AUSTIN, TEXAS — A 33-point underdog, Colorado led second-ranked Texas by 11 points late in the second quarter. But then the momentum disappeared.
And ultimately the Longhorns, getting two third-quarter touchdowns off returns of turnovers, and another on a punt return, remained unbeaten with a 38-14 victory in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Texas (5-0) took the lead for the first time, at 17-14, when Ben Wells returned a blocked punt for a 3-yard touchdown with 8:49 remaining in the third quarter. Less than 4 minutes later, Texas safety Earl Thomas jumped in front of wideout Scotty McKnight and returned a Cody Hawkins interception 92 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown.
That became a killer turn of events for the Buffs, because an interception by cornerback Jalil Brown had given CU first down at the Texas 17.
Colorado began other possessions in the second half with favorable field position but failed to come up with big plays. And with 14 minutes remaining in the game, sophomore quarterback Tyler Hansen took off his redshirt in the middle of the season for the second straight year.
After the game, CU offensive coordinator Eric Kiesau said Hansen would be the starter the rest of the season.
Texas put the game out of reach when senior Jordan Shipley, an All-America candidate as a wide receiver, returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown to make it 31-14 with 12:29 to go.
With Texas trailing 14-3, a crowd of 101,152 in expanded Memorial Stadium finally had something to cheer about just before halftime when Texas senior quarterback Colt McCoy, as he has done so many times in the clutch, directed the Longhorns to an eight-play, 78-yard touchdown drive inside the 3-minute mark.
McCoy did the honors with a 39-yard scoring toss to Shipley, who had beaten Jalil Brown by 10 yards down the left sideline.
Still, Colorado held a 14-10 advantage into the break.
The Buffs defense employed a strategy that most defenses use against Colorado. Colorado tried to stuff the Longhorns’ running game to make the Texas offense one-dimensional. In the first half, it couldn’t have worked much better. Texas netted just 20 yards on 17 rushes in the first 30 minutes, and McCoy was forced to throw 24 times. The Heisman Trophy candidate completed 21 of those, but most came on short patterns.
Colorado coaches had said during the week that it was imperative to get off to a good start. After a 34-yard kickoff return by Brian Lockridge, CU moved 66 yards in eight plays, taking a 7-0 lead after the extra point.
It did not come all that easy, however. Cody Hawkins faced a third-and-21 situation from the CU 25 before finding senior tight end Patrick Devenny in the right corner for Hawkins’ 44th career touchdown pass. That tied the junior QB with Joel Klatt (2002-2005) for the most career touchdown throws.
Thanks to Nick Kasa’s first college sack, Colorado maintained its early lead when Texas had to settle for a 32-yard field goal on its opening drive. A high school blue-chipper last fall at Legacy, Kasa downed McCoy on third-and-10 from the CU 19, for a 3-yard loss.
Nine days earlier, Colorado had squandered opportunities after West Virginia mistakes, and the Buffs were bitten by that problem again Saturday. After a blocked field goal by Ryan Miller and subsequent return by Jeff Smart to the CU 43 early in the second quarter, the Buffs were only able to move seven yards and had to give the ball back.
But after a McCoy fumble deep in Longhorns territory later in the second quarter, the Buffs took advantage. After a false-start penalty backed up CU to the 11, Hawkins established a new school record for touchdown passes when he found tight end Riar Geer open in the end zone. Aric Goodman’s kick conversion put the Buffs up 14-3.
Tom Kensler: 303-954-1280 or tkensler@denverpost.com
