BYU football: Cougars come back to defeat Colorado 24-21

The Deseret News is providing live coverage of Saturday’s game between BYU and Colorado. Check back for updates throughout the game.

Final score

BYU 24, Colorado 21

Fourth quarter

BYU 24, Colorado 21

0:50 — Isaiah Glasker saves the day.

BYU’s star linebacker picked off Kaidon Salter to seal the win for BYU. BYU 24, Colorado 21.

8:07 — Will Ferrin’s made field goal streak has come to an end at 25.

Ferrin’s 55-yard attempt missed wide, giving the Buffaloes the ball back with prime field position. BYU 24, Colorado 21.

The field goal’s length was made much more difficult by a fumbled snap that BYU recovered for a loss of eight yards.

11:21 — An Isaiah Glasker sack on third down forced Colorado to punt back to the Cougars. BYU 24, Colorado 21.

Glasker brought Kaidon Salter down for a loss of 22 yards on the play.

BYU has three sacks tonight — one each from Glasker, Jack Kelly and Faletau Satuala.

14:02 — BYU has run a bunch of reverse plays tonight, and the most recent one couldn’t have come at a better time.

An elaborate reverse call resulted in Cody Hagen taking the ball 32 yards for a touchdown, putting the Cougars ahead once again. BYU 24, Colorado 21.

The touchdown was Hagen’s second of his career, the other having come Week 1 against Portland State.

BYU has now run for 193 yards against the Buffaloes.

Third quarter

Colorado 21, BYU 17

2:42 — It’s officially a dogfight.

Colorado pulled ahead on a 19-yard touchdown pass from Kaidon Salter to Dre-lon Miller, who has now scored twice tonight. Colorado 21, BYU 17.

After being stifled since midway through the first quarter, the Buffaloes’ offense returned to its earlier form to score in six plays.

5:26 — The Cougars have clawed back to take the lead.

On a dramatic fourth-and-2 at the goal line, Bachmeier found a wide open Chase Roberts for the pair’s second touchdown connection of the night. BYU 17, Colorado 14.

BYU went 76 yards on nine plays for the go-ahead score, with Roberts and Parker Kingston each picking up chunk yardage.

The Cougars have now totaled 268 yards of offense tonight at an average of 6.2 yards per play.

Halftime

Colorado 14, BYU 10

It was all Colorado — and then some — for the first 10 minutes of play tonight.

Since then, BYU has clawed back admirably to keep the dream of a 4-0 start alive.

The Buffaloes couldn’t be stopped early, gashing the Cougars for 7.8 yards per carry on their first two drives as BYU’s offense sputtered as well.

But once Will Ferrin booted a 28-yard field goal late in the first quarter, the tide began to turn.

BYU’s defense finally settled down to force two Colorado punts, allowing the Cougars to orchestrate a touchdown drive to close the first half and pull within four points.

Bear Bachmeier has played well in his first taste of Big 12 action, completing 10 of 14 passes for 109 yards with a touchdown while running for 48 yards as well.

After being bottled up initially by the Buffaloes, LJ Martin came free for 25 yards on three carries on BYU’s final drive of the half — a development that could be a sign of good things to come for the Cougars after halftime.

BYU gave up 137 yards on Colorado’s first two drives, but since then the Buffaloes have racked up just 56 yards on their next three opportunities.

The Cougars will receive the second half kickoff for the chance to pull ahead with a touchdown.

Second quarter

Colorado 14, BYU 10

0:46 — BYU is back in the ballgame.

The Cougars drove 94 yards on 10 plays to cut the deficit to four points, with Bachmeier connecting with Chase Roberts for a 5-yard touchdown. Colorado 14, BYU 10.

BYU was aided by a handful of Colorado penalties on the drive, but Bachmeier did make a number of impressive throws while LJ Martin finally came alive for 25 yards on three carries.

The Cougars will receive the second half kickoff, so should the Cougars keep Colorado from scoring in the final 46 seconds of the half, they would have the chance to claim the lead out of halftime with another touchdown.

First quarter

Colorado 14, BYU 3

0:45 — Will Ferrin puts the Cougars on the board with a 28-yard field goal. Colorado 14, BYU 3.

Ferrin has now made 25 consecutive field goals, extending his program record.

BYU traveled 65 yards on eight plays prior to Ferrin’s kick, moving the ball better than earlier tonight but still sputtering late.

Bachmeier linked with Carsen Ryan for a pair of first down pickups of 28 and 12 yards each, with the freshman QB adding runs of 12 and 11 as well before failing to convert a red zone third down.

5:08 — BYU’s defense gets gashed once again.

Colorado dragged the Cougars downfield for another touchdown, this time from Dre’lon Miller from five yards out. Colorado 14, BYU 0.

The Buffaloes only needed four plays to travel 62 yards into the end zone, with a 27-yard run from Micah Welch providing the bulk of the yardage.

BYU has now allowed 131 total yards to Colorado, with Deion Sanders’ squad averaging 7.8 yards per carry on the ground.

9:44 — Tough look for BYU’s defense right out the gate.

The Cougars opened Saturday’s action by allowing their second touchdown of the season, as Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter scampered into the end zone on a broken play for a 3-yard score. Colorado 7, BYU 0.

The Buffaloes traveled 75 yards in 11 plays for the touchdown, running eight times for 36 yards in the process.

BYU’s offense, led by Bear Bachmeier, now holds the pressure of operating from behind for the first time this season and attemping the quiet the rowdy Colorado home crowd.

How to watch the game

BYU’s showdown with Colorado will be broadcast on ESPN and can be streamed through the ESPN app.

Pregame prep

Here are a few stories to get you ready for BYU’s game against Colorado.

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