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.

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. After missing a game because of a hamstring issue, McAlister was back after he had eight catches for 254 yards and three TDs against SMU in the last home game two weeks ago.

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

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.

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

The Buffaloes 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.

The takeaway

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.

TCU: A nice bounce back for Hoover and the Frogs, a week after blowing a fourth-quarter lead in a 27-24 loss to Arizona State. Hoover had two interceptions and no TD passes in that game.

Up next

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

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

Deion Sanders 'hurting like crazy' and believes he has more blood clots

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Deion Sanders said he was "hurting like crazy” after Colorado's loss Saturday night at TCU and believes he has more blood clots in his leg.

“Cat's out of the bag, all right. I think I've got more blood clots,” Sanders said. “It don't make sense. I'm hurting like crazy. ... I'm not getting blood to my leg. That's why my leg is throbbing.”

The 58-year-old Colorado coach sat at times late during the 35-21 loss, and said he had a doctor's appointment Monday to see about the issue.

“Sorry to get that out, but thank you for noticing,” he said when responding to a question after his health.

Sanders spent time away from the Buffaloes (2-4, 0-3 Big 12) this summer as he went through treatment for bladder cancer. His doctor said before the season that he was cured from that. It was also revealed that a section of Sanders’ intestine was reconstructed to function as a bladder.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame player, who also played Major League Baseball, has struggled with his left foot since having two toes amputated in 2021 because of blood clot issues while at Jackson State. He also missed Pac-12 media day in 2023, his first year at Colorado, after a procedure to remove a blood clot from his right leg and another to straighten toes on his left foot.

Heidenreich, Horvath lead Navy to 34-31 win over Air Force

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Blake Horvath threw three touchdown passes to Eli Heidenreich, who set a pair of Navy records, and the Midshipmen outlasted Air Force 34-31 on Saturday.

The victory gives Navy (5-0) a leg up on holding on to the Commander-in-Chief's trophy, awarded to the winner of the round-robin between the Navy, Air Force and Army service academies.

Horvath was 20-of-26 passing for a career-high 339 yards and added another 130 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Heidenreich, who came in with five catches this season, set a Navy record with 243 receiving yards on eight receptions including 19-, 80- and 60-yard touchdowns, giving him a program record 14 in his career.

On a day filled with big-play offense, it was Nathan Kirkwood's field goal with 6:47 remaining that gave Navy the lead. That was followed by a deflected pitch recovered by the Midshipmen at midfield, allowing them to run out the clock.

Liam Szarka was 11-of-19 passing for 212 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a career-high 152 yards and two scores on 25 carries for the Falcons (1-4). Bruin Fleischmann had six catches for a career-high 166 yards and a score.

Two Heidenreich TD catches gave Navy a 17-10 halftime lead. Navy came back three times to tie, including 31-all on Jonah Dawson's first career catch, a 53-yard touchdown.

Colandrea and special teams help power UNLV past Wyoming 31–17

LARAMIE, Wyo. (AP) — Anthony Colandrea threw a touchdown pass, and Kayden McGee and Jaden Bradley each scored on special teams as UNLV used a dominant first half to beat Wyoming 31-17 on Saturday night.

Keyvone Lee opened the scoring with a 6-yard touchdown run before Jaden Bradley blocked a punt that Kayden McGee scooped and returned 16 yards for a score. Ramon Villela added a 36-yard field goal to extend the Rebels' lead to 17-3.

In the second quarter, McGee returned the favor — blocking another punt that Bradley took 13 yards for a score to give UNLV a 24-3 halftime lead.

Wyoming (2-3, 0-1) briefly closed the gap when Deion DeBlanc scored on a 12-yard run early in the third, but Colandrea’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Jai’Den Thomas in the fourth helped seal it for the Rebels (5-0, 1-0 Mountain West Conference).

Colandrea was 11-of-20 passing for 102 yards and a touchdown. Thomas finished with 94 yards rushing and Bradley caught five passes for 65 yards.

Kaden Anderson completed 25 of 46 passes and threw for 254 yards with a touchdown for the Cowboys, who turned the ball over twice.