The last two weeks coming into Saturday's matchup with Iowa State had felt like deja vu for Coach Prime and Colorado. The Buffs built early two-touchdown leads on both BYU and TCU, but failed to execute down the stretch and got soundly beaten in the second halves.
After taking a 14-0 lead on BYU, Colorado was outscored 24-7 the rest of the game. After taking a 14-0 lead on TCU, Colorado was outscored 35-7 the rest of the way.
Early against Iowa State, it felt like Groundhog Day in Boulder. Colorado took an early 7-0 lead on a Micah Welch rushing touchdown at the end of the first quarter, but Iowa State scored 10 in a row to take a 10-7 lead at halftime.
Colorado quickly responded in the third quarter with Kaidon Salter hitting a wide-open Omarion Miller for a 70-yard touchdown to take the lead back. After the Cyclones took the lead back, Salter and the offense responded again. Salter capped a 10-play, 52-yard touchdown drive with a pass to Joseph Miller to give the Buffs the lead for good.
The defense stuffed a 4th-and-1 by Iowa State halfway through the 4th quarter, and a Colorado field goal gave the Buffaloes a 24-17 edge. The defense made another stop to force a punt, and then Salter made sure Iowa State wasn't going to get the ball back.
On 3rd-and-17 with under two minutes to play, Salter delivered a strike to Williams to move the chains and effectively ice the game. Salter was outstanding in leading Colorado to a much-needed win, throwing for 255 yards and adding 57 more on the ground. More importantly, Salter didn't turn the ball over. His three interceptions last week directly impacted the BYU comeback win.
"He was able to have the ability to forget," Deion Sanders said about Salter on the field after the game.
Colorado scores a much-needed win over Iowa State to keep bowl hopes alive
No coach in America is probably happier to see a bye week now than Coach Prime. He's been saying for a while that he felt like this team was close. They finally executed in key moments to pull out a massive win at home over Iowa State.
The win pushes Colorado to 3-4 on the season and now 1-3 in the Big 12. The Buffs have been on the precipice of a big win for weeks, and they finally got it. With things clicking for Salter, Colorado is going to be a team you don't want to play down the stretch.
The Buffs will take next week off as they look to build off this win. They'll face Utah on the road next, and three of their final five games are on the road, but Colorado has put itself in a position to get to bowl eligibility with a pivotal win at home.