Deion Sanders is running out of room for excuses in Boulder.
Colorado’s 57-24 loss at Oklahoma State on Saturday stretched the Buffaloes’ slide to five straight defeats, a skid that has turned a season with relatively high hopes into something far uglier. There have been plenty of places to point for blame, but the longer this keeps spiraling, the more it comes back to the coach.
Sanders had limited control over the 2025 roster because of his health struggles, but he was fully in charge when the Buffs were built for 2026. That made the quarterback situation his call, and it has gone badly.
Redshirt freshman Julian Lewis was the Week 1 starter after Sanders backed him heavily, yet Colorado pulled him after only 3.5 games. He was taken out at halftime of a tight game against the Baylor Bears and has not been put back in.
The alternatives have not steadied anything. Isaac Wilson has thrown seven interceptions in 3.5 games, while Lewis has thrown only two in 5.5 career games as a starter and seven total appearances.
Even true freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne, in his brief time on the field, has looked unready. For a position Sanders personally shaped this offseason, Colorado suddenly has almost no reliable depth.
The problems do not stop there. Colorado has also been undone by a consistent failure to adjust after halftime.
The Buffaloes have not put together a full game yet this season, with the back end of the performance falling apart in every contest so far. Outside of the game against the then-No.
11 Utah Utes in Week 7, that collapse has usually shown up in the second half.
That lack of in-game correction is another issue that lands on Sanders. If the Buffaloes cannot hold together for four quarters, especially when the pressure rises, the heat around his job is only going to intensify.
And Sanders himself sounded out of answers after the Oklahoma State blowout. In his postgame news conference, he struggled to make sense of what happened.
"That was one of the first teams [that did that]. So we've been beaten, but not [like that]," Sanders said.
“... We're trying.
It's not like we're not trying. It's not like we're throwing in the towel and we're not trying.”
Right now, Sanders sounds as stuck as the fans watching this unravel. Colorado came into the season with expectations, and this kind of stretch has made the disappointment impossible to ignore. If the Buffaloes do not find a fix soon, the pressure on Sanders is only going to keep climbing.
In Other News...
Oklahoma State Enters A Brutal Stretch With Little Room For Error
Oklahoma State heads into a tough Big 12 run with little margin for slipups, starting with a road trip to Iowa State and three of its next four games away from Stillwater. The Cowboys are ranked No. 24 and have leaned on an offense that leads the conference in scoring, while the defense offered a better look in the recent win over Colorado, giving the team at least some momentum as the schedule tightens.
Iowa State brings its own wrinkles into the matchup, beginning with a quarterback situation that coach Jimmy Rogers has handled carefully after recent changes under center. The Cyclones also have a few versatile pieces who can affect a game in multiple ways, which makes this an especially tricky opener for an Oklahoma State team trying to protect its early standing and avoid getting caught in the wrong kind of conference grind. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma States New Roster Just Got An Early Reality Check
Oklahoma States first real look at its new basketball roster came with a reminder of how quickly an exhibition can turn into a measuring-stick game. The Cowboys fell 82-65 to Wisconsin at the Kohl Center, spending most of the night chasing a Badgers team that controlled the tempo and kept the pressure on from the perimeter. Oklahoma State did manage to shoot the ball better after halftime, but the early hole proved too deep to climb out of.
Julius Halaifonua led the Cowboys with 16 points, and Jacob Walker added 12 as Oklahoma State tried to find some offensive rhythm against a veteran Wisconsin group. Owen Foxwell paced the Badgers with 19 points in a game that gave the Cowboys plenty to clean up before the results start to count for real. [Read more 🡒]
Former OSU QB Sees One Big Test Coming For Drew Mestemaker
Former Oklahoma State quarterback Clint Chelf liked what he has seen from the Cowboys lately, especially the way Drew Mestemaker has settled in and the way the offense has started to come together around him. The line in front of Mestemaker has been a big part of that progress, and Chelf pointed to that growth as one of the main reasons the unit has looked more comfortable and more productive.
The next challenge, though, comes in one of the toughest spots on the schedule: a Halloween night trip to Iowa State. Chelf talked about the environment and the conditions that can make that game hard to navigate, which adds another layer to an already important test for a quarterback still building his reputation. Mestemaker has already started to turn heads beyond Stillwater, and there is still real interest in how far he can carry this offense from here. [Read more 🡒]