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The College Football Bowl season is well underway. We have already had many exciting matchups and this one has the potential to be no different. The #17-ranked BYU Cougars will take on the #23 Deion Sanders-led Colorado Buffaloes in the Valero Alamo Bowl. In this article, we will break down each team’s regular season and give our BYU vs Colorado best bet.
BYU was having a terrific season, starting the year 9-0 and heading toward the College Football Playoff. Unfortunately for them and their fans, they lost two of their final three games against Kansas and Arizona State.
It was still a great season for BYU, finishing 10-2 on the year. The Cougars’ offense was led by quarterback Jake Retzlaff, who was solid. He finished with a two-to-one touchdown-to-interception ratio, with 20 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. He was a big part of BYU having a top-50 offense in points per game because he was also used on the ground. He actually led the team in rushing touchdowns with six.
Running back LJ Martin was another key player in the rushing offense, which ranked 41st in all of college football in yards per carry. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry, rushing for 600 yards and five touchdowns.
What may be the best part of this BYU Cougars team is their secondary on defense, led by Tanner Wall and Jacob Robinson. They tied for the team lead in interceptions with three, but the team had 20 total. That was the highest rate in all of college football. If BYU wins this game, they will need to figure out a way to keep forcing turnovers.
Similar to BYU, Colorado once had College Football Playoff aspirations after starting the season 8-2. Unfortunately for them, they also lost to Kansas, which ultimately ended all of those hopes.
This Colorado offense was led by Shadeur Sanders, as we all know at this point. He is head coach Deion Sanders’ son and is a stud on the field. It is likely he may be the number-one quarterback off the board in the NFL Draft, and he is still playing in this Valero Bowl. Sanders threw for just shy of 4,000 yards during the regular season and had 35 touchdown passes to just eight interceptions.
The other top player on this Colorado team plays both sides of the ball and is the Heisman Trophy winner, Travis Hunter. Hunter was Sanders’ number-one target, catching 92 passes for over 1,100 yards and a whopping 14 touchdowns. On the defensive side of the ball, Hunter led the team in interceptions with four. Those two lead this Colorado team and if they win this game, it will likely be because of them.
This is an exciting matchup between two good college football teams. In this day and age, it is rare to see future first-round picks playing in the bowl games. So, getting to see Shadeur Sanders and Travis Hunter one more time on the college football field is must-see action.
With that said, we should target them one last time for our pick in this matchup. The best matchup on the field is Hunter and Sanders taking on this very stout BYU secondary. We mentioned above how BYU ranks first in interception rate, but this Colorado offense is legit. This passing offense ranked in the top 12 in pass play percentage, completion percentage, passes per game and passing yards per game.
Something from that matchup is going to give and we believe it is going to be that BYU secondary. BYU’s secondary may be good, but they have not seen a player like Travis Hunter, so expect him to make his presence felt by finding the end zone and wrapping up his college football career with a bang.
Dylan has had a love for sports since he was a kid. Four years ago, he decided to dive into the sports content-creating industry specializing in Fantasy Football, NFL and NBA. He has since had his work published on sites that include Fantasy Alarm, Fansided, and Fantasy Six Pack.