the fourth quarter, CU got a gift when TCU completed a 43-yard pass on fourth down, but had it called back on a pass interference penalty. Replays showed that two Buffs defenders ran into each other, but TCU was forced to punt.
The punt, however, hit CU’s Kam Mikell in the back and TCU recovered at the Buffs’ 27-yard line. Taking advantage of that gift, TCU scored three plays later when Hoover found Joseph Manjack IV for an 18-yard go-ahead touchdown. That gave the Horned Frogs a 28-21 lead with 5:44 to go.
CU mustered just 13 yards on its next possession before punting. TCU got the ball back with 2:33 to play and put the game away with a Hoover-to-McAlister 21-yard touchdown pass with 19 seconds to go.
TCU 35, Colorado 21
Colorado 0 14 0 7 — 21
TCU 0 14 0 21 — 35
Second quarter
COLO O.Miller 6 pass from Ka.Salter (Mata kick), 13:33.
COLO Ka.Salter 10 run (Mata kick), 6:32.
TCU Hoover 1 run (McCashland kick), 2:38.
TCU McAlister 23 pass from Hoover (McCashland kick), 1:32.
Fourth quarter
TCU Kaiuway 10 pass from Hoover (McCashland kick), 14:04.
COLO O.Miller 31 pass from Ka.Salter (Mata kick), 11:42.
TCU Manjack 18 pass from Hoover (McCashland kick), 5:44.
TCU McAlister 21 pass from Hoover (McCashland kick), :19.
COLO TCU
First downs 20 23
Total net yards 343 369
Rushes-yards 35-126 35-94
Passing 217 275
Punt returns 2–3 0-0
Kickoff returns 3-68 1-24
Interceptions ret 0-0 3-41
Comp-att-int 18-30-3 23-33-0
Sacked yds lost 2-9 2-18
Punts 4-32.5 4-46.25
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-0
Penalties-yards 6-43 7-85
Time of poss 31:32 28:28
INDIVIDUAL Stats
Rushing — Colorado, Hayden 9-61, Welch 12-40, D.Miller 7-14, Ka.Salter 7-11. TCU, Barnes 16-48, Hoover 8-20, Battle 6-16, Everhart 1-7, Palmer 3-3, Denman 1-0.
Passing — Colorado, Ka.Salter 18-29-3-217, (Team) 0-1-0-0. TCU, Hoover 23-33-0-275.
Receiving — Colorado, O.Miller 6-89, Gibson 3-15, J.Williams 2-22, H.Williams 2-22, Timmons 1-28, S.Brown 1-17, Hayden 1-10, Atkins 1-8, D.Miller 1-6. TCU, Manjack 5-65, McAlister 4-65, Rogers 3-27, Dwyer 3-26, Curtis 2-38, Everhart 1-19, Small 1-11, Kaiuway 1-10, Battle 1-8, Barnes 1-5, Palmer 1-1.
Missed field goals — TCU, McCashland 30.