BOULDER — Colorado mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback Saturday night but the Buffaloes gave up a score late and couldn’t answer on their final possession as CU fell to No. 18 Kansas State, 31-28, at Folsom Field.

Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders’ Buffaloes dropped to 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Big 12 play while the Wildcats improved to 5-1, 2-1.

CU trailed 14-7 at the half and 21-7 with just under seven minutes left in the third quarter.

But the Buffs answered with a touchdown to pull within 21-14 with 4:44 left in the third period and following a K-State field goal, they cut the deficit to just three with a 72-yard scoring drive midway through the fourth quarter.

Colorado’s defense then came up with a huge play when backup defensive back Colton Hood, playing for an injured Travis Hunter, returned an interception 59 yards to the K-State 17-yard line. Two plays later, CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to LaJohntay Wester to give Colorado a 28-24 lead with just 3:12 remaining.

“The defense came up with the play when they needed to come up with the play,” Coach Prime said. “You know we’re going to score with the ball in Shedeur’s hands down there and we went on and did what we had to do.”

But CU fans barely had time to celebrate before Kansas State answered by going 84 yards in just three plays. The Wildcats had a 34-yard Avery Johnson pass to running back DJ Giddens to get to midfield, then saw Johnson throw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Brown to regain the lead, 31-28, with just 2:14 remaining.

“We didn’t expect them to have a couple of explosion plays to set them up for a touchdown,” Coach Prime said. “We didn’t even fathom that.”

Still, that left Colorado with one more chance. The Buffs took possession with 2:14 to play on their own 25, but a fourth-and-5 pass fell incomplete as CU’s protestations for a pass interference call went unanswered.

K-State then ran out the clock for the win.

The Buffs were without their two top receivers, Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr., for the entire second half. Still, Sanders finished 34-for-40 for 388 yards and three touchdowns. Omarion Miller had eight catches for 145 yards, Will Sheppard had five for 83 and a touchdown and Wester caught five for 58 yards and two scores.

“Certainly losing Travis and Jimmy and others was tremendous, because they’re a vital part of our team, a part of our identity,” Coach Prime said. “That took a lot out of us. But other guys had the opportunity to step up, and they did. So I’m proud of them.”

Kansas State, though, had 423 yards total offense, 185 on the ground and 238 in the air. Giddens became the first player to surpass the 100-yard mark against Colorado this year, finishing with 182 yards on 25 carries, while Brown became the first receiver with 100 yards against CU with six catches for 121 yards and two scores.

“The goal was to try to stop the run and we didn’t do that whatsoever,” Sanders said. “They had 224 yards rushing (not counting yards lost on sacks), and they ultimately dominated the time of possession. That’s not good, because now we can’t get on the field and do what we’re capable of doing … We didn’t tackle well today and we didn’t get to the ball as a unit today.”

The Wildcats also registered six sacks on CU’s Sanders, leaving Colorado with a minus-29 yards rushing but the Buffs did collect four sacks of KSU’s Johnson.

Even without the 74 yards lost on sacks, CU’s rushing game produced just 45 yards with a 13-yard Sanders run the longest of the night.

“The play calls are there, we didn’t execute,” Coach Prime said. “We missed a block here, we missed this there, we missed this there. We just didn’t execute.”

But while the Buffs are still in decent position to contend for a Big 12 championship game bid, they know this was an opportunity that slipped through their fingers.

“Sometimes you get your butt kicked, you just gotta take it,” Sanders said. “But sometimes you lose, you say, ‘Dang, we should’ve won that. We should’ve had that.’ And that was one of those types of games. That’s not taking anything away from our opponents, because they played their butts off, and they’re in that locker room right now celebrating, having a good time, and they deserve it. But for us, we just felt like we let that one slip away. We got to do a better job of taking advantage of the opportunities that we had to win that game, because we had several.”

HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado struck first, getting good field position after a short K-State punt gave CU the ball at the KSU 49-yard line.

The Buffs used nine plays to reach the end zone. Colorado kept the drive alive on fourth-and-7 when Sanders hit Wester for an 8-yard gain. Three plays later, Sanders and Wester connected again on a 25-yard scoring pass and Colorado took a 7-0 lead.

The Wildcats answered with their first scoring drive of the night on their next possession. Quarterback Avery Johnson directed an 11-play, 75-yard scoring march, capping the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 to knot the score at 7-7.

Colorado’s offense couldn’t find its rhythm again the rest of the half. After both teams traded punts, K-State methodically drove 60 yards in eight plays for a go-ahead touchdown. Giddens ran six times for 50 yards before former Buff Dylan Edwards finished the drive with a 1-yard scoring run to give KSU a 14-7 lead with 1:52 left in the half.

“He (Giddens) is phenomenal,” Coach Prime said. “He’s one of the best in the country. I mean, his maneuverability is unbelievable.”

But that left Colorado with enough time to put together a drive and the Buffs started off well, getting two quick pass completions to reach the Kansas State 34-yard line.

But Sanders was sacked on first and third down for a total of 19 yards in losses to end the half and send the Buffs into the locker room at the break trailing 14-7.

Kansas State took the opening kick of the second half and methodically drove 81 yards in 16 plays for a touchdown. The Wildcats converted a third-and-11 to keep the drive alive early, then gained 14 yards on third-and-7 to reach the CU 11-yard line.

Colorado then held to put the ‘Cats in a fourth-and-1, but KSU converted and then scored two plays later on a 1-yard scoring pass to take a 21-7 lead with 6:55 to play in the third quarter.

But the Buffs offense finally found some consistency on the ensuing possession. CU drove 75 yards for a touchdown, with Sanders completing six of seven passes for all 75 yards. Colorado’s Sheppard, who had a drop for the only incompletion on the drive, atoned for the miscue by hauling in a 7-yard scoring pass from Sanders and CU cut the K-State lead to 21-14 with 4:44 to play in the third quarter.

Kansas State returned the ensuing kick to the KSU 43-yard line and quickly reached into CU territory. The Buffs defense then held but the Wildcats managed to reap a 48-yard field goal to take a 24-14 lead with 28 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Colorado then saw a promising drive end on a rare mistake from Sanders, who overthrew a receiver deep in KSU territory, resulting in an interception. But the Buffs defense rose to the occasion, forcing a K-State 3-and-out, and CU took over again on its own 28 after a Kansas State punt.

 The Buffs made their next possession count. Sanders completed seven passes on a 72-yard scoring drive, including a 14-yard toss to Wester on fourth-and-3. Isaiah Augustave then finished the march with a 2-yard scoring run to pull CU to within 24-21 with 6:44 to play.

Colorado’s defense then came up with a huge play. After K-State drove inside CU territory, Hood plucked a deflected pass out of the air and returned it 59 yards to the K-State 17-yard line.

CU needed just two plays to score, with Sanders and Wester hooking up for their second touchdown of the night, an 11-yarder that gave Colorado a 28-24 lead.

But the Wildcats answered in a hurry. KSU needed just three plays to go 84 yards, getting a 50-yard touchdown pass from Johnston to Jayce Brown to regain the lead, 31-28.

That gave the Buffs the ball back on their own 25 with 2:14 on the clock.

CU’s last possession, though, ended with an incompletion on fourth-and-5, handing the ball back to the Wildcats, who then ran out the clock by taking a knee and three straight plays.

TURNING POINT: This one wasn’t decided until the final minutes. After Colorado took a 28-24 lead late in the game, the Buffs gave up two huge explosion plays — a 34-yard pass to get KSU to midfield, then a 50-yard touchdown pass.

KEY STATISTIC: Colorado gave up 185 yards rushing (224 without counting sack yardage), by far the most against CU this season … The Buffs were just 4-for-11 on third downs … The Buffs gave up 13 explosion plays — passes of at least 15 yards and runs of at least 10 — for 283 yards.

WHAT IT MEANS: The Buffs are no longer tied for the Big 12 lead, but they are just one game behind the three leaders with six games still to play.

NEXT UP: The Buffs hit the road next Saturday for a 2 p.m. (MT) game at Arizona (FOX).

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Story by Neill Woelk, Contributing Editor for CUBuffs.com. Content courtesy of the University of Colorado at Boulder.