Colorado’s 2025 opener against Georgia Tech offered a clear blueprint for what has to change if the Buffaloes want the rematch to go their way.
The Buffs pushed the Yellow Jackets to the finish in that game, and the result looked even better in hindsight considering Colorado won just three games while Georgia Tech reached as high as No. 7 in the AP Poll last season. This time around, though, Colorado won’t have Folsom Field behind it. That makes the upcoming opener even more important, and it also puts a spotlight on three areas that have to improve.
The biggest issue was the pass rush. Colorado finished the 2025 season with 13 sacks, the second-fewest in the Big 12, and the opener against Georgia Tech was a big reason why.
The Buffaloes never got to quarterback Haynes King. That was a problem even though the secondary did its job, holding King to 143 passing yards and no touchdowns while DJ McKinney picked him off for his lone interception of the season.
Without pressure, King settled in and took over in other ways. He found room as a runner, piling up 156 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. From the opening kick to the final whistle, he kept hammering Colorado’s defensive front, and that wear-and-tear showed up late when Georgia Tech finished the job in the fourth quarter.
The Yellow Jackets had more than one answer on the ground, too. Jamal Haynes and Malachi Hosley formed a productive tandem, combining for 112 rushing yards while averaging 4.1 and 6.7 yards per carry, respectively.
King and Haynes are now headed to the NFL, but Hosley is back, and that makes him the first name Colorado has to zero in on. If the Buffs are going to win the battle up front, stopping him is where it starts.
Colorado’s problems weren’t limited to defense. The offense put 20 points on the board, but the passing game never really took control. Omarion Miller led the team in receiving yards with only 39 on one catch, and the Buffs’ only receiving touchdown came from running back DeKalon Taylor, who finished with 38 yards, the second-most on the team in that game.
That has to change in 2026. Georgia Tech made the Buffs’ aerial attack a non-factor in last season’s comeback effort, and Colorado can’t afford a repeat.
The good news for the Buffaloes is that they’ll have Julian Lewis at quarterback in Brennan Marion’s “Go-Go” offense, along with a talented receiver core. On paper, that gives Colorado a real chance to be much more dangerous through the air when these teams meet again.
In Other News...
Colorado Fall Camp Just Put Deions Biggest Roster Questions Under Pressure
Colorados 2026 fall camp arrives with the Buffaloes carrying a familiar mix of intrigue and pressure, and the roster breakdown under Deion Sanders makes clear why. There is talent across the board, from a receiver room stocked with transfer production to a linebacker group that has been rebuilt through the portal, while the offensive line has enough returning pieces to at least give the staff a base to work from.
Still, not every unit inspires the same confidence, and that is where camp should get interesting fast. The secondary needs young players to settle in, the running backs have to prove they can do more than fit a scheme on paper, and the staffs view of which position group stands at the top of the depth chart says plenty about where Colorado feels strongest and where the real questions begin. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado Just Got Another Brutal Big 12 Reality Check
Colorados third season in the Big 12 is shaping up to be another uphill climb, at least on paper. CBS Sports insider Jon Rothstein slotted the Buffaloes 14th in his preseason conference rankings, a reminder of how far the program still has to go after leaving the Pac-12 and trying to find its footing in a league that rarely gives anyone much room to breathe. Tad Boyle enters his 17th season with a roster that looks different again, and the challenge is familiar: build enough continuity to stay competitive while the rest of the conference keeps raising the bar.
The turnover has been significant, with three key scorers gone through the transfer portal and three new forwards brought in to help reshape the frontcourt. Barrington Hargress is back as the top returning player, giving Colorado at least one proven piece to lean on, but the bigger question is how quickly the new group can settle in around him. For a team still trying to establish itself in the Big 12, the preseason view only adds to the pressure to show that last years struggles are not the standard. [Read more 🡒]
Coach Prime's ESPN Reaction Says Everything About His Loyalty
Deion Sanders has never been shy about backing people who have walked a similar path, and his reaction to the latest ESPN chatter fit that pattern. The Colorado coach and former NFL star took time to salute Ryan Clarks talent and to voice support for Cam Newton, two former players who, like Sanders, turned their post-playing careers into a presence on television and in podcasting.
For Sanders, the connection is personal as much as professional. He understands how rare it is for ex-players to carve out lasting space in media, which is why the uncertainty around Clark and Newton landed with him the way it did. Even in a news cycle packed with turnover, his response stood out as a reminder that loyalty still matters to him, especially when it involves people from the same football-to-broadcasting lane he once took himself. [Read more 🡒]