Colorado rallies late for 14-13 win in Atlanta
Georgia Tech led most of the way, before a Colorado TD in the final minute put the Buffaloes on top, and then a blocked field goal on the game’s final play sealed a 14-13 come-from-ahead loss for the Ramblin’ Wreck on Thursday night.
Gotta say, if you had only listened to the ESPN broadcast, and not watched it for yourself, or taken a look at the box score, you would have been led to believe that Colorado dominated this one, because that’s what the ESPN folks kept selling.
Truth bomb: Colorado had a scant 307-288 edge in total yards and committed the game’s only turnover.
The broadcast was ostensibly a feature of ESPN’s broadcast partner, the ACC, but it also involved Deion Sanders, who gets star treatment despite being 17-21 as the head coach at Colorado, now starting his fourth season – two of his previous three were losing seasons for the so-called “Coach Prime.”
Alberto Mendoza, the younger brother of Fernando Mendoza, who led Indiana to the 2026 national championship before being taken as the #1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, had good counting numbers in his first college start – 17-of-23, 237 yards, 83.7 QBR.
Just the three scoring drives, and the one at the end that ended with the blocked field goal.
Head coach Brent Key is kicking himself over playing the final seconds a bit too conservative, settling for a 44-yard field goal try, not trying to get it closer.
Wake rolls past MAC foe
The other ACC game on Thursday had Wake Forest opening its 2026 slate with a 38-16 win over Akron.
QB1 Gio Lopez, who was the QB1 at North Carolina last year, was 21-of-32 through the air for 350 yards and three TDs in the win.
The Demon Deacons put up 559 yards of total offense in the win.
Preview: #7 Miami at Stanford
Time: Friday, 9 p.m. ET
Series: Miami leads series, 1-0
Last meeting: Miami, 42-7 (2025)
TV: ESPN
SiriusXM Radio: SiriusXM 167 / SiriusXM 84
SiriusXM App: SiriusXM 167 / SiriusXM 84
Game Notes
- Friday marks Miami’s first-ever trip to Stanford Stadium and just the second meeting between the programs. Miami won the inaugural matchup, 42-7, in 2025.
- Miami enters the year as the preseason favorite to win the ACC after advancing to last season’s CFP national championship game and finishing 13-3.
- The Hurricanes will feature a new QB1 in Darian Mensah, the 2026 ACC Preseason Player of the Year after leading Duke to the ACC championship last season.
- Mensah led the ACC and ranked second nationally with 3,973 passing yards in 2025 while throwing an ACC-best 34 touchdown passes.
- Stanford enters the matchup with a game already under its belt, having opened the Tavita Pritchard era with a 37-27 victory over Hawai’i in Week 0.
- Michigan transfer Davis Warren impressed in his Stanford debut, completing 22-of-34 passes for 310 yards and a touchdown without a turnover. He was the only FBS quarterback to surpass 300 passing yards during Week 0 and became Stanford’s first quarterback since Andrew Luck in 2010 to throw for 300-plus yards with a touchdown and no turnovers in a season opener.
- Stanford running back Micah Ford rushed for 99 yards and three touchdowns against Hawai’i, earning ACC Running Back of the Week honors. Ford became the first Cardinal player since Bryce Love in 2017 to rush for at least 90 yards and three touchdowns in a game.
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Chris Graham
