LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Shedeur Sanders threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score, two-way star Travis Hunter had nine catches for 99 yards and a TD and No. 21 Colorado overcame an early deficit to beat Texas Tech 41-27 on Saturday.

Sanders was 30 of 43 for 291 yards. Shilo Sanders, the other son of Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders on the team, recovered a fumble in the end zone with 51 seconds left.

Colorado (7-2, 5-1 Big 12, No. 20 CFP) won its third consecutive game and is on pace to play in the Big 12 Championship Game with a chance to qualify for the 12-team College Football Playoff.

The Buffs led the Red Raiders (6-4, 4-3) by two touchdowns before Tech’s Behren Morton threw his second touchdown pass of the game to Jalin Conyers — for 21 yards — with 2:12 left.

Colorado followed four punts beginning the game with four touchdowns and a field goal to lead 31-20 after three periods.

“We started out slow. That’s not indicative of who we are,” Deion Sanders said. “But I felt confident that in the second half we would go do what we ultimately did.”

“It was go time,” Shedeur Sanders said. “It was never a stress. It was never a sweat. It was never a doubt.”

Shedeur Sanders threw a 23-yard yard TD pass to LaJohntay Wester midway through the second period, a 5-yarder to Will Sheppard in the third quarter and a 24-yarder to Hunter minutes later in the third.

Alejandro Mata kicked field goals of 25 and 33 yards for the Buffaloes.

Morton’s other touchdown pass to Conyers was for 17 yards on the game’s opening drive. Morton was 24 of 40 for 275 yards.

Gino Garcia kicked field goals of 53 and 39 yards for the Red Raiders, who led 13-0.

Tech coach Joey McGuire bemoaned six sacks, three turnovers and a roughing-the-passer call that kept alive Colorado’s first possession of the second half to move ahead for the first time 17-13.

“He (the official) said, “I saw him hit him below the knee,’ and I don’t know who saw that,” McGuire said. “He hit him in the hip. I mean, it was a great, clean hit.”

Too much school spirit

While it was expected that Tech fans would follow school tradition by launching tortillas onto the field during the game, spectators were throwing trash at Colorado’s sideline early in the fourth quarter. McGuire took to a microphone and screamed at the fans to stop.

“I got a vape brought over to me. I got a water bottle brought over to me. I mean, I got a beer bottle brought over to me,” McGuire said. “We got really lucky that we didn’t get a 15-yard penalty.”

Shedeur Sanders signed a tortilla after the game and posed with members of the Tech band.

Takeaways

Colorado: As the sun went down, the offense heated up. Colorado gained 26 yards in first quarter, 178 in the first half and finished with 351, 53.5 short of its average.

Texas Tech: Tahj Brooks rushed for 137 yards, most of it in the fourth quarter, to succeed Byron Hanspard as the school’s career leader with 4,236 yards over five seasons. He was limited to 35 yards in the first half on 17 carries.

Poll implications

Colorado should rise in the new AP poll Sunday. The Buffs peaked at No. 18 last season after winning their first three games under Sanders. That’s their highest ranking since reaching No. 9 in 2016.

Up next

Colorado: Host Utah next Saturday.

Texas Tech: At Oklahoma State on Nov. 23

Hayes accounts for 3 TDs to help Air Force beat Fresno State 36-28, snap 7-game skid

AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. (AP) — Quentin Hayes ran for 91 yards and two second-half touchdowns on 25 carries, Dylan Carson had 120 yards rushing and a TD and Air Force beat Fresno State 36-28 on Saturday night to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Air Force (2-7, 1-4) won for the first time since it beat Merrimack 21-6 in the season opener on Aug. 31.

Hayes finished 2-of-6 passing for 14 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown to Cade Harris.

Fresno State (5-5, 3-3 Mountain West), which lost 21-20 to Hawaii on a last-second touchdown pass from Brayden Schager to Nick Cenacle, has dropped back-to-back games for the second time this season.

Mikey Keene hit Mac Dalena at the 50, where he broke a tackle and then raced to the end zone for a 73-yard touchdown, Air Force was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 from its own 34 and, three plays later, Keene hit Jalen Moss for a 19-yard touchdown that gave Fresno State a 21-14 lead with 1:37 to go in the first half.

Matthew Dapore kicked a 35-yard field goal as time in the first half expired and added a 37-yarder to cap a nine-play, 56-yard drive to open the third quarter and trim the deficit to a point. Two plays from scrimmage later, Blake Fletcher picked off a pass from Keene.

Hayes ran for a 2-yard gain on fourth-and-1 and then ran it in on fourth-and-goal from the 2 and, after an unsuccessful 2-point try, Air Force led 26-21 with 2:30 left in the third quarter. After the Bulldogs failed to convert a fourth-and-5 from the Falcons 38, Hayes led a 12-play, 64-yard drive that took more than 6 1/2 minutes off the clock and made it a two-possession game with 8:51 left.

Dapore added a 36-yard field goal with about 2 minutes to play.

Dalena capped the scoring when he caught a 6-yard TD pass from Keene with 38 seconds remaining.

Keene was 23-of-26 passing for 289 yards and three touchdowns with an interception for Fresno State.

Visperas, Taylor each have 3 TDs, lead Eastern Washington past Northern Colorado 43-15

GREELEY, Colo. (AP) — Kekoa Visperas threw for three touchdowns, Jared Taylor accounted for three more and Eastern Washington rolled past Northern Colorado 43-15 on Saturday.

Vispers threw three touchdown passes in the first quarter to help the Eagles (3-7, 2-4 Big Sky Conference) take a 22-0 lead.

Taylor had his first short touchdown run before the Bears (1-9, 1-5) scored twice and he followed that with a second rushing touchdown and a 14-yard touchdown pass to Efton Chism III.

Visperas was 13 of 20 for 179 yards and an interception. He threw touchdown passes to Wesley Garrett for 44 yards, Michael Wortham for 34 and Chism for nine. Taylor was 3 of 4 for 20 yards and ran for 92 on 17 keepers. Malek Dotson ran for 130 yards on 17 carries and Chism had 10 catches for 93 yards.

Chrism now has 1,035 yards and 11 touchdowns on 95 catches.

Peter Costelli was 11-of-26 passing for 258 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears. He hit Brayden Munroe for a 29-yard score and connected with Carver Cheeks for a 76-yard touchdown.