BYU made the final game of Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders’ Colorado careers one to remember.

The No. 17 Cougars defeated the No. 23 Buffaloes 36-14 in the Alamo Bowl on Saturday night as Colorado was outmatched in almost every aspect of the game.

BYU (11-2) led 20-0 at halftime as many of the deficiencies that had plagued Colorado during the first two years of Deion Sanders’ tenure were on display. The Buffs (9-4) couldn’t get a running game going and the offensive line also struggled in pass defense. After BYU led 10-0 in the first quarter, the Cougars essentially sealed the game when Parker Kingston returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter.

The blowout occurred when BYU QB Jake Retzlaff threw two interceptions and backup Gerry Bohanon threw one on his only pass attempt.

Hunter, the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner, culminated with a 43-yard TD in the third quarter on a well-placed pass from Sanders. But that was about all that went well for the Buffaloes.

Both Hunter and Sanders played for Colorado, although they were likely selected early in the first round in the 2025 NFL Draft. Colorado took out insurance before the game for Sanders, Hunter and others in case of injury.

Sanders even debuted cleats with the New York Giants logo before the game — the Giants have the worst record in the NFL and are currently ranked No. 1 in the draft — but took the field in the first quarter with black cleats on his feet.

Due to the Alamo Bowl’s selection process, the game was a matchup between the two Big 12 teams. Traditionally, the bowl pitted teams from the Big 12 and Pac-12 against each other, but the Pac-12 disbanded before the 2024 season, leaving only Washington State and Oregon State as members of the conference.

Before the season, the Alamo Bowl announced that it would select a team that was in the Pac-12 in 2023 and a team that was in the Big 12 in 2023. With Arizona State and Oregon in the College Football Playoff and other former Pac-12 teams not having spectacular seasons, the Bowl announced before the end of the 2024 season that either Arizona State and Colorado would face BYU or Iowa State, based on the outcome of the Big 12 title game.

Although it was a game between current Big 12 teams, BYU and Colorado did not meet in the regular season. The two teams found themselves on the wrong end of a four-way battle for first place with ASU and ISU, therefore missing out on a chance to play for the conference title and a shot at the College Football Playoff.

The win gives BYU 11 wins for the first time since 2020 and the first time in a non-pandemic season since 2009. Colorado, meanwhile, made a five-win jump in 2024 and hopes to maintain that success in 2025 despite losses to Sanders and Hunter . The Buffaloes landed a commitment from five-star QB JuJu Lewis and also added former Liberty QB Kaidon Salter in the transfer portal.