2024 CFB What Ifs: What if Shedeur Sanders doesn't complete a Hail Mary against Baylor?

It wasn't quite the Miracle at Michigan, but it was a turning point for this version of Colorado football.

College football is a game of inches, split-second decisions and unpredictable twists that can alter the trajectory of an entire season. In this new offseason series, What Ifs, I’ll dive into the sliding door moments of the 2024 college football season—the plays, calls and decisions that could’ve changed everything.

I’ll explore how the alternate outcomes might have reshaped the College Football Playoff picture, conference standings, Heisman race and more.

What might have been? Let’s find out.

Starring down the barrel of a 2-2 start to the 2024 season, Colorado was searching for a bit of magic.

What came next wasn’t quite the Miracle at Michigan, but it wasn’t too far off either.

Two seconds on the clock. Ball on the Baylor 44-yard line. Three receivers split out to the left.

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders takes the snap and completes a hard rollout to the left. This was the plan all along.

As time expires, Sanders squares his shoulders as best he can and uncorks a ball toward the end zone with a pair of Baylor defenders bearing down on him.

The ball flutters through the air. Inside Folsom Field, time stood still.

After a few seconds, Sanders’ pass nose dives about three and a half yards into the end zone with three Baylor defenders in a seemingly good position to defend the pass.

Two Baylor defenders make a play on the ball. So does Colorado wide receiver LaJohntay Wester. The five-foot-eleven senior comes out of nowhere and slides feet first, like a baseball player, between the defenders to make the sliding grab.

Folsom Field suddenly goes into a frenzy. Even the announcers harken back to that infamous Kordell Stewart heave in 1994.

After the Hail Mary prayer was answered, Colorado knocked in the extra point and the game went to overtime.

Riding a Rocky Moutain high, the Buffaloes score quickly and take a seven-point lead. Now, it’s Baylor’s turn. The Bears get the ball and march down inside the three-yard line. On first and goal, quarterback Sawyer Robertson takes the snap and hands the ball off to running back Dominic Richardson.

Richardson makes a quick jump cut to the right and appears destined to strike paydirt. But as he gets to the goal line, dual-threat star Travis Hunter gets helmet on ball, upending the running back and forcing a fumble into the end zone.

The ball then squirts through the back of the end zone, and Colorado completes the unlikeliest of comebacks.

What if Sanders never completes that Hail Mary against Baylor?

It’s hard to say for certain, but I do feel confident saying that the Hail Mary was a big turning point for this Colorado team. In the weeks that followed the Baylor game, Colorado went 5-1 with the lone loss coming by three points against a ranked Kansas State team.

3-1 feels a lot different than 2-2. In the very next game post-Baylor, Colorado convincingly buried a struggling UCF team. Does that game play out in the same way if the Buffaloes are 2-2 and the college football world is still taking shots at head coach Deion Sanders? Hard to tell.

Colorado beat up on a lot of average to below-average Big 12 teams in 2024. There’s no arguing that. But I think vibes are a real thing and the vibes are just way better off a Hail Mary and big goal line stand in a win than they would’ve been in a close loss at home.

I don’t think it was out of the realm of possibility that if Colorado had lost to Baylor, the Buffaloes would’ve looked a lot closer to a six or seven-win team than the nine-win team they became.

How does that Hail Mary completion impact Colorado in 2024 and beyond?

The Hail Mary completion doesn’t have a ton of impact outside of the 2024 season. More than anything, I think it was just an example of a pretty good Colorado team avoiding disaster against a Baylor team that we thought would be pretty bad. (Baylor ended up being pretty good, but at that time, we thought they stunk.)

Does Sanders’ Hail Mary live up to the hype of Kordell Stewart’s Miracle at Michigan? Certainly not.

Was it still pretty cool? Hell yeah.