BOULDER — Kaidon Salter didn’t think twice.

He kept the ball himself, saw green grass in front and took off. His 35-yard touchdown run was the icing on the cake in Colorado’s 37-20 win over Wyoming that got the Buffaloes on track before Big 12 play resumes.

As Deion Sanders watched his quarterback run into the Boulder night with his fourth touchdown of the game, only one thing went through his head.

“That’s the guy we wanted to see,” Coach Prime said.

What everyone inside Folsom Field saw Saturday night was the emergence of a real-deal starting quarterback. It took four weeks, but the Buffs have their guy — and it’s the guy everyone expected when CU landed Salter in the transfer portal.

It wasn’t pretty or smooth through the first three weeks. Salter started the first two games but was benched in favor of third-stringer Ryan Staub at Houston after Staub was the most impressive in what was essentially an open competition in Week 2 against Delaware.

Many wondered whether the benching would cause Salter, who was the unquestioned starter for two years at Liberty, to unravel. But that turned out to be far from the case.

“Coach Prime is very straightforward. Once I knew I wasn’t going last week, I made it my goal to be the best version of myself for the team and ensure things got done,” Salter said. “This meant giving the defense looks at practice and being there for Staub, helping him out whenever needed as a veteran quarterback that I am. This week, once he told me that I was going to get the start, I had to take full advantage of it and make sure that I continue to be a starter.”

Now, it’s his job to lose once again.

With his legs or with his arm, Salter did what the Buffs needed him to do in the nonconference finale. He made decisions quickly and decisively, and they were almost always the correct ones. He led the team in rushing with 86 yards on just 11 carries, while trusting his receivers to make plays downfield with 304 yards and a trio of touchdowns, all of which were 29 yards or longer.

“It’s been a big thing trying to get the receivers the ball down the field,” Salter said. “And every chance that I got (against Wyoming), I tried to take advantage of the opportunity. I know that I got big guys out there, big playmakers, and if I throw it up, it’s 75/25 their way.”

The play that characterized Salter at his best came midway through the second quarter. It was the series after CU’s first touchdown drive and after Wyoming got on the board for the first time with a field goal.

Facing a third-and-9 from his own 32-yard line, Salter sensed the pressure, saw no one open downfield and moved to his right. He saw the defense creep toward him, expecting him to take off and try to pick up the first down with his legs. Instead, he perfectly lofted a ball over the defense and into the arms of wide receiver Sincere Brown, who used his speed to run away for a 68-yard catch-and-run score.

“Plays like that are going to win those games,” Salter said.

The Buffs never believed Salter lost his confidence, but there was something missing from his game in his first two starts of the season. Whatever the week on the bench did for him, worked.

CU has itself a quarterback.

“It (was) rough not playing last week, but I stayed straight, talking to family, talking to God, and making sure that the next opportunity that I got, I took full advantage of it,” Salter said. “This is my last year, so I want to go out there and be the best version of me for the team and for everybody else in this program.”