Colorado Buffaloes beat Baylor in overtime thriller after Hail Mary touchdown in final seconds

By Ben Morse, CNN

(CNN) — Colorado beat the Baylor Bears 38-31 in a thriller on Saturday after a 43-yard Hail Mary touchdown in the final seconds of regular time from the Buffaloes forced overtime.

Colorado received the ball with just over two minutes remaining of the fourth quarter and trailing 31-24 to Baylor after a back-and-forth encounter at Folsom Field.

The Buffaloes managed to drive to the Bears’ 43-yard line with just two seconds remaining before quarterback Shedeur Sanders – son of head coach and NFL Hall of Famer Deion ‘Coach Prime’ Sanders – completed a Hail Mary touchdown pass to LaJohntay Wester as time expired to level the scores with the extra point and send the game to overtime.

Colorado scored first in overtime to take the lead, with Micah Welch running the ball in from a yard out. And needing a touchdown to restore parity again, Baylor looked to be heading in for their own score before Colorado’s Travis Hunter knocked the ball loose from the Bears’ running back Dominic Richardson at the goal line.

“Shedeur told me to go out there and get the ball,” Hunter, 21, said afterwards. “So I told him: ‘I got you,’ and I kept my word. I knew I had to tackle. I knew they were coming at me. They don’t think I could tackle, so I had to show them.”

Fans rushed onto the field to celebrate the victory but a review from the officials was needed to determine whether the game-sealing fumble was the correct decision. After the review, the call stood and the celebrations kicked off in earnest.

It is arguably the most dramatic win of Sanders’ time in Colorado – he is into his second season with the Buffaloes – as it takes them to 3-1 on the season.

“Great, great, great, great win,” ‘Coach Prime’ said in his postgame press conference. “Young men were resilient. They never gave up. They never surrendered. The coaches were still inspired.

“I mean, all the way to the end, they were still calling and devising things … I don’t like how it played out, but I love the results. I think we’re so much better than what we’re showing you at times. We keep showing you glimpses of running game. We show you glimpses of us playing tough football defensively. We show you we can throw the ball all around, and then we just stall for a series or two and surrender something foolishly. But I’m pleased.”

It was a thrilling end to an exciting game in Boulder, Colorado after the Buffaloes fell into a 24-10 deficit midway through the second quarter.

But a 58-yard touchdown pass from Sanders to Omarion Miller before halftime cut the Bears’ lead and Colorado leveled in the third quarter.

Baylor regained their seven-point lead again midway through the fourth quarter after a 24-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hal Presley.

And the result looked like it would be wrapped up when two sacks on Sanders meant Colorado had to punt from their own endzone, a punt which Baylor returned to the Buffaloes’ 26-yard line. They were set up for a 46-yard field goal which would have made it a two-score game with just over two minutes remaining but the kick sailed right and Colorado remained in the clash.

With 2:16 remaining, Sanders helped orchestrate a magical drive which culminated in the game going to overtime following the Hail Mary touchdown to Wester.

“I knew I was going to get a lot of pressure,” Sanders, 22, said afterwards. “So I was like: ‘OK, cool. Let’s go ahead and roll.’ We put Travis (Hunter) backside because he’s going to get all that attention and LaJohntay was there on the outside.

“They’re not going to think we’re going to throw him the ball. So I roll left, everybody went in the middle of the end zone and I just trusted God. I just threw it up to God and God answered the prayer.”

Sanders finished 25-for-41 on his passing attempts for 341 yards and two touchdowns while also being sacked eight times. Hunter meanwhile had seven catches for 130 yards – his fifth straight 100-yard receiving game – and the game-clinching forced fumble in overtime.

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