College Football World Lost for Words Over Colorado’s Horrific First Half vs. Utah

'I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it.'

Colorado coach Deion Sanders speaks with Buffaloes wide receiver Isaiah Hardge before the game against Utah at Rice-Eccles Stadium. / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

There are blowouts, and then there is whatever happened at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City on Saturday night.

Coming off the bye week that followed a 24–17 win over No. 22 Iowa State earlier this month, coach Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes were handed a rude welcome back to the gridiron by Utah this weekend. Entering halftime, Colorado trailed the Utes 43–0 and were getting shellacked in every facet of the game.

The Buffaloes’ defense allowed a whopping 398 total yards—including 163 rushing yards to Utah quarterback Byrd Ficklin alone—in that first half, compared to a mind-boggling -18 total yards gained by the Colorado offense.

Six of Colorado’s nine offensive drives in the first half were three-and-outs, and five possessions ended with the Buffaloes gaining two yards or less before punting it away (or, well, a safety or a blocked punt).

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it,” analyst Brock Osweiler said on the ESPN broadcast. “We knew Utah was a really good football team coming into this game. ... But Colorado—they had momentum coming into this football game.”

This is *not* going well for Deion Sanders and Colorado. Yikes... pic.twitter.com/5B8CAaeZbR

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 26, 2025

Here’s a look at the official first-half team stats:

First half stats: Utah 43, Colorado 0

	COLORADO	UTAH
First downs	3	16
Total yards	-18	398
Passing yards	23	138
Rushing yards	-41	260
Yards per rush	-2.4	8.4
Time of possession	11:32	18:28

After the break, sideline reporter Stormy Buonantony relayed Sanders’s message to his team: “I told them to fight. At this point, this is a half about character. This is about what kind of person—not even player—what kind of person do you want to be? You’re going to see a different attitude from this team in this half.”

The college football world was stunned by Colorado’s ugly half:

Without its starting QB, Utah is beating Colorado 40-0 in the first half. Holy mercy.

I covered an Oklahoma-Missouri game that was 49-0 at halftime and ended 77-0. You can guess who was on either side of that score.

— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) October 26, 2025

what halftime speech would you give colorado rn pic.twitter.com/2UzUmtoQBx

— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 26, 2025

Can you accuse a team of running up the score before halftime? Utah called time out, blocked a punt and tacked on a field goal - Utah 43-0 over Coach Prime's Colorado at half. Just shockingly bad. Didn't see this coming, not after CU's big win over Iowa State and a bye.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) October 26, 2025

Halftime for Utah-Colorado. Utah's punter has more pass yards than Colorado's starting QB, for starters. Buffs finish with -18 yards. pic.twitter.com/j2Nsg33srE

— Adam Kramer (@KegsnEggs) October 26, 2025

if there's a word for whatever utah is doing to colorado i think it is untranslatable into english

— Sickos Committee (@SickosCommittee) October 26, 2025

Less than ideal situation for the Buffs pic.twitter.com/gM4jfMdun0

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 26, 2025

Colorado vs. Utah halftime update pic.twitter.com/LXpFUoAqjk

— JaguarGator9 (@JaguarGator9NFL) October 26, 2025

Meanwhile in Utah …

Total yards:
Utah: 386
Colorado: -8

Score:
Utah 40
Colorado 0

2:08 left … in the second quarter. pic.twitter.com/KSfKhpb7MS

— Adam Thompson (@AdamTSports) October 26, 2025

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