Facing first-and-goal at the 5-yard line, Colorado had grand plans for a trick play that would have landed Shedeur Sanders a rare touchdown reception.

Colorado’s senior quarterback slipped, however, busting the play. So, Travis Hunter, who was supposed to throw the ball, improvised, found a hole in the Utah defense and ran it in himself for a touchdown.

That’s how CU’s day went on Saturday. It didn’t always go as planned, but it worked out quite well.

Led by Sanders, Hunter and an opportunistic defense, the 17th-ranked Buffaloes cruised to a 49-24 rout of the Utes in front of yet another sold-out Folsom Field. The fourth-largest crowd in CU history (54,646) saw the Buffs (8-2, 6-1 Big 12) overcome a plethora of miscues and dominate a conference foe for the fourth consecutive game.

The Buffs snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Utes (4-6, 1-6), although they didn’t give a rip about that.

“We weren’t here (for those losses), so we could care less,” head coach Deion Sanders said. “I just walked out the locker room, and I’m pretty sure there’s a party going on and somebody’s rapping. That’s how they feel. They feel really good. They feel really good about what they just accomplished, and they should.”

What CU accomplished was doubling last year’s win total, winning a fourth-straight game and, most importantly, remaining in the front seat — along with No. 6 BYU — in the race for the Big 12 title game.

“It seems as though the bowl (that CU plays in) is getting better and better and better, because we’re so focused and we’re so dedicated on week to week,” Coach Prime said. “Not looking down the street, but week to week.”

Shedeur Sanders threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns. Hunter kept himself at the forefront of the Heisman Trophy race with five catches for 55 yards, his 5-yard touchdown (the first rushing TD of his career), and his third interception of the season.

CU’s defense wasn’t perfect but forced four turnovers, racked up four sacks and nine tackles for loss, held Utah to just 272 yards in total offense and shut down the run game. The Utes ran for just 31 yards on 30 attempts.

“I’m thankful for the defense,” Shedeur said. “I may have to take them out to dinner this week for saving me and saving the team. But when you have a good team overall, it’s complementary football. You put all phases together — offense, defense, special teams — we can’t be stopped.”

The Buffs did put all three together — sort of.

Facing the No. 1 defense in the Big 12, CU’s offense posted a whopping 42 points and 405 yards. Yet, the Buffs had three turnovers, struggled mightily on third downs (3-of-11) and punted five times.

“Utah is a great team,” Shedeur said. “They’re not a pushover team, and their defense and their defensive coordinator (Morgan Scalley), I gave them a lot of props today for the problems he was able to put out there, and we had to fix and we had to solve and we got a hang of it eventually. I was just thankful that we went against a team of this caliber that’s able to give our offense a challenge and be able to thrive through it.”

Defensively, the Buffs were dominant at times but also gave up 24 points to a Utah offense that is depleted by injuries and has struggled to score most of the season. In crunch time, however, the defense was stellar.

Utah pulled within 35-24 in the fourth quarter and had the ball near midfield with seven minutes to play. Down the stretch, CU forced two turnovers, which were then converted by the offense into two touchdowns, to seal the game.

“Really just playing to our standard,” said linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green, who had five tackles and an interception. “We all, either we came here last spring or this summer, and we all made a deal with each other that we’re going to play for our brother and play for the guy next to us. And really, I can’t let them down, they can’t let me down, and it’s just a brotherhood. And that’s how we look at it, and we’re just playing for each other.”

Throw in LaJohntay Wester’s 76-yard punt return for touchdown in the first quarter and it really was a banner day for all three phases — even with plenty of mistakes throughout the afternoon.

The preseason favorite to win the Big 12, Utah has fallen woefully short of its expectations, and the Utes have been ravaged by injuries. But, the Buffs took care of business to keep the train rolling.

“We know (the Utes) are on their third or fourth quarterback; we understand that,” Coach Prime said. “But we’re happy with where we are, and we know where we could be. That’s the thing, we’re not even where we could be right now. You see the mistakes. You see the little things that we could clean up. But when you look at the statistics, you say, dang, that was phenomenal.

“I keep reiterating this: I’m so darn proud of these young men and this organization.”