Josh Hoover accounts for 5 TDs as TCU beats Colorado 35-21 in Deion Sanders' return to Fort Worth

Audio By Carbonatix

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Josh Hoover threw two of his four touchdowns to Eric McAlister and ran for another score as TCU overcame a two-TD deficit and beat Colorado 35-21 on Saturday night in the Buffaloes’ first trip there since coach Deion Sanders’ winning debut with them two years ago.

TCU (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) went ahead for good on Hoover's 18-yard TD to Joseph Manjack IV with 5:44 left. That came only a few plays after a disputed offensive pass interference call wiped out a big fourth-down gain to inside the 5-yard line and forced the Frogs to punt instead. That kick ricocheted off the back of a Colorado player and was recovered by tight end Chase Curtis.

“Obviously some things didn’t go our way. ... You’ve just got to respond and I think we did that,” Hoover said. “Thankfully we had the punt get muffed and recovered it. That was huge. So we get the ball right back anyways, it kind of worked out for us. We just did a good job of never panicking.”

Hoover completed 23 of 33 passes for 275 yards. McAlister had four catches for 65 yards, adding a 21-yard score on a fourth-down play with 19 seconds left. McAlister was back after missing a game because of a hamstring issue since eight catches for 254 yards and three TDs against SMU in TCU's last home game two weeks ago.

The Buffaloes (2-4, 0-3) blew a 14-0 lead for the second week in a row, and had four turnovers.

“Truly disappointing,” Sanders said. “It's one thing to lose. Then it’s another thing to feel like you beat yourselves. ... We were beaten in Houston. These other games, we had opportunity, ample opportunity to win the games.”

Kaidon Salter was 18-of-29 passing for 217 yards with two TDs to Omarion Miller. Salter also ran for a score, but threw three interceptions by halftime.

Salter's first throw of the night was an interception. His second pick led to McAlister's 23-yard TD for a 14-14 tie just 1:32 before halftime, and only 66 seconds after Hoover's 1-yard TD run. Salter's last interception came at the goal line on the final play before the break and kept Colorado from being able to regain the lead.

The Buffaloes had made it to the TCU 2 after two big plays and a pass interference penalty in the end zone. But Salter’s next throw intended for Miller was intercepted by Namdi Obiazor after being deflected by Jamel Johnson, who had the first interception.

“Kind of a frustrating game,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes said. “Proud of our players for making plays down the stretch and in critical situations.”

Colorado was in its final Pac-12 season when it pulled off a 45-42 prime-time shocker in the 2023 season opener in Sanders’ much-hyped debut against a TCU squad coming off a national title game appearance. The two teams didn’t play last season in the Buffs’ first back in the Big 12 since their departure after 2010, two years before TCU joined the league.

Colorado: A week after losing 24-21 at home to 23rd-ranked BYU, the Buffaloes again went ahead 14-0. They already have more Big 12 losses than last season, when they were 7-2 and on the short end of a four-way tiebreaker that kept them out of the Big 12 championship game.

“The coaching staff, I’m challenging them right now to figure this thing out," Sanders said. "And let’s prayerfully understand that we are so much better in the second halves than what we’re showing.”

TCU: A nice rebound for Hoover and the Frogs, a week after blowing a fourth-quarter lead in a 27-24 loss at Arizona State. Hoover had two interceptions and no TD passes in that game. Hoover has 57 TD passes in 24 career starts.

It was the first time since at least 2000 that TCU won a game by at least 14 points after being down by at least 14 points.

Colorado is home against No. 14 Iowa State (5-1, 2-1) on Saturday.

TCU plays Saturday at Kansas State (2-4, 1-2).

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football