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October 11th – Boulder Colorado 24, No. 22 Iowa State 17
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Kaidon Salter passed for 255 yards and two touchdowns, while the Buff defense posted a fourth interception and a fourth-down stop to make CU’s lead hold up in a 24-17 win over No. 22 Iowa State. In CU’s first win over a ranked team since the 2023 opener in Coach Prime’s debut, the Buff defense gave up 441 yards of total offense, including 236 yards rushing, but held Iowa State scoreless in the fourth quarter, enabling the Buffs to snap a two-game losing streak.
“I hate to say it’s one win that could turn it around,” Coach Prime said of CU’s 3-4 record. “We should have been winning, man, and we’re still upset with that. The locker room has a different vibe today, and it’s a different challenge given at the conclusion of the matter, but we’re better than what our record says.”
Joseph Williams led the Buffs with 128 yards receiving on eight catches, including a 38-yarder on third-and-16 in the final minutes to preserve the win. Omarion Miller contributed 82 yards on three catches, including a 70-yard touchdown reception in the first minute of the third quarter.
“It means a lot. We won,” Coach Prime said. “It’s a difference. Different feel, different move. Lately I want to go grab something to eat. Usually, I don’t want to be seen after a loss. I might actually go do it. You don’t want to go nowhere where you get your butt kicked. ‘Hey, did you just lose?’, like you don’t want that. You don’t want that. So imagine you go somewhere and eat right now, because we won, and I get to hear the other side of it. ‘Hey, good game Coach Prime.’”
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Game Story … Iowa State took the opening kickoff, and made it look like it would be a long afternoon for the Buff Nation. A 14-yard pass from quarterback Rocco Becht to tight end Gabe Burkle opened the game, followed by runs of 12 yards and 17 yards by running back Abu Sama gave the Cyclones the ball on CU’s side of the field. A holding penalty, though, thwarted the drive, forcing a punt.
Taking over at six yard line, the CU offense gained six yards in three plays, and punted the ball away.
The Iowa State offense next endured its first three-and-out of the game, punting the ball back to the Buffs.
Taking over at the 14 yard line, the CU offense gained nine yards in three plays, and punted the ball away.
A 15- yard completion opened Iowa State’s next drive, but the next three plays gained one, with Iowa State punting the ball back to the Buffs for the third time in the first quarter.
CU’s third drive was a three-and-out again … until it wasn’t. On third-and-10 at the ten, CU quarterback Kaidon Salter hit wide receiver Joseph Williams for a 13-yard gain. The play was then called incomplete, then reversed again on review.
Given new life, the Buffs took off. A 24-yard run by Kaidon Salter put the ball near midfield, with an eight-yard completion from Salter to Omarion Miller giving the Buffs another first down. Salter next hit Sincere Brown for seven, then ran for seven more, giving the Buffs a first down at the ISU 28. After a 15-yard pass interference penalty, CU was in the red zone at the 13. Three plays later, running back Micah Welch went around right end for an eight-yard touchdown to complete the 12-play, 90-yard drive on the final play of the first quarter.
A 19-yard pass from Becht to Xavier Townsend quickly moved ISU near midfield to open ISU’s next drive, but the drive stalled soon thereafter, with the Cyclones punting the ball back to the Buffs after advancing to the CU 43-yard line.
Taking over at 20 after a touchback – CU’s best opening field position of the first half – the Buff offense went three-and-out for the third time in four drives.
With the ball at its 31 to start the possession, Iowa State’s offense was quickly back on CU’s side of the field. A 21-yard completion, followed on the next play by a 26-yard run by Abu Sama, and the Cyclones were set up at the CU 19-yard line. Aided by two false starts by the Cyclones, though the Buffs thereafter made a stand. Iowa State finally settled for 38-yard field goal by Chase Smith, making it a 7-3 game with 6:40 remaining in the first half.
CU’s next possession on offense wasn’t a three-and-out … it was a four-and-out. A 30-yard completion from Kaidon Salter opened the drive with promise, but the next three plays netted only three yards. A 37-yard punt by Damon Greaves, though, pinned the Cyclones back at their six yard line.
The teams then traded three-and-outs, with each offense gaining three yards.
Damon Greaves’ 41-yard punt forced the Cyclones to take over at their four yard line, with only two minutes remaining before halftime.
No problem.
The Cyclones next set off on a 10-play, 96-yard drive to take the lead. ISU quarterback Rocco Becht completed passes of 13, 12, 10, 16, seven and 16 in succession, quickly moving the Cyclones into the CU red zone. After a 19-yard run by Becht put the ball at the CU one, Abu Sama took it in, giving Iowa State its first lead of the game with 15 seconds remaining before halftime.
