Colorado’s trip to Arizona State turned into a rough night fast, and the final score barely captured how one-sided it felt. The Sun Devils grabbed control on their first possession and never gave it back, while Colorado spent most of the game chasing.
There was a brief opening for the Buffaloes in the second half, though it came more from Arizona State’s mistakes than from Colorado taking over. The Sun Devils helped keep the door cracked with poor tackling and penalties at bad times, and Colorado managed to turn that into a touchdown that cut the deficit to 10 points in the fourth quarter. But when the game was there to be extended, the Buffaloes couldn’t finish it, coming up short on a fourth-and-15 on their final drive.
The biggest issue was the same one Colorado keeps running into in Big 12 play: no reliable ground game. The Buffaloes finally got a conference win last week against Kansas State, and that formula was built on the run, mostly through Richard Young.
Against Arizona State, none of that carried over. Young handled most of the carries but finished with just 47 yards at 3.1 yards per carry, and Colorado never broke off a run longer than 10 yards.
The team’s 52 rushing yards were a season low, which is a problem for an offense that depends on the run to function.
The loss also raised bigger questions about Deion Sanders and the direction of the program. After last week’s win, his job looked temporarily safe.
Not anymore. This was an ugly mix of poor playcalling and coaching mistakes, and the most glaring one came right before halftime.
Colorado had 52 seconds left in the half and two timeouts, but Sanders chose not to use either one even after running the ball twice. The result was another example of a team not playing winning football, and a coach not coaching winning football.
There were a couple of individual bright spots buried in the defeat. Gideon Lampron kept stuffing the stat sheet, adding a team-high 18 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss to his season totals.
He entered the game leading the Big 12 with 43 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss, and he also recorded two sacks for the second straight game. With one year of eligibility left, he could come back, but after a season like this, he looks like an NFL draft candidate.
Joseph Williams also kept producing, even in a game Colorado couldn’t control. The Tulsa transfer, now in his first season with the Buffaloes, caught seven passes for 121 yards and scored Colorado’s only touchdown. At this point, it would be a surprise if Williams didn’t enter the transfer portal and move on to a more competitive team next season.
And with three games left, the postseason picture is bleak. Colorado can still technically reach a bowl game if it wins out, but the remaining schedule is Houston, Cincinnati, and UCF - all teams with winning records.
Realistically, that path is closed. The Buffaloes look headed for a second straight season without a bowl game.
In Other News...
Deion Sanders And Colorado Are Drifting Toward A Bigger Reckoning
Colorados trip to Arizona State brought another frustrating afternoon for an offense that never found a rhythm, as the Buffs were repeatedly stalled by three-and-outs and turnovers in a 20-10 loss. While the scoreboard stayed within reach, the game never really tilted in Colorados favor, and the contrast was obvious as Arizona State leaned on true freshman quarterback Jake Fette, who completed 68 percent of his passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns.
There were still a few bright spots in the loss, most notably linebacker Gideon Lampron, who filled the stat sheet with 18 tackles and multiple sacks. But individual efforts only go so far when the broader problems keep surfacing, and this one felt like another reminder that Colorado is still searching for answers on both sides of the ball as the season moves deeper into November. [Read more 🡒]
Buffs Loss Exposed A Problem Fans Cant Ignore
The Colorado mens basketball team left the National University Bill Walton Classic with a loss to San Diego State, but the bigger takeaway was how uneven the performance looked before the Buffaloes ever found their footing. In a game that marked the first meeting between the programs in 50 years and served as part of a hometown tribute to Walton, Colorado spent the opening stretch digging a hole it could not fully escape, even with a much better second-half effort.
Barrington Hargress gave the Buffaloes a lift with a career-high scoring night, and Colorado did outplay the Aztecs after halftime. Still, the result underscored a problem fans are likely to keep watching closely: this team can show flashes, but the early-game lapses are costing it too much against quality opponents, especially when the margin for error is already thin. [Read more 🡒]
Joseph Williams Calls Out Whats Really Hurting Colorados Offense
Colorados offense had one of its roughest afternoons of the season in a 10-point showing against Arizona State in Week 10, even as Joseph Williams turned in a productive day with seven catches for 121 yards and a touchdown. Afterward, the wide receiver pointed away from the matchup itself and toward the Buffaloes own operation, saying the bigger problem was execution.
That message lands at a critical time for Colorado, which now has little margin for error with bowl eligibility still in play. Williams stressed the need for a stronger team mentality and cleaner execution, a reminder that the Buffaloes next stretch will be judged less by flashes of individual production and more by whether the offense can put together complete drives when it matters most. [Read more 🡒]