Buffaloes' defense dominates in Colorado's rout of Arizona

Shedeur Sanders threw two touchdown passes and Colorado's defense held Arizona to 245 yards of total offense in a 34-7 victory Saturday in their Big 12 matchup in Tucson, Ariz.

Colorado (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) limited the Wildcats (3-4, 1-3) to 107 yards rushing while producing seven sacks. Samuel Okunlola and Keaten Wade each had two sacks to lead the Buffaloes.

Sanders completed 23 of 33 pass attempts for 250 yards, with two interceptions. He engineered an offense that was 9-of-18 on third-down conversions, 8-of-11 in the first half as Colorado built a 28-7 lead.

Travis Hunter, Colorado's two-way standout, started after missing the second half of last week's loss to Kansas State at Boulder, Colo., with a shoulder injury.

Hunter did not play in the second half against Arizona after re-aggravating the injury.

Arizona's Noah Fifita threw for 138 yards while completing 16 of 26 passes with a touchdown and an interception.

The Wildcats' last 10 possessions ended with a fumble, six punts, an interception, another fumble and the clock running out to end the game.

Arizona crossed into Colorado territory just three times.

Colorado's first three drives resulted in touchdowns as the Buffaloes built a 21-7 lead with 13:03 remaining in the second quarter.

Sanders accounted for two of the touchdowns, a 1-yard pass to Drelon Miller and a 16-yard connection with Will Sheppard.

Colorado then had possessions end in a lost fumble after an errant snap to Sanders and an interception thrown by Sanders before a late score in the half.

The Buffaloes took advantage of Jimmy Horn's 16-yard punt return to the Arizona 31 by scoring a touchdown on a 7-yard run by Sanders with 1:12 left in the half, increasing their lead to 28-7.

The only scoring that occurred in the second half were field goals of 28 and 34 yards by Colorado's Alejandro Mata.

LaJohntay Wester had eight receptions for 127 yards for the Buffaloes.

--Field Level Media