The Buffs weren’t done, though. A 36-yard kickoff return by Quentin Gibson gave the Buffs a chance. After Kaidon Salter hit Sincere Brown for a 17-yard gain to the ISU 39-yard line, the Buffs had a chance at a field goal with one second remaining. The 57-yard attempt by Buck Buchanan, though, was unsuccessful, leaving the Buffs down at the break.
Halftime score: No. 22 Iowa State 10, Colorado 7
After a first half which looked like an Iowa State/Iowa game – 14 possessions; 17 points – the teams found their groove in the third quarter.
On the second play of the half, CU quarterback Kaidon Salter hit a wide open Omarion Miller for a 70-yard touchdown. Two plays; 73 yards; 42 seconds … and CU was back in the lead, 14-10.
Undaunted, Iowa State also scored on its first possession of the second half. A nine-play, 75- yard drive was all on the ground. The highlight was a 38-yard run by Abu Sama, with Sama finishing off the drive with a one-yard touchdown run.
An unsportsmanlike call on the touchdown, forcing ISU to kickoff from its 20, coupled with a 30-yard return by Quentin Gibson, allowed the Buffs to set up shop at midfield to open its next drive.
A 14-yard pass from Salter to Joseph Williams got the drive off to a good start, but the Buffs soon faced a third-and-nine at the ISU 33. There, Salter took matters into his own hands, with a 13-yard run giving CU a first down at the ISU 20. After an eight-yard completion to Williams gave the Buffs a first-and-goal at the nine, the 10-play, 52-yard drive was capped by a three-yard touchdown pass from Salter to Williams. With 4:26 left in the third, the new score was Colorado 21, Iowa State 17.
Again, the Iowa State offense was unfazed. Again the Iowa State offense was able to quickly move the ball downfield.
The Cyclones, though, were not able to convert.
Another big run by Abu Sama, this time for 36 yards, gave the Cyclones a first down at the CU 14. On third-and-goal at the seven, though quarterback Rocco Becht was intercepted by Buff safety Tawfiq Byard. giving the ball back to the Buffs two minutes into the fourth quarter.
With the ball and the lead, the Buff offense held the ball for nine plays and 4:26 of clock, but only gained 25 yards before punting the ball back to the Iowa State offense. A 47-yard punt by Damon Greaves, though, left Iowa State at their nine yard line, with nine minutes still remaining.
Three plays netted nine yards. Eschewing a punt, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell decided to go for a first down on fourth-and-one at his own 18. There, Abu Sama, who torched CU for 177 yards on the day, was stuffed for no gain.
With the ball at the Iowa State 18 to start its drive, the CU offense could have gone in for the kill. Instead, three runs by Kaidon Salter netted seven yards. Alejandro Matta’s 29-yard field goal was good, but it was still a one score game, at 24-17, with 5:13 still to play.
A 26-yard completion from Rocco Becht to Benjamin Brahmer immediately set the Cyclones up at the Buff 49 after one play. The next three plays, though, were only good for two yards. Faced with a fourth-and-eight at CU 47 with 3:48 remaining, Iowa State head coach, who had a drive before gone for a fourth-and-one at his own 18, decided to punt.
With the ball and a chance to run out the clock, the CU offense, which had failed to close out games for the first half of the season … did just that. A 17-yard by Dallan Hayden gave the Buffs a fresh set of downs, while keeping the clock moving. On the next play, it appeared that Hayden had put the game away with another long run, but a holding penalty negated the gain. The next two plays went backward, with Iowa State burning time outs.
Then, with 1:47 to play, and the CU offense facing a third-and-16, Kaidon Salter hit Joseph Williams for a 38-yard gain and a first down. Three kneel downs later, the Buffs had their third win of the season.
Final score: Colorado 24, No. 22 Iowa State 17
Kaidon Salter bounced back nicely from a rough outing at TCU the previous weeks, leading the Buffs’ offense with 255 passing yards on 16 completions and two touchdowns. Salter also contributed 57 yards rushing on nine carries, finishing the game with a QB rating of 176.1 with zero interceptions or sacks.
“We challenged everybody, not just Kaidon,” Coach Prime noted. “He stood up and stood out. He did his thing. I don’t think it was a play in the game bigger than that third-down throw. First of all, we gave him a clean pocket. Hats off to the darn line, they’re blocking their butts off run as well as pass. And he stood in there, and he delivered a great ball. Joseph (Williams) went up and got that thing. It was a great execution of what we practice. And I’m happy for him. I’m happy for him. I truly am.”
While holding the Cyclone offense to 17 points, the Buff defense did surrender 441 yards of total offense, including 236 yards rushing. Iowa State running back Abu Sama torched the Buffs, with 24 carries for 177 yards and two touchdowns.
