WACO, Texas - Colorado’s offense keeps flashing pieces of life, but the full thing still isn’t there.
Outside of one clean afternoon against Weber State, the Buffaloes have spent September chasing rhythm and coming up short. In their other three games, they’ve put up 34 points total. Over the past two weeks, they’ve found the end zone only twice - once on a 50-yard screen pass at Northwestern and once on a 17-yard throw from a quarterback who didn’t start at Baylor.
Saturday’s 23-13 loss in Waco fit the pattern. Colorado had 15 possessions and came away with points on only three of them, with just one touchdown.
Deion Sanders doesn’t believe his team is being overwhelmed.
“It seems as though we’re better than our opponents,” he said.
The problem is that the numbers keep pointing the other way, especially when drives reach the money downs.
Colorado was 13-of-30 on third down across its two wins, a solid 43.3%. In the two losses since then, it has dropped to 7-of-27, or 25.9%.
Against Baylor, the Buffs managed only 3-of-15, and many of those chances were already strained before the snap. They needed an average of 7.1 yards on third down, and eight of the 15 snaps came on third-and-7 or longer.
Several of those long-yardage spots were created by sacks or penalties on the previous play.
Two of the conversions came on Isaac Wilson throws, one on third-and-9 and another on third-and-17. Even the shorter situations weren’t friendly. Colorado went 1-for-4 when it needed 3 yards or less, and it failed on all three third-down tries from 4 to 6 yards.
Fourth down has been even harsher. In its two wins, Colorado was 4-for-5.
In the two losses, it has gone 0-for-5, with three failed tries at Northwestern and two more against Baylor. One of those came on a fourth-and-1 at its own 49, and that sequence ended with Baylor’s only first-half touchdown.
Self-inflicted wounds piled up, too. On Colorado’s first trip inside the 10, a false start turned third-and-1 at the Baylor 4 into third-and-6, and the Buffs settled for a 24-yard field goal.
Their longest run of the day - a 32-yard burst by JaQuail Smith on the opening series of the second half - was wiped out by a holding call. Colorado’s longest play of the game was actually a 49-yard pass thrown by a receiver.
The run game, which had been the steadier part of the offense, also slipped. After three straight games of 180 yards on the ground, the Buffs were held to 83 yards on 39 carries.
Five sacks dragged that number down. They haven’t scored a rushing touchdown in two weeks, and three running backs have coughed up fumbles in that stretch: Micah Welch and Damian Henderson II at Northwestern, and Smith with four minutes left on Saturday.
Quarterback remains part of the conversation. Sanders pulled Julian Lewis at halftime for Wilson, who directed Colorado’s lone touchdown drive.
After the game, Sanders said the staff would take another look at the position. He made clear he wasn’t pinning it on one player alone.
“We’re so much better, especially the coaching staff, so much better than what we’re producing right now,” Sanders said. “We’ve got to do better.”
He also said the response is already in motion.
“We’re making moves. We’re making adjustments. We’re not just sitting idle,” he said.
There were bright spots at receiver. Joseph Williams continued to be a major target, finishing with 22 catches for 361 yards and four touchdowns, including 11 receptions for 127 yards at Baylor.
Quanell Farrakhan Jr., who had only two career catches before the day, hauled in seven passes for 117 yards. DeAndre Moore Jr., who had 107 yards against Weber State, left Saturday’s game after taking a big hit.
“We’ve got some guys,” Sanders said. “I think we saw that today.”
The next test is immediate and unforgiving. No.
11 Texas Tech, 4-0 and 1-0 in the Big 12, visits Folsom Field on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. MT on FOX.
The Red Raiders are the defending Big 12 champions and were the nation’s best run defense last season, allowing 68 yards a game and 2.2 per carry. This month they’ve been a little more open, giving up 95 yards a game and 3.4 per rush, but they’ve also forced six turnovers in four games.
Colorado has played three of its first four on the road, and punter Damon Greaves was asked whether coming back to Boulder might help. He didn’t want that line of thinking.
“I don’t think we need to make any excuse for where we play and who we play,” Greaves said. “We’re going to be able to deliver the same game and deliver the same output, no matter where we are and who that’s against.”
Colorado has one week to find the gear it’s been missing. Texas Tech isn’t likely to wait around.
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For Colorado fans, this kind of pressure is familiar in a broader sense because Deion Sanders has been part of the same national conversation about expectations, results and what happens when a season starts to wobble. Around the sport, coaches have begun taking responsibility in different ways, but the bigger picture is unchanged: once the losses pile up, the question shifts from what a team needs next to how much longer a school can afford to wait before making a move. [Read more 🡒]