Oregon State had all but tamed the Buffaloes heading into the fourth quarter.

The 16th-ranked Beavers had given up less than 100 yards of offense through the game’s first 45 minutes and held a 20-5 lead. Colorado couldn’t run the football and it couldn’t protect its quarterback — the theme of the season. CU got a pair of touchdown drives on the board in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late to mount a comebacker.

Oregon State moved to 7-2 on the year with a 26-19 win over Colorado on the road. The defeat sent the Buffs to 1-5 in conference play.

CU head coach Deion Sanders made headlines late in the week when he decided to strip offensive coordinator Sean Lewis of his play-calling responsibilities and hand them to analyst Pat Shurmur.

Through three quarters, the change did nothing but make Colorado worse.

Heading into the fourth quarter, Colorado had 78 yards of offense and 12 rushing yards on 15 carries. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders had completed 15 of his 25 passes for 66 yards. The Buffs were averaging 2 yards a play and had only seven first downs to Oregon State’s 21.

The Beavers completely dominated the line of scrimmage.

Damien Martinez ran for 115 yards on 21 carries. The ground game produced 4.9 yards per carry (adjusted for sacks) while quarterback DJ Uiagalelei provided balance through the air. Uiagalelei hit Deshaun Fenwick for a 20-yard touchdown just before halftime to put Oregon State up 14-3.

Uiagalelei added a 1-yard rushing score late in the third quarter to push the lead to 20-3.

(Colorado forced a fumble on the Beavs’ two-point try and returned it 88 yards for two points the other way to make it 20-5.)

At that point, the game was settled.

Colorado’s first nine possessions resulted in a fumble, three three-and-outs, a field goal (on a drive that gained 5 yards after an Oregon State turnover, and seven total punts.

Shedeur Sanders got hot on CU’s final two possessions — both nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drives — and finished with 245 yards through the air on 24-of-39 passing. The ground game net a loss of 7 yards.

Oregon State sits at 4-2 in conference play. The Beavs host Stanford in Week 11.

Colorado falls to 4-5 on the season. It’ll host Arizona next week.