Houston dominated the first and third quarters, opening up a 13-0 first half lead on the way to a convincing 36-20 victory over Colorado. Cougar quarterback Conner Weigman completed 15-of-24 passes for 222 yards, with 17 carries for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Houston kicker Ethan Sanchez went 5-of-6 on field goal attempts, with a long of 52, as the Cougars scored on eight drives, punting only once all game.

Ryan Staub started the second game of his career, finishing 19-of-35 for 204 yards and a late 37-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Williams after the game was decided. Staub was also sacked three times, and was intercepted twice.

The Buffs clawed their way back to make it a 16-14 game at halftime, with a Simeon Price 38-yard scoring run and a Zach Atkins recovery of a Ryan Staub fumble in the end zone giving CU new life. In the third quarter, however, two Houston drives at up over 13 minutes of game clock, making it a 26-14 game. Two fourth quarter interceptions – CU’s first two turnovers of the season – ended any hope of a Buff comeback.

“Nobody could have told me that was going to go down like that,” Coach Prime said. “There’s no way.

“With the week of preparation that we had, the meetings that we had, the film study and the preparation that we had, no one could have told me that it was going to turn out like this. But … it wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all. I take full responsibility of the foolishness that went on out there that … we tried to call it football. It wasn’t that.”