Colorado walked out of Stillwater with more than a lopsided loss on its ledger. The Buffaloes saw a 24-23 halftime lead disappear in a hurry as Oklahoma State rolled off 34 straight points and buried CU 57-24 on Oct. 24.
That final number matters for a couple of reasons. It is the most points a Deion Sanders team has given up, and it also marked Colorado’s fifth consecutive loss - the third time that has happened under Sanders.
The bigger issue with this team keeps showing up in different forms, but it keeps pointing to the same place: the Buffs can’t string together two solid halves. One week they flash early and fade.
Another time they’re flat out of the gate and then surge late. Baylor got a respectable second half from Colorado before the Buffs fell 23-13.
Texas Tech, meanwhile, was the game where Colorado made life miserable for the then-No. 8 Red Raiders in the first half.
Utah saw the opposite, with Colorado waking up after halftime.
That inconsistency is exactly what tends to happen with teams sitting below .500, and Colorado’s 2026 group has settled into that pattern. The first half in Stillwater was one version of it; other games have offered a different one.
Quarterback play has been right at the center of the problem. Isaac Wilson has produced those brief stretches where he looks sharp and dangerous, but one mistake has often opened the door to a collapse.
Against Oklahoma State, that came with a third-quarter fumble that he never really shook off. Wilson is still searching for his first win as a starter, now sitting at 0-3 overall.
Colorado hasn’t gotten much traction from Julian Lewis, who started the season opener, either. Kaneal Sweetwyne has barely been part of the offense; his only offensive snap since earning action against Weber State came on the opening trick play against Texas Tech.
The offense has looked a little quicker with Wilson behind center, but the ball security issues keep dragging everything down.
Sanders has already made it clear he sees the issue. After the Texas Tech loss, he spoke openly about that weakness, and the Oklahoma State game only reinforced it.
The defeat also puts Sanders back in an uncomfortable place in his fourth season at Colorado. He has built a strong brand and a big following in Boulder, but college football does not wait around. The pressure around him is real, and the Oklahoma State result pushes his name into the coaching conversation again.
That conversation is already moving quickly around the sport. Baylor fired Dave Aranda on Oct. 25 despite a 4-3 record. North Carolina State also let go of Dave Doeren, the winningest coach in program history, nearly 24 hours earlier after a loss to Stanford.
Elsewhere, programs have shown how fast a turnaround can happen. UCLA did it with coach Bob Chesney.
Oklahoma State did it with Eric Morris. Indiana, too, offered a fresh blueprint under Curt Cignetti.
Sanders kept his job after the loss to the Cowboys, but the next one matters. A defeat to Kansas State on Halloween would only turn up the heat further.
In Other News...
Kansas State Heads To Boulder With Less Margin Than Fans Expected
The early read on Kansas States trip to Boulder suggests a tighter matchup than some around the Big 12 might have expected, with Colorado getting the benefit of playing at home and the game drawing attention for how evenly matched the two sides look on paper. For Buffaloes fans, that makes this one feel less like a simple measuring-stick game and more like a chance to see whether home-field advantage can help tilt things in their direction.
What makes the opener especially interesting is how much of the conversation comes back to execution. Both teams have enough offensive talent to make this one uncomfortable for the other side, and the betting market is already signaling that small details could matter more than reputations. The number attached to the game leaves plenty of room for movement, but for now it sets up a conference matchup that should carry real stakes from the opening kick. [Read more 🡒]
Deion Sanders And Colorado Are Facing A Much Bigger Problem
Colorados season has gone from frustrating to alarming in a hurry. The Buffaloes dropped their fifth straight game Saturday, falling 57-24 to Oklahoma State to slip to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the Big 12, and the final score only underscored how quickly a competitive first half can unravel when things start going sideways.
Deion Sanders has already made clear he sees the problem as bigger than play-calling or weekly adjustments. After signing a contract extension in 2025, he is now trying to steer a team that has not won a Big 12 game since October 2025 and has lost nine straight conference games, with Sanders stressing that the players have to want success for the university and for themselves. The challenge now is not just stopping the slide, but figuring out whether this group can still summon the buy-in and urgency needed to change it. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Faces A Kansas State Problem That Just Got Harder To Read
Kansas States quarterback picture is still unsettled heading into its meeting with Colorado, and that alone makes the matchup harder to sort out. Avery Johnson has been working through an injury, and coach Collin Klein said the Wildcats are continuing to monitor his recovery while also keeping tabs on the rest of the room.
The uncertainty does not stop with Johnson. Blake Barnett and Jacob Knuth are both part of the conversation, and Kleins latest update offered no easy read on who will take the first snap against the Buffaloes. For Colorado, the scouting report may end up coming down less to a name on the depth chart than to which version of Kansas State actually shows up. [Read more 🡒]