Colorado came out with some new wrinkles on offense and built a lead early Saturday night.
The Buffaloes fizzled out from there, though, and fell to No. 25 BYU, 24-21, in front of 52,265 fans at Folsom Field.
CU’s Kaidon Salter was intercepted by Isaiah Glasker with 50 seconds to play — Salter’s first interception as a Buff — to seal the game for the Cougars.
Displaying some unique pre-snap movement and alignments, as well as creative play-calling, CU (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) raced out to a 14-0 lead but couldn’t maintain the momentum in falling to a ranked opponent for the eighth consecutive time.
Playing running back and receiver, Dre’lon Miller scored two touchdowns for the Buffs, but it wasn’t enough against the unbeaten Cougars (4-0, 1-0).
Salter led the Buffs on an 11-play, 75-yard drive to open the game, capping it with a 3-yard touchdown run. Salter hit all three of his passes for 39 yards and ran for 31 yards on that drive.
After BYU failed on a fourth-down attempt at the Buffs’ 38-yard line, CU needed just four plays to go 62 yards for another score. Micah Welch opened the drive with a 27-yard run, and then CU ran three consecutive plays with Dre’lon Miller in a wildcat formation.
Miller gained nine and 15 yards on his first two carries, and then scored on a 5-yard run to put the Buffs ahead 14-0 with 5:08 to go in the first quarter.
The remainder of the first half belonged to BYU.
Following its initial surge, CU gained just 56 yards on 18 plays the rest of the half, punting twice and running out the clock before halftime.
BYU, meanwhile, answered the Buffs’ second touchdown with a 28-yard field goal by Will Ferrin to pull within 14-3.
A Damon Greaves punt pinned BYU at its 6-yard line with 4:10 to go in the half, but the Cougars went on a 10-play, 94-yard drive that was aided by two penalties on the Buffs’ defense.
Bear Bachmeier finished that drive by connecting with a wide-open Chase Roberts for a 5-yard touchdown pass to cut the Buffs’ lead to 14-10 just 46 seconds before halftime.
The teams traded punts to start the second half, but then BYU went on a 74-yard scoring march to take its first lead of the game. Bachmeier found Roberts wide open again in the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown pass, giving the Cougars a 17-14 lead with 5:26 to go in the third quarter.
CU’s offense came to life after that. Salter got the ensuing drive started with a 26-yard pass to Joseph Williams and capped it with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Dre’lon Miller. That put CU ahead again, 21-17, with 2:42 to go in the third.
BYU put together another impressive scoring drive, however, to retake the lead, 24-21 with 14:02 to play in the fourth quarter. This time, receiver Cody Hagen took a pitch on an end-around to go 32 yards for a touchdown run, capping a 77-yard march.
The Buffs punted on their next possession, but then got a nice stop on defense. BYU drove to the Buffs’ 26-yard line, but a bobbled snap was followed by a missed 55-yard field goal attempt by Ferrin with 8:07 to play.
CU was unable to capitalize, however, going three-and-out on its next possession and punting the ball back to the Cougars. CU then forced a BYU punt, which pinned the Buffs at their 4-yard line.
Glasker then ended the threat with his interception.
No. 25 BYU 24, Colorado 21
BYU 3 7 7 7 — 24
Colorado 14 0 7 0 — 21
First quarter
COLO Ka.Salter 3 run (Mata kick), 9:44.
COLO D.Miller 5 run (Mata kick), 5:08.
BYU FG Ferrin 28, :45.
Second quarter
BYU C.Roberts 5 pass from B.Bachmeier (Ferrin kick), :46.
Third quarter
BYU C.Roberts 4 pass from B.Bachmeier (Ferrin kick), 5:26.
COLO D.Miller 19 pass from Ka.Salter (Mata kick), 2:42.
Fourth quarter
BYU Cod.Hagen 32 run (Ferrin kick), 14:02.
BYU COLO
First downs 27 17
Total net yards 387 291
Rushes-yards 36-208 37-172
Passing 179 119
Punt returns 2-17 1-6
Kickoff returns 1-23 1-20
Interceptions ret 1-0 0-0
Comp-att-int 19-29-0 11-16-1
Sacked yds lost 0-0 3-35
Punts 3-40.333 5-41.4
Fumbles-lost 1-0 0-0
Penalties-yards 6-34 6-67
Time of poss 33:35 26:25
INDIVIDUAL Stats
Rushing — BYU, B.Bachmeier 15-98, Martin 15-58, Cod.Hagen 1-32, Kingston 2-25, Nawahine 1-4, (Team) 2-(minus 9). Colorado, Welch 11-67, D.Miller 8-52, Ka.Salter 17-49, Farrakhan 1-4.
Passing — BYU, B.Bachmeier 19-27-0-179, Kingston 0-2-0-0. Colorado, Ka.Salter 11-16-1-119.
Receiving — BYU, C.Roberts 5-49, Kingston 5-38, Martin 4-36, Ryan 3-46, Cod.Hagen 2-10. Colorado, J.Williams 5-56, D.Miller 2-27, O.Miller 1-19, Welch 1-9, S.Brown 1-8, Gibson 1-0.
Missed field goals — BYU, Ferrin 55.