Texas used quick scoring drives – six touchdown possessions going for between 74 and 89 yards, with none of the taking more than six plays (with the seventh touchdown coming on a one-play, 21-yard “drive”) – to dominate Colorado, 55-23

Neither of the starting quarterbacks finished the game, with the Longhorn backup Casey Thompson getting the better of it. Texas quarterback Sam Elhinger was lost after the first half, but Thompson led the Longhorns to 38 second half points as Texas turned a 17-10 halftime advantage into a rout. Thompson completed only eight passes, but four of them went for touchdowns, as a solid CU defensive effort in the first half was completely missing in the final two quarters.

CU’s backup, Brendon Lewis, could not overcome the hole left by the Buff defense and CU’s starting quarterback. Senior Sam Noyer went 8-for-23 for 101 yards and two interceptions with his time on the field, and overthrew receivers on three different occasions on what would have been touchdowns. Lewis directed all three of CU’s touchdown drives, completing 6-of-10 passes for 95 yards. Lewis also had 73 yards rushing on nine carries, including a two-yard touchdown run.

Running back Jarek Broussard accounted for the Buffs’ other two scores, finishing the game with 82 yards on 27 carries.

For the game, Texas torched the Colorado defense for 638 yards of total offense, while the Buffs settled for 378 yards.

“This game tells me how much further we have to go,” said Karl Dorrell, who fell to 1-4 in bowl games as a head coach. “Our tackling was poor and our inefficiency on offense and we didn’t take care of the football. These are the things we’ve been preaching and talking about and we didn’t improve in those areas. It’s unfortunate and we have got a lot of work to do.”