Houston had the College Football Playoff path laid out in front of it, and then Colorado ripped it apart under the lights in Boulder.
The No. 14 Cougars arrived as heavy favorites against a Buffaloes team that had lost six of seven and had not exactly been lighting up scoreboards.
Colorado had not scored more than 27 points against an FBS opponent all season, and it had not topped 24 in regulation. Houston, meanwhile, had not given up more than 32 points in any game.
None of that mattered on a chilly November Friday at Folsom Field, where Colorado turned in an offensive outburst and handed Houston a 42-32 upset that ended the Cougars’ playoff hopes.
It was the first double-digit win of the season for Colorado and the first double-digit loss for Houston, a night packed with firsts for both sides.
Houston looked every bit like the team that had spent the week sitting at its highest College Football Playoff committee ranking in program history. The Cougars scored on their first four possessions and built a 20-7 lead, continuing a season-long trend of jumping out to double-digit advantages. Their defense also forced two early Colorado punts, and for much of the first half, the game looked headed toward a routine Houston win.
Then the final two minutes before halftime changed everything.
With 1:49 left in the second quarter, DeKaylon Taylor broke loose for a 67-yard touchdown run. Then, with 15 seconds remaining, JaQuail Smith raced in from 32 yards out to put Colorado ahead 21-20. Houston went to the locker room trailing for just the second time all season.
The Cougars opened the third quarter with a chance to settle things down. On Colorado quarterback Isaac Wilson’s first pass of the half, the ball bounced off the helmet of Myles Parker and landed in the hands of a diving Javion White for an interception.
But Houston never turned that break into points. Randon Fontenette came flying in on a safety blitz and blindsided Conner Weigman, forcing a fumble that Colorado defensive tackle Santana Hopper recovered.
Three plays later, the Buffaloes struck again. Wilson hit Joseph Williams for a 53-yard touchdown, and Colorado had a 28-20 lead.
Less than two minutes into the third quarter, the Buffaloes had already topped their season high in points against an FBS opponent, and they had done it without even taking a red zone snap. Their first four touchdowns all came from more than 30 yards away.
The avalanche kept rolling. Backup quarterback Kaneal Sweetwyne entered for one play after Wilson was briefly injured, then punched in a 14-yard rushing touchdown to stretch the lead to 35-20.
Houston, meanwhile, could not find an answer. The Cougars went six straight possessions without scoring, and the third quarter brought a failed fourth-down attempt along with their third interception of the season.
Houston did make things interesting in the fourth quarter, trimming the margin twice, but it never got within one score. Both of its two-point tries after those touchdowns failed, and between those scoring drives Colorado put together an 11-play, 75-yard march that ate up more than six minutes and ended in seven points.
When the final horn sounded, more than 47,000 fans stormed the field at Folsom Field, Colorado’s second straight home game to end that way. For Houston, it was the first time it had been on the wrong side of a field storm since a 2022 non-conference game at Texas Tech.
Colorado finished 4-6 overall and 2-5 in the Big 12, and the win marked its first AP Top 15 victory since 2007, when it beat Oklahoma on a last-second field goal. It was also the program’s third ranked win under Deion Sanders, who beat No.
17 TCU in his 2023 debut and No. 22 Iowa State last season.
The Buffaloes still need wins over Cincinnati and UCF to become bowl eligible and secure their second postseason appearance in the last six years.
Houston fell to 7-3 overall and 4-3 in the Big 12, and its playoff hopes disappeared against the team that entered Week 11 with the worst overall record in the conference. The Cougars had gone 6-0 on the road last season, but this year they are 2-3 and 0-3 when traveling west. They head to West Virginia next week before closing the regular season against Baylor, left to regroup after missing a golden chance in Boulder.
In Other News...
Houston Fans Wont Like What Deion Sanders Emphasized After This Loss
Houstons unbeaten momentum took a hit when Colorado stormed back from a 20-7 deficit to beat the No. 14 Cougars 42-26, a result that left plenty of frustration behind for a team that had been in control early. The loss stings on its own, but it also came against a Buffaloes group that has spent much of the season trying to find its footing and still managed to turn the game around with a composed second half.
Deion Sanders made sure to spotlight exactly that afterward, praising Colorados resilience and the balance it showed in the win. For Houston fans, that kind of postgame emphasis only adds to the annoyance, because it frames the Cougars not just as a team that got upset, but as one that let a winnable game slip away to a squad still chasing the two victories it needs to stay bowl-eligible. [Read more 🡒]
Houston Let Colorado's QB Scare Turn Into Something Worse
Isaac Wilson briefly left Saturdays game in the third quarter, and for a moment it looked like Houston might have caught a break against Colorados offense. Instead, the Buffaloes kept rolling, with true freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne stepping in and immediately making an impact by scoring a touchdown on his first carry before Wilson returned early in the fourth quarter.
For Houston, the bigger concern was not just the upset loss to No. 14 Colorado, but the way a short injury scare turned into another layer of trouble in a 42-32 defeat. Colorados win pushed the Buffaloes closer to bowl eligibility, while the Cougars were left to sort through another frustrating outcome in a game where the momentum never fully swung back their way. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Just Gave Deion Sanders A Chance To Build Real Momentum
Colorados win over No. 14 Houston arrived with the kind of urgency that can change a season, and it came after the Buffaloes had already put themselves in a hole. Trailing by 13 late in the second quarter, Colorado ripped off a 28-point run and pulled away for a 42-32 victory, its first over an AP top-15 team since 2007. For a program trying to regain relevance, it was the sort of result that can reshape the conversation in a hurry.
For Houston, the loss landed with real consequences beyond a single blemish in the standings. The Cougars entered with Big 12 title and playoff hopes still in view, but this setback made both paths much steeper. It was the kind of game that leaves a team wondering how much margin is left, especially when a lead slips away and a chance to strengthen its case disappears with it. [Read more 🡒]