The 2022 CU season opener ended just before 12:00 a.m., MT, but the clock had struck midnight for the Cinderella Buffs about an hour earlier. The Buffs dominated the first half of their game against TCU, but were completely routed in the second half, falling to the Horned Frogs, 38-13. Colorado had more first downs (20-17) and wasn’t passed in total yards gained until the fourth quarter, but the Horned Frogs had no trouble with the CU defense in the second half, scoring 31 unanswered points.

Brendon Lewis started at quarterback for Colorado, finished 13-for-18 for all of 78 yards. Lewis also led the Buff rushing attack, putting up 42 yards on eight carries. Backup quarterback J.T. Shrout, who came on late in the first half and then made another appearance in the fourth quarter, finished with 13 completions on 23 attempts for 157 yards and one touchdown.

The Horned Frogs, who had just 67 yards offense in the first half, finished with 413 for the game. That total included more than 260 on the ground alone in the final two quarters. The Buffs, who had 212 yards of offense in the first half – but only two field goals to show for it – had 136 yards of total offense in the second half, with 94 of those yards coming in garbage time.

“I wasn’t expecting that type of game,” CU head coach Karl Dorrell said. “We played decently in the first half … But apparently they made better adjustments. We couldn’t stop what they were doing.”