BOULDER — The final 30 minutes overshadowed the first 30.

After a much-improved first-half performance by the Colorado defense, Deion Sanders was disappointed by what he saw in the second half after the Buffaloes had built a comfortable lead in the 37-20 win over Wyoming.

“I’m not happy with the finish,” Coach Prime said. “I told our young men too much, ‘haha’ and ‘hehe’ on the sideline when we got the lead.”

The stats back up what Sanders saw with his eyes.

In the first half, the Buffs allowed Wyoming to rack up just 114 total yards of offense and 3 points on 30 plays. Take away the one 50-yard run by Cowboys freshman Samuel Harris, and Wyoming likely comes away with zero points and with an offense averaging just over two yards per play.

The second half was a much different story.

CU allowed 17 points and 233 yards on five second-half possessions by the team from Laramie. Harris looked like a star in the making as he led the way on the ground, while Wyoming quarterback Kaden Anderson was finally able to complete a few passes downfield and open things up for the entire offense.

Even though it wound up being statistically the best full-game performance of the season (347 yards allowed), all that will stick in Coach Prime’s memory is what he saw on the last few drives.

“The defense, we got work to do,” Sanders said. “We can’t let a team just drive down the field on us like we ain’t even out there. The key thing for a coach is nothing deep (and) nothing cheap. It’s been the second week in a row we’ve given up the deep ball, along with cheap and broken runs.

The Cowboys got points on three of their first four possessions in the second half, and Coach Prime believes it was all controllable by his group.

“We’re not fatigued. We condition our butts off,” Sanders said. “It’s intensity and focus. When you lose intensity and lose focus, those things happen. It’s not like that other team is losing because they’re down; they’re trying to get back in the game and want an opportunity. They’re on national television, so that’s on us, man. I just let our team know how I felt about that in the second half.”

Senior defensive end Arden Walker feels the postgame message was received. He said the Buffs need to learn how to “kick people while they’re down.”

“That’s really what it is,” Walker said. We’re competitive and we’re hungry, and we have to stay hungry, regardless of what the score is, and we had to put our head down and work so work is never done. More is always required.”

Outside of the final drive of the game where the Buffs and Cowboys both had reserves in, the lone drive the Buffs defense didn’t allow points, it added to the scoreboard.

After a fumble was recovered by Wyoming at its own 1-yard line, Walker sacked Anderson in the end zone three plays later for the Buffs’ first safety since 2010.

“Before that timeout we were making sure that we wanted to make a big play and I’m glad I was able to do it,” Walker, a Cherry Creek graduate and Denver native, said.

Those splash plays late in games were what helped the Buffs develop one of the Big 12’s best defenses a season ago — and they’re likely going to need plenty more when conference play resumes next week.

“I wish we could have a little more killer instinct to really put teams away, like we’re capable of doing,” Sanders said.