“I’m sure you guys are gonna look at this way”, said Buff linebacker Jeremiah Brown, who led the Buffs with ten tackles. “Too many yards given up, but the key stops today, the interception and the fourth down stop your defense. Stepping up in those huge moments we all come together on the sideline, we bring it in, and we all tell ourselves, just do your job, dominate the person in front of you, and believe and trust your teammate. When we get out of line in the game, maybe sometimes one of us might try to go make a play and get out the gap, and that’s how those runs crease. But we all lean on each other in crunch times. It all works out for us.”
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Game Notes …
— Attendance for the game was 52,698, CU’s third sellout in four home games;
— The win gave CU a 49-16-1 advantage in games against Iowa State. CU’s .750 winning percentage against the Cyclones is the highest against any opponent with more than four games in the series other than Wyoming (24-3-1, .875);
— The two teams combined for 10 first-half punts, five each, and just two in the second half, one apiece;
— The win over the No. 22 Cyclones was the first for CU in some time in several categories:
- First win over a ranked opponent since Coach Prime’s first game, a 45-42 win over No. 17 TCU to open the 2023 season;
- First win over a ranked conference opponent since 2019, a 24-21 win at No. 24 Arizona State;
- First win over a ranked team at home since a since 2019, a a 34-31 win over No. 25 Nebraska;
- First win over a ranked conference opponent at home since 2016, a 27-22 win over No. 21 Utah.
— Wide receiver Joseph Williams caught eight passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. The 128 receiving yards represented the highest receiving total for a player in 2025 and the second 100-yard game of the season (Sincere Brown 4-120-1 vs. Delaware);
— Quentin Gibson had four kick returns for 103 yards, his third 100-yard game of the season. He entered the game leading all freshmen and was fifth in the FBS with 353 yards. Entering the Iowa State game, no other freshman had a 100-yard game. With three games, it’s the most of any Big 12 freshman since the 2016 season and it’s the most of any Power conference school since 2019;
— Kicker Alejandro Mata connected on 3-of-3 PATs and 1-of-1 FG. Mata upped his totals to 22-of-22 for PATs for the 2025 season, with no misses since the Oregon game in 2023. Mata raised his consecutive made streak to 101 consecutive PATs, one of 10 FBS players with an active streak over 100 consecutive PATs and the only Big 12 player on the list;
— Punter Damon Greaves rebounded from a subpar performance at TCU with a solid game against Iowa State. He punted six times for an average of 41.8 yards with a long of 47 and he placed three inside the 20, all actually inside the ten yards line.
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10 Replies to “Colorado 24, No. 22 Iowa 17”
THIS GAME SHOULD BE NAMED “THE PICKED UP FLAG.”
I FEEL THE ONLY REASON THAT THE FLAG WAS PICKED UP WAS THE FACT THE ISU RECEIVER RAN STRAIGHT INTO OUR D.B. WHO, THEN, WRAPPED HIS ARM AROUND THE RECEIVER WHILE FALLING DOWN…..BUT – STILL – IT WAS A JUDGEMENT CALL AND OUR INTERCEPTION SAVED THE DAY.
TAKE A WIN ANY WAY YOU CAN.
That was absolutely the right no call. The ISU guy initiated the contact hard enough that it was definitely his intention to knock the defender down and the momentum carried them both down. The arm was merely incidental. If anything should have been called it was offensive pass interference as the ball was coming that way.
That dimwit play by play guy wouldn’t let it go for the rest of the game. He was also telling everyone “its ok to punt here” when Salter made that pass that got the first down that ended the game. I hope he never does another Buff game.
We got lucky, and I was shocked, when we went with that pass on 3rd and 17 for the first down that effectively sealed the game. Lucky because I was absolutely sure Shurmur was going to run straight into the line for the third straight time and punt setting up a minute and half for ISU to come back for the win. Did Prime make that decision to throw?
Not sure, but credit to Salter on the execution. The coaching staff finally called some long seam plays instead of constant hitches.
Just reread your tips for this game? What made you lean towards a CU win?
I’d like to say an uncanny ability to predict games, but the simple truth is that I had predicted CU’s previous two losses too damn well. I just didn’t want to pick against the Buffs a third straight week, so I just went with my heart over my head.
Or, if you prefer … CU had three close losses in the books. They were due to have the ball bounce their way for a change …
I’ll take it. This is the first time I have seen Salter execute when the game is on the line. That final throw was great. Hopefully we see more of that.
Turns out the season isn’t over. Nice win. Good time for a bye. Bring on dem utes.
Go Buffs
Imagine if ISU receivers could catch the ball.
Nice to see CU offense be consistent but I have a nagging feeling that we got lucky.
It is football. The team that makes the fewest mistakes generally wins. Particularly in college football. There is plenty of room for this team to continue improving. No doubt. Kaiden’s best game, and still missed and almost missed plenty of throws. Hopefully he continues settling down and improving his accuracy. Enjoy the win. Utah should be another good game.
Go Buffs