Colorado’s 2026 schedule has a few games that jump off the page, but the most fascinating ones all come with real questions attached. That’s what makes this season so compelling for Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes: the matchups aren’t just tough, they could help shape where the program goes next.
The earliest one worth circling comes on Sept. 26, when Colorado heads to Texas to face Baylor and coach Dave Aranda. The spotlight in that game lands squarely on the quarterbacks, with Colorado’s Julian Lewis set to go against Baylor’s DJ Lagway.
Lewis enters the year with plenty to prove. As a redshirt freshman, he’s being asked to take over the program while learning a new offense under offensive coordinator Brennan Marion.
Last season, Lewis showed flashes in limited action, finishing with 589 passing yards, four touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a 55.3 percent completion rate across four games, including two starts. If he can settle into Marion’s system quickly, Colorado could find real consistency on offense.
Lagway brings a different set of concerns into the matchup. His time at Florida was marked by injury issues and turnover trouble, with 23 interceptions over the past two seasons.
Baylor needs those problems cleaned up early, because if they linger, the Bears could find themselves in a difficult spot before the season really gets going. In a game like this, the quarterback who handles the pressure better could be the one who walks away with the win.
A few weeks after that, Colorado gets Utah at home in another game that should tell us plenty. Last season’s meeting in Utah was a rough one for the Buffaloes, who fell 53-7. The Utes controlled that game on the ground, piling up 422 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns while backup quarterback Byrd Ficklin kept leaning into Colorado’s biggest weakness.
That weakness showed up all season long. Colorado gave up 222.5 rush yards per game in 2025, which ranked 135th nationally.
To address it, the Buffaloes have added pieces through the transfer portal and turned to Chris Marve as their new defensive coordinator after Robert Livingston left for the NFL. Marve brings prior defensive coordinator experience from Virginia Tech, and his defenses were built around violence, physicality, aggressiveness, and the ability to adapt to different offensive looks.
Utah has gone through changes too. Coach Kyle Whittingham left to become the new head coach at Michigan after Morgan Scalley was named the next head coach of the Utes. With both teams adjusting, this rematch has the feel of a game that will be decided up front.
The late-season trip to Arizona State might be the one with the most moving parts. It comes at a point in the year when Big 12 positioning and bowl eligibility could both be in play, and it also marks Colorado’s first game against wide receiver Omarion Miller since he transferred out of Boulder after the 2025 season.
That alone gives the matchup extra weight, but the setting matters too. It’s a road test in one of the tougher environments in the Big 12, and it will ask plenty of Colorado’s focus and execution.
Arizona State, under coach Kenny Dillingham, has already shown it can play with anyone in the league. The Sun Devils won the conference in 2024 and handed Texas Tech its only loss in 2025, doing it in Tempe.
Still, Arizona State has a major question of its own after losing quarterback Sam Leavitt to the transfer portal. Kentucky transfer Cutter Boley is now the one expected to step in and deliver. With both teams carrying uncertainty into the game, it has the ingredients to become a late-season showdown with real bowl implications.
In Other News...
Utah Just Got Major National Respect For Its Quarterback Room
Utahs quarterback room is drawing some of the kind of national attention that usually gets reserved for the sports bluebloods, and it starts with the one-two punch of Devon Dampier and Byrd Ficklin. CBS Sports analyst Blake Brockermeyer slotted the Utes at No. 3 in the country, a nod to a room that helped drive Utahs success in 2025 with two dual-threat options who can stress defenses in different ways.
Dampier, a fourth-year senior and former Big 12 Offensive Newcomer of the Year, gives Utah an established centerpiece, while Ficklin offers the sort of developmental upside every staff wants behind him. Brockermeyer pointed to Dampiers growth as a passer and viewed Ficklin as a potential future star, which makes Utahs next step in the passing game especially intriguing as the Utes move into a new offensive setup. [Read more 🡒]