Colorado Stuns No. 14 Houston 42-32 for First Top-15 Win Since 2007

By The Arena Staff

BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 14, 2026 — For a quarter and a half, Friday night looked like one more reason to write Deion Sanders' obituary at Colorado. Then the Buffaloes started breaking off long runs, and by the end the fans were pouring over the walls at Folsom Field.

Colorado beat No. 14 Houston 42-32, its first win over an AP top-15 team since it knocked off No. 3 Oklahoma on Sept. 29, 2007, The Associated Press reported. It came with Sanders squarely on the hot seat. He is 20-27 in four seasons in Boulder, and at 4-6 the Buffaloes still need to win out to reach a bowl game, according to the AP.

Houston had the game in hand early. The Cougars held the ball for nearly the whole first quarter and led 20-7 after Jonathan Dimas hit a career-long 52-yard field goal with 2:36 left in the half, according to Houston's official game summary.

That is where it flipped. DeKalon Taylor broke a 67-yard touchdown run, JaQuail Smith went 32 yards for another with 15 seconds left before halftime, and Colorado went into the locker room up 21-20. Richard Young had opened the Colorado scoring with a 38-yard run in the second quarter. USA TODAY noted the Buffaloes' first four touchdowns all came on big plays by four different players.

The second half started badly and still went Colorado's way. Isaac Wilson was intercepted on the first snap, and on the very next play Randon Fontenette stripped Houston quarterback Conner Weigman. Wilson then hit Joseph Williams on a 53-yard touchdown. When Wilson limped off with a leg injury later in the third quarter, true freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne came in and scored on a 14-yard run on his first snap. That made it 28 unanswered points and a 35-20 lead.

Weigman kept Houston alive with three touchdown passes and 272 yards, and Makhi Hughes ran for 106 yards and a score, per the school. But Young's 2-yard run with 3:59 left made it 42-26, and Houston's last touchdown came too late. Young finished with 99 yards and two touchdowns as Colorado scored five rushing touchdowns.

Sanders said afterward his team had shown what he had been insisting all along. "God they were resilient," he said, according to USA TODAY. He saved some of his warmest words for the students who stormed the field. "It was like we just won the Super Bowl," he said, per Sports Illustrated. It was the second straight home game that ended with fans on the turf, USA TODAY reported, after an overtime win over Kansas State on Halloween.

Houston falls to 7-3 and 4-3 in the Big 12 and heads to West Virginia on Nov. 21. Colorado goes to Cincinnati the same day, then closes at home against UCF, needing both to get to six wins.

Sourcing: The Associated Press, USA TODAY, Houston Athletics and Sports Illustrated.