The Colorado football team’s bye week couldn’t have come at a better time.
Injuries and frustrations have piled up during the Buffs‘ three-game losing streak and a 29-7 loss to No. 12 Texas Tech could prove to be the breaking point. But perhaps a Week 6 bye is exactly what Coach Prime and Colorado need to turn around their season.
“When it comes to you, you have to make it,” Deion Sanders said after the Buffs’ loss to Texas Tech. “But I’m upset that we’re not preparing them rightfully to make those type of plays that we have to make.”
Talent isn’t the Colorado football team’s issue. Coaching and execution have cost them in each of their losses this season.
Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of the Buffs’ 2-3 start:
The good
The Colorado football team was missing the Big 12 sack leader (Lamont Lester Jr.), a starting linebacker (Tyler Martinez), a starting cornerback (Jason Stokes Jr.) and a handful of other rotational players vs. No. 12 Texas Tech.
That didn’t matter to defensive coordinator Chris Marve.
With seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders had just 15 points. They finished the game with 29 points (19 points off Colorado turnovers, including a pick-six) but the Buffs’ defense played well enough to beat the No. 12 team in the country. Texas Tech was just 3-for-12 on 3rd down and QB Will Hammond was held to a season-low 134 passing yards.
It was the second consecutive game that Marve’s unit gave the Colorado football team a chance to win.
Colorado held Baylor to just 23 points the week before. DJ Lagway completed just 49% of his passes for 221 yards and a TD vs. the Buffs. He completed 63% of his passes for 306 yards and four TDs at Arizona State the following week.
Perhaps the most impressive part of the Colorado football team’s defense through five games is the fact that it leads the Big 12 in tackles for loss. The Buffs’ 43 TFLs so far this season are the third-most in all of FBS, behind only Virginia Tech (51) and SMU (46).
Colorado’s defense is its strength, even if Coach Prime wants to see more.
“I like many aspects of it,” Deion Sanders said of his defense after the Texas Tech game. “We still broke at the end and a good defense, a great defense, doesn’t break.”
The bad
The Buffs are the lowest-scoring team in the Big 12 (18.6 points per game).
Two different QBs have already started games for the Colorado football team this season and neither have gotten ideal results. Julian Lewis was benched at halftime of the Big 12 opener vs. Baylor after leading the Buffs to just 24 points in 10 quarters against Power 4 opponents.
Coach Prime turned to backup QB Isaac Wilson, hