One play later, the ball went to running back Dominic Richardson, who had a clear path to the end zone except for one player.
Travis Hunter.
Hunter stood his ground at the goal line, forcing Richardson to try to leap past him. The ball then came loose and tumbled into the end zone.
“I knew that was coming at me,” Hunter said. “They don’t think I can tackle, so I had to show ‘em.”
Hunter finished with seven catches for 130 yards on offense and three tackles and the clutch forced fumble on defense.
After the fumble, the game was over. Buffs win.
Or so it seemed.
Colorado fans reacted to the fumble by storming the field in the rain, but game officials still needed to review replays of the play to confirm it. It wasn’t quite over yet, in other words, leading to a call for the fans to move back and leave.
“I want to apologize to the opposition, the way we stormed the field,” Deion Sanders said.
Sanders said he didn’t even get the chance to shake hands afterward with Baylor head coach Dave Aranda.
“I don’t like what transpired at the end of the game, but I love what transpired at the end of the game,” Deion Sanders said. “We have a fan base that’s phenomenal.”
After replays confirmed the fumble, the homecoming party kicked into overdrive while the Bears went home wondering what had just happened. Aranda called it a “heart-wrenching loss” and said his team was “gutted.”
For his part, Hunter celebrated afterward by rapidly crawling on his hands and knees through the end zone – a personal shoutout to popular online streamer Kai Cenat.
“I had to do it,” Hunter said.
The Buffs still kind of got lucky
They gave up two huge touchdown plays in the second quarter, silencing a crowd that had come to make noise. The first was a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Baylor’s Jamaal Bell down the right sideline. The second was a 45-yard fourth-down run from Baylor quarterback Sawyer Robertson, helping put the Bears up 24-10 with 4:19 left before halftime.
The Buffs also gave up eight quarterback sacks, just a week after only giving up one in a 28-9 win at Colorado State .
Shedeur Sanders called the win “a relief.” He completed 25 of 41 passes for 341 yards and two touchdowns, including a 58-yarder to sophomore receiver Omarion Miller in the second quarter to help cut Baylor’s lead to 24-17 with 50 seconds left before halftime. Miller almost was tackled near the 35-yard line but kept going to score. But Shedeur found fault with himself and said he missed reads.
“You gotta understand I can’t have a game like that again,” Shedeur said.
The question now is whether the Buffaloes can sustain their success, unlike last year when they lost seven of their final eight games after starting 3-1. If they had lost a game like that against Baylor, they’d be facing a serious uphill fight to get the minimum six wins required to earn a postseason bowl berth.
Now they’ve got momentum heading into a cross-country trip to play Saturday at Central Florida (3-0), followed by a weekend off Oct. 5.
“I don’t like how it played out, but I loved the results,” Deion Sanders said. “I think we’re so much better than what we’re showing you at times.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer . Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
