Avery Johnson lofted a 50-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Brown with 2:14 remaining to give No. 18 Kansas State a 31-28 win against Colorado on Saturday night in Boulder, Colo.
Johnson completed 15 of 23 passes for 224 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and also had a rushing touchdown. Brown caught six passes for 121 yards and two scores.
Shedeur Sanders’ 11-yard touchdown pass to LaJohntay Wester gave Colorado a 28-24 lead with 3:12 to go. An interception that was returned 59 yards to the Kansas State 17-yard line by Colton Hood, who was subbing in for an injured Travis Hunter, set up the TD.
Sanders completed 34 of 40 passes for 388 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Omarion Miller led Colorado (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) with eight catches for 145 yards, while Wester caught two touchdown passes.
DJ Giddens paced the Wildcats (5-1, 2-1) on the ground with 182 yards on 25 carries.
Hunter sustained an apparent shoulder injury in the second quarter, went to the locker room and did not return to the contest.
The teams traded first-quarter touchdowns. Colorado got on the board when Wester turned a short pass from Sanders into a 25-yard score for a 7-0 Buffaloes lead.
On the next possession, Kansas State pulled even at 7 when Johnson scampered into the end zone for an 8-yard touchdown run.
Dylan Edwards capped an eight-play, 60-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run with 1:52 left in the second quarter to put Kansas State up 14-7.
A 1-yard touchdown catch by Brown, who stretched across the goal line as he was tackled, gave the Wildcats a 21-7 third-quarter lead.
Moments after dropping a pass while wide open, Colorado’s Will Sheppard was on the receiving end of a 7-yard scoring strike that made it 21-14 with 4:44 remaining in the third.
A 48-yard field goal by Chris Tennant extended the Wildcats’ lead to 24-14 by the end of the frame.
Isaiah Augustave bowled into the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown run as Colorado cut the Kansas State lead to 24-21 with 6:44 left in the game.
With 1:21 left, Sanders’ pass to Sheppard fell incomplete on fourth down, killing any chance of a comeback by the Buffaloes.
