Karl Dorrell is right. Colorado has to 'start all over' on offense.

BOULDER — The offense doesn’t work.

You can make cases for any number of different culprits—offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini, running back Jarek Broussard, the offensive line, etc.—but the bottom line is that Colorado’s offense straight-up doesn’t work.

“As a head coach, I have to re-evaluate everything,” Dorrell said after the game. “It is one of those points of the season.”

The Buffs couldn’t muster a point on Saturday against a Minnesota team that gave up 26 to Miami of Ohio the week before.

The Buffs were out-gained 441 yards to 63, after putting up 7 total yards in the first half.

Colorado’s lone drive over 15 yards, which came in garbage time when second-string quarterback Drew Carter took the reins, was a 9-play, 29-yarder that ended with a failed fourth-down attempt just across midfield.

That effort, after a six-yard three-and-out on his other series, is enough to question whether Carter should take over going forward.

“We’re still going to turn over every stone and we’re going to figure out what to do,” Dorrell said. “It might mean he does get a chance to get some series in games now. He might be able to create a creative spark.”

But would playing Carter be an upgrade over Lewis? It’s tough to say.

Lewis struggled. He either didn’t see or didn’t care to throw the ball to open receivers repeatedly. On the first few drives in particular, he passed up open options on plays that ended with throw aways.

Colorado’s receivers took advantage of a porous Minnesota secondary… but it just didn’t matter.

Drew Carter, on the other hand, got the ball out of his hand quickly… even if he didn’t necessarily put it where it needed to go.

He’s a true freshman who has been on campus for eight months and the coaches have been clear when saying he isn’t ready to see the field.

And then there’s this: the two quarterbacks had basically the exact same stats.

Lewis: 8/16 for 55 yards
Carter: 4/8 for 27 yards

What do you do about that if you’re the coach?

Hindsight is 20/20 but the Buffs should have tried Carter at some point before the Buffs were taken out of the game by a touchdown that put the Gophers up 20-0 near the end of the third quarter. Dorrell said the staff considered putting Carter in the game at halftime but, obviously, decided not to.

(Remember that at halftime Colorado had put up 7 yards and its longest drive was an eight-yard three-and-out.)

Going forward, I think Lewis has to be the starter, but the staff needs to have packages ready for Carter, as Dorrell suggested after the game. If Colorado starts with a couple of three-and-outs, throw in Carter and see if he gives you a reason to keep him out there. He probably won’t, but why not try it?

And quarterback isn’t the only place you could see a change.

Chiaverini has come under fire in recent weeks for his offense’s performance, as well as the plays he’s called. While the quarterback play sunk the ship on Saturday, don’t forget that the rushing attack managed -19 yards.

Colorado has lacked creativity and has been unsuccessful on the offensive side of the ball.

Don’t get me wrong, with Lewis at quarterback, Chiaverini has an incredibly difficult job.

But so far, Chiaverini hasn’t been able to do his job and, in football, guys who don’t do their job don’t have their job for long, regardless of how hard it is.

I don’t think an early-season firing is likely for any of Colorado’s coaches—Chiaverini, offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue and quarterbacks coach Danny Langsdorf could be on the hot seat—but a restructuring of responsibilities seems likely at this point.

Will Dorrell take over the play-calling part of the job, while leaving Chiaverini as the “offensive coordinator?” I think it’s likely, even though a selfish Dorrell would probably leave those responsibilities with Chiaverini, since success is so hard to come by with this offensive personnel.

At the very least, it’s time to throw out the playbook.

“We’ve got to start all over,” Dorrell said.

Everything is on the table and some big decisions will be made this week.

Why?

“That was a complete, I would say, beat down in every phase.”