Recap: Colorado 34 Cincinnati 23

Cincinnati fell to 5-3 (3-2) on Saturday night after falling to Colorado, 34-23.

The Bearcats battled back late to cut Colorado's lead to 31-23 with 3:39 remaining in the game but at the end of the night, the Colorado offensive firepower was too much for the UC defense to overcome.

Heisman candidate quarterback Shadeur Sanders completed 25-of-30 passes for 323 yards and two touchdowns and opened the game with 15 consecutive completions.

Two-way star, and arguably the best player in college football, Travis Hunter continually torched the Bearcat secondary, finishing with 153 yards and two touchdowns on nine receptions. 

After Cincinnati failed to convert a fourth-and-one from midfield with :33 seconds remaining in the first half, Sanders led a five-play, 54 yard drive over :28 seconds to extend the Buffaloes lead to 24-14 at the half.

Sanders' 34-yard touchdown pass to Hunter with :03 seconds remaining completely changed the momentum of the game in favor of Colorado. 

Running back Isaiah Augustave extended the Colorado lead to 31-14 with a 7-yard touchdown run at the 5:41 mark of the third quarter. 

Cincinnati's offense advanced to the Colorado 11-yard line on the following drive but were unable to capitalize on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that extended the UC drive. 

Facing a 3rd-and-8 , Brendan Sorsby's swing pass to Corey Kiner towards the sideline resulted in a four-yard loss. The play was huge in terms of momentum as a clear targeting call on Colorado's Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig was not called on the tackle and was also not reviewed. 

ESPN Rules Analyst Matt Austin discussed the play following the media timeout and stated that the tackle "checked all the boxes" for a targeting call and should have been reviewed.

The no-call forced the Bearcats to settle for a 32-yard Nathan Hawks field goal instead of giving Cincinnati a first down and half the distance to the goal.

Brendan Sorsby led an 11-play, 81-yard drive on the next Cincinnati possession to cut the deficit to 31-23 following a 6-yard touchdown connection to Joe Royer.

Royer finished the game with 50 yards on four receptions.

Colorado kicker Alejandro Mata ended any hope of a Bearcat comeback by connecting from 47 yards out to extend the CU lead to 34-23 with 1:39 remaining in the game.

"First of all, you're disappointed in the loss," head coach Scott Satterfield said. "We did not play great early defensively, and offensively we didn't get things going. You have to give credit to them; they have some really good football players at wide receiver and Shedeur Sanders is a very accurate passer. Defensively, they do a good job in man coverage. We had problems early in the game getting loose, and with tight coverage it's hard to get the ball in there."

Final Stats and Notes:

- Quarterback Brendan Sorsby struggled throughout against Colorado's man defense, completing 16-of-30 passes for 180 yards and two touchdowns. Sorsby's six yard touchdown pass to Tony Johnson at the 6:01 mark of the first quarter tied the score at seven, following Travis Hunter's touchdown on the opening Colorado possession. 

- Running back Corey Kiner rushed for 98 yards on 17 carries but was never able to get in to a rhythm with the UC offense falling behind and play calling going to a pass-heavy script. Running back Evan Pryor had 65 all purpose yards on six touches, including a 13-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to tie the score at 14.

-  Wide Receiver Tony Johnson's first quarter touchdown was his third touchdown in the past three games. He finished with 54 yards on four receptions. 

- Joe Royer now has 36 receptions for the season. He is nine away from tying Travis Kelce's season school record for receptions by a tight end (45).

- Linebacker Jake Golday led the UC defense with 10 tackles. 

- Jared Bartlett recorded a sack in the first quarter and now leads the team in that category with 5.5 sacks this season. 

Scott Satterfield's team showed great resilience and fight after getting down 17 points. The Bearcats could have thrown in the towel  but continued to battle.

Cincinnati's defense struggled to defend the Colorado receivers and their speed. Colorado was able to move the ball almost at will when playing with tempo as they rolled up 446 yards of total offense. 

Running back Isaiah Augustave entered Saturday averaging just 30 yards rushing per game, but was able to  run for 96 yards on 22 carries against the Cincinnati front seven. 

With next week being a bye week, the Bearcats will have to go back to the drawing board and figure out what their identity needs to be with a winnable game against West Virginia in week ten.