Colorado Runs Past No. 14 Houston 42-32 With Five Rushing Touchdowns

Houston had the ball, a 20-7 lead and a little more than two minutes to play before halftime at Folsom Field. Then the Cougars stopped scoring and Colorado stopped missing. DeKalon Taylor ran 67 yards for a touchdown on his only carry of the night, JaQuail Smith added a 32-yard score with 15 seconds left in the half, and Colorado never trailed again on the way to a 42-32 upset of No. 14 Houston on Friday night in Boulder.

The Buffaloes ran for 249 yards and five touchdowns, from five different players, against a Houston team that arrived as a road favorite of more than a touchdown. Colorado improved to 4-6 and 2-5 in the Big 12. Houston fell to 7-3 and 4-3 in league play. All three of its losses have come in Big 12 games.

Houston's fast start

For most of the first half, the game looked like it would follow the script. Houston opened with a 15-play, 66-yard drive that took 7:10 off the clock and included a fourth-and-1 conversion on a short Conner Weigman throw to Luke McGary. It stalled at the Colorado 9, and Jonathan Dimas kicked a 27-yard field goal.

The next Houston drive went 85 yards in 13 plays. Makhi Hughes did most of the work on the ground and finished it with an 8-yard touchdown run on the first snap of the second quarter for a 10-0 lead.

Colorado's answer came from deep in its own territory. After a Boo Carter unsportsmanlike conduct penalty moved Houston's kickoff up, Taylor muffed the short kick and RJ Johnson fell on it at the Colorado 6. Isaac Wilson then led the Buffaloes the length of the field, with a 24-yard completion to Ernest Campbell and two Wilson runs for first downs along the way, before Richard Young broke a 38-yard touchdown run up the middle at 9:25.

Houston went right back on top. Re'Shaun Sanford II opened the next drive with a 40-yard run, Weigman scrambled for 15 more, a Colorado face mask penalty moved the ball to the 11, and Weigman found Amare Thomas for a 4-yard touchdown. After a Colorado three-and-out, Dimas made a 52-yard field goal at 2:36, and Houston led 20-7.

Fourteen points in 107 seconds

The game turned in the final two minutes of the half. Colorado called timeout at 2:00 facing third-and-2 at its own 33. On the next snap, Taylor took a handoff and went 67 yards for a touchdown, and it was 20-14 with 1:49 left.

Houston needed only to protect the lead into halftime. Instead it went three-and-out, and Colorado's DeAndre Moore Jr. returned a 59-yard punt 34 yards to the Colorado 44. Wilson hit Moore for 13 yards and Joseph Williams for 11, and Smith finished the four-play drive with a 32-yard touchdown run at 0:15. Colorado led 21-20 at halftime after scoring all 21 of its first-half points in the second quarter.

Two snaps, two turnovers

The third quarter opened with a swing that summed up the night. On Colorado's first snap of the half, Houston's Javion White intercepted Wilson at the Colorado 36. On Houston's first snap after the takeaway, Randon Fontenette sacked Weigman for a 9-yard loss and knocked the ball loose, and Santana Hopper recovered at the Colorado 45.

Three plays later, on third-and-8, Wilson threw deep to Williams for a 53-yard touchdown and a 28-20 lead.

Houston had a chance to answer right away. Hughes broke a 29-yard run, and the Cougars reached the Colorado 33, but a fourth-and-1 throw to Patrick Overmyer fell incomplete with Ben Finneseth pressuring Weigman. Colorado then put together its most patient drive of the game, 11 plays and 66 yards in 5:41, and Kaneal Sweetwyne ran 14 yards for a touchdown on his only carry. It was 35-20 at 5:26 of the third quarter.

Carter, whose penalty had helped set up Colorado's first score, made up for it late in the quarter by intercepting Weigman at the Colorado 41 with 42 seconds left.

Houston did not go away. After Colorado turned the ball over on downs at the Houston 37 early in the fourth quarter, Weigman drove the Cougars 62 yards in eight plays. He converted a third-and-8 with a 10-yard run and then threw 22 yards to Overmyer for a touchdown on fourth-and-5 at 10:00. The two-point try failed, and Colorado led 35-26.

The Buffaloes answered with the drive that decided it. They went 75 yards in 11 plays and used 6:01. A Houston unnecessary roughness penalty gave them 15 free yards, Taylor caught a 21-yard pass on third-and-14, and Young picked up 8 yards on third-and-5. Wilson fumbled on the drive, but Smith recovered. Then Charlie Williams caught a 25-yard pass on third-and-11 to the Houston 2, and Young scored from there at 3:59 for a 42-26 lead.

Weigman led one more touchdown drive, 75 yards in nine plays, with a 24-yard catch by Overmyer on third-and-8 and a 4-yard touchdown pass to Trent Walker at 1:51. The two-point try failed again. Houston's onside kick went only 9 yards, and Young ran twice for 15 yards before Wilson knelt out the clock.

The numbers that decided it

The teams were nearly even in total yardage, 477 for Houston and 466 for Colorado, and Houston had 28 first downs to Colorado's 20. The difference was in the big plays and the key downs.

Colorado converted 10 of 14 third downs, while Houston converted 9 of 16. Houston went 2 for 3 on fourth down, but the miss came at the Colorado 33 while trailing by eight. Houston turned it over twice, both times in Colorado territory, and Colorado turned it over once. Colorado scored on runs of 67, 38 and 32 yards and a 53-yard pass. And Houston failed on both of its two-point tries, which kept it two scores behind late.

Weigman completed 26 of 42 passes for 272 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, and ran for 29 yards. Overmyer caught nine passes for 116 yards and a touchdown, and Thomas had six catches for 66 yards and a score. Hughes ran 15 times for 106 yards and a touchdown, and Sanford added 70 yards on 13 carries. Houston ran for 205 yards in all, at 6.0 yards per carry, and still lost.

For Colorado, Wilson was 17 of 25 for 217 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Young ran 21 times for 99 yards and two scores, Smith added 44 yards and a touchdown on six carries, and Joseph Williams led the receivers with five catches for 80 yards. Fontenette led the defense with 13 tackles, 12 of them solo, along with his sack and forced fumble. Colorado punter Damon Greaves averaged 54.7 yards on three punts.

Houston's defense, led by Kentrell Webb's nine tackles, did not record a sack.

What it means

This is a damaging loss for Houston. The Cougars were 7-2 and coming off a win over Cincinnati that kept them in the Big 12 race. Now they have three losses, after losing at Texas Tech in September and to Utah, and a 4-3 conference record. Houston plays at West Virginia on Nov. 21 and closes the regular season at home against Baylor on Nov. 28.

For Colorado, it is the best win of an uneven season. The Buffaloes had already won a 27-24 overtime game against Kansas State, but they had also been routed by Oklahoma State and lost at Arizona State last week. At 4-6, Colorado needs to win its last two games to reach six wins. It plays at Cincinnati on Nov. 21 and hosts UCF on Nov. 28.

Closing take

Houston outgained Colorado, ran the ball well and had a 13-point lead late in the second quarter. It still lost by 10, because Colorado kept turning ordinary downs into long touchdowns and Houston kept handing the ball back in bad spots. The 107 seconds before halftime, and the two snaps after it, were enough to undo almost everything the Cougars did right. For Colorado, a night like this is a reminder of what the offense can do when it gets out in space.

Full statistics are in the ESPN box score (opens in a new tab).

Colorado's account of the game is in its official recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: ESPN box score, play-by-play, team schedules and Big 12 standings; CBS Sports; Fox Sports; Houston Athletics; Colorado Athletics.

Photo: Colorado Athletics.