SHREVEPORT, La. – John Parker Wilson completed 13 of his first 15 passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns for Alabama, which raced to a four-touchdown lead and held off Colorado, 30-24, in the Independence Bowl on Sunday night.,

Colorado's attempt at a multi-lateral play as time expired collapsed shy of midfield, ending the game.

Alabama (7-6) stopped a four-game losing streak and avoided consecutive losing seasons for the first time in 50 years. Colorado (6-7) finished below .500 for the second straight year but improved from a 2-10 mark in 2006.

With the Tide up 27-0, Wilson was in control until being chased into an intentional grounding penalty with five minutes left in the first half. He threw an interception on his next attempt, leading to a Buffaloes score, and didn't complete another throw in the half.

Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins, meanwhile, recovered from an interception on the Buffaloes' first play and finished the half 9-of-10 for 87 yards and two scores.

Hawkins' 25-yard pass to Dusty Sprague with four seconds left in the half cut Alabama's lead to 27-14. It came less than two minutes after Hawkins hit Tyson DeVree with a 4-yard scoring pass. Kevin Eberhart's 39-yard field goal in the third quarter cut the deficit to 27-17.

Alabama gained 170 yards in the first quarter and had 285 by halftime. Wilson had scoring passes of 15 yards to Keith Brown, 34 yards to Matt Caddell and 31 yards to Nikita Stover.

With Leigh Tiffin's two field goals, Alabama led 27-0 three minutes into the second quarter and appeared to have Colorado on the ropes. The Buffaloes, who scored 65 points against Nebraska in their previous game, had a first down on their second play from scrimmage but didn't pick up another until 10 ½ minutes before halftime.

Once Colorado rattled Wilson, though, the Buffaloes' fortunes turned. Hawkins was 8-of-8 on the last two drives of the half.