Colorado allows second-half comeback, upset by Stanford in overtime

It was a tale of two halves in Boulder Saturday night. Colorado had a commanding lead over Stanford heading into the break, leading the Cardinal 29-0.

Then, the game went full Pac-12 After Dark.

Stanford rallied back with 25 unanswered points to erase the deficit and ultimately forced overtime on a field goal in the final seconds of regulation to make it a 36-36 ballgame. The two teams traded blows again in overtime before Stanford came out on top 46-43 — finally ending the game at approx. 2:10 a.m. ET Saturday morning.

The double OT winner and the biggest comeback in school history for the Card! 🌲 pic.twitter.com/KxZF9DXPFW

— Pac-12 Conference (@pac12) October 14, 2023

For Stanford, it was the biggest comeback in school history. On the other side, for Colorado, it was the program’s largest blown lead.

Colorado looked like it was going to dominate through the first half, but something seemed to click for Stanford after halftime. The Cardinal only had 115 total yards of offense in the first half, including just 35 passing yards. It was a completely different story after the break. Stanford had 408 yards — including 364 passing yards — in the second half to pull off the biggest comeback in school history and stun Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes.

According to Troy Taylor, though, he didn’t say anything magical in the locker room.

“It was a really simple message,” Taylor told ESPN’s Quint Kessenich after the game. “I was like, ‘It wasn’t a very good first half. I want to see how you compete.’ That was really it.”

The biggest player of the game for Stanford was Elic Ayomanor. After Stanford lost its leading receiver in Ben Yurosek to injury, Ayomanor emerged to total 13 receptions for 294 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cardinal offense.

Taylor knew Ayomanor had the talent to have a big game. The sophomore wide receiver just had to put everything together.

“He’s always had a lot of abilities,” Taylor said. “Just a very young guy, inexperienced and just needed a little confidence.”

It hasn’t been the year Stanford necessarily wanted so far. The Cardinal entered Friday’s game with a 1-4 record, including back-to-back Pac-12 losses. But Taylor was proud of his group for sticking together despite the 29-point halftime deficit, especially after losing some winnable games to start the year.

“For our guys to go [through] what they went through, had some games they could’ve won,” Taylor said. “To be down 29-0 on the road against a really good team and just to continue to compete and believe, had a number of times they could’ve succumbed. I’m just really proud of these guys.”

Next up for Stanford is a home matchup against Washington on Oct. 28.