BYU seals 11-win season with 36-14 Alamo Bowl win over No. 23 Colorado

SAN ANTONIO — No. 17 BYU played complementary football in all three phases of the game on its way to winning the Valero Alamo Bowl 36-14 over No. 23 Colorado on Saturday night at the Alamodome. 

"I think a lot of things just worked out in our favor in all three phases," BYU head coach Kalani Sitake said. "We didn't play error free, but I liked the way our guys played, I liked the aggressiveness, the physical part of the game. We have a lot of young guys still, but I'm happy for our seniors, the things that they've been able to accomplish. I'm very fortunate to be their coach."

With an 11th win of the season on Saturday, the Cougars finished 11-2 (7-2 Big 12), earning their 13th all-time 11-win season in their 100th football campaign. 

BYU dominated from start to finish including a 20-0 lead at halftime as the Cougars held Colorado’s offense scoreless in the opening half for the second time this season. The special teams unit had a strong opening 30 minutes with Parker Kingston returning a punt for a touchdown for a second time this season and Will Ferrin connecting on a pair of field goals. 

In total BYU outgained the Buffaloes 331-210, including a stifling 180-2 on the ground. The Cougars earned 22 first downs with an 8-of-14 mark on 3rd down, while allowing just nine to Colorado and ran 65 plays to the opponent’s 42. BYU’s ground game averaged 4.3 yards per carry while its defense allowed the Buffaloes just 0.1 per tote. The Cougars controlled time of possession as well, 35:59-24:01. 

Isaiah Glasker led the BYU defense with eight tackles (four solo), a tackle-for-loss and interception on his way to Alamo Bowl Defensive MVP honors. Harrison Taggart, Raider Damuni, Logan Lutui and Siale Esera each registered a sack for the Cougars, headlining a BYU defensive effort that hounded Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders from start to finish. 

Mory Bamba recorded two pass breakups and Tanner Wall another while cornerback Evan Johnson notched his second interception of the season. 

With two interceptions forced against Colorado, the BYU defense finishes the 2024 season with the national lead in interceptions at 22. 

Kingston rolled up 126 all-purpose yards in the Alamodome, including 102 yards on four punt returns. Kingston took his second punt return of the night 64 yards for a touchdown, his second such return of the season and the fifth BYU special teams score in 2024. 

LJ Martin earned the Alamo Bowl’s Offensive MVP award with 126 yards from scrimmage. Martin led BYU in both rushing and receiving with 17 carries for 93 yards and two touchdowns along with two receptions for 33 yards. Tight end Ryner Swanson also had two receptions for 30 yards. 

Jake Retzlaff finished the game 12-of-21 for 151 yards and two interceptions while carrying the ball seven times for 29 yards.

First Quarter
After a pair of incompletions forced a BYU punt on the game’s opening drive, the Cougar defense came up with a stop of its own against the Buffaloes. On 3rd-and-2 at midfield, Colorado completed a pass but Jakob Robinson wrapped up the receiver short of the line to gain, bringing up 4th-and-1 at the BYU 48 yard line. The Buffaloes went for it on fourth down, but the Cougar defense flushed the quarterback and forced an incompletion to get off the field.

Martin made his presence felt throughout the ensuing drive for the BYU offense. On 3rd-and-5 from the Colorado 47, Martin took the speed option pitch from Retzlaff and reached the chains to extend the drive. Martin then came out of the backfield, caught a pass from Retzlaff and stormed 28 yards to the Buffalo 12. Backup quarterback Gerry Bohanon came in on a designed run and marched the Cougars 11 more yards to set up 1st-and-goal at the one. Martin fittingly finished off the drive as he powered over the goal line for the touchdown. Following the six-play, 52-yard drive, BYU led 7-0 with 3:46 remaining in the quarter.

Colorado’s attempt to respond hit a snag with consecutive false start penalties. The Cougars put the Buffaloes further behind the sticks with a sack for a loss of 10 yards from Taggart that set up 3rd-and-25.

Kingston returned the ensuing Colorado punt 14 yards and gave the BYU offense starting field position in plus territory at the Buffalo 41. The Cougars moved to the 29 yard-line as they converted a 3rd-and-4 with a completion from Retzlaff to Keelan Marion. Ferrin finished the drive with a 51-yard field goal, giving BYU a 10-0 with 2:19 to play in the first.

The Cougars were back on offense shortly after a successful onside kick. Ferrin squibbed the ball 11 yards where safety Ethan Slade recovered to give the ball back to BYU. Despite first downs on carries from Martin and Sione Moa, the Cougars came up empty-handed on the drive when a deep pass from Bohanon turned into an interception. 

Second Quarter
Colorado looked to score quickly in the second quarter with a 58-yard completion that moved its offense deep into BYU territory. The Cougar defensive line then came up big on back-to-back plays to turn the Buffaloes away. Tyler Batty snuffed out a shuffle pass attempt for no gain followed moments later by Lutui’s sack for a loss of 23 yards. The negative play set up a failed 48-yard field goal attempt from Colorado, returning the ball to BYU at its 30.

A rush for 11 yards from Martin and 20-yard completion from Retzlaff to Swanson had the Cougar offense marching into the red zone, but the Buffaloes broke up and intercepted a BYU pass at the line of scrimmage to prematurely end the drive.

The Cougar defense and special teams combined for a pair of momentum-flipping plays after the turnover. On 3rd-and-7 from the Colorado 32, Damuni came unblocked on a safety blitz and dropped the Buffalo signal-caller for a loss of 16.

Kingston then weaved his way through defenders as he took the ensuing Colorado punt 64 yards for BYU’s fifth special teams touchdown of the season. Following the punt return for a touchdown, the Cougars led 17-0 with 5:32 to play until half.

BYU’s defense then forced another 3-and-out to hold the Buffaloes scoreless for the half.

On his team’s final drive of the half, Retzlaff hit Swanson and Mata’ava Ta’ase on completions of 10 and 12 yards, respectively, to set up another field goal attempt from Ferrin.

The Cougar kicker booted a career-long-tying 54-yard field goal as time expired in the half, giving BYU a 20-0 advantage.

Third Quarter
While Colorado received the opening kickoff of the half, the Cougars wasted no time getting the ball back. The Buffaloes appeared to have a completion along the near sideline but Tanner Wall jarred the ball free with a hard hit and into Johnson’s hands for the interception at the BYU 45.

The Cougars turned the takeaway into a touchdown with a nine-play, 55-yard drive over the next five minutes. BYU marched into scoring position with conversions on two 3rd downs, both of which went to Darius Lassiter on completions of 10 and 14 yards.

The Cougars scored on their third 3rd down of the drive with Moa running untouched up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown. Moa’s rushing score put BYU up 27-0 with 8:03 remaining in the third quarter.

Two 15-yard penalties against the Cougars gave Colorado improved field position and helped it find the end zone for the first time on the night with a 43-yard scoring strike. The Buffalo touchdown trimmed BYU’s lead to 20 at 27-7 with 6:14 remaining in the third.

The Cougars again marched deep into Colorado territory with a pair of chain-moving keepers from Retzlaff and a 24-yard completion to Kingston. BYU, however, came up empty-handed on the drive as its shot to the end zone resulted in an interception that the Buffaloes returned to their 17 yard-line.

Fourth Quarter
BYU’s secondary made quick work of Colorado’s ensuing possession with Bamba breaking up a deep pass and Tommy Prassas wrapping up a receiver short of the line to gain.

Kingston returned the Buffalo punt 23 yards and the Cougar backfield went to work on its way to another touchdown. Moa took a pass out of the backfield for 10 yards to begin the BYU drive. Martin then shot through the Buffalo front seven for a rush of 23 yards before finishing the drive with a nine-yard rushing touchdown. After a failed two-point attempt, the Cougars led 33-7 with 10:23 to play.

Glasker put the ball back in BYU’s hands at the Colorado 31 with an interception along the sideline. A 14-yard carry from Pokaiaua Haunga helped set up Ferrin for a third field goal of the game, this one from 31 yards. With another field goal on the board, BYU led 36-7 with 5:28 remaining.

The Buffaloes scored once more but the Cougars maintained a 36-14 lead on their way to an 11th win of the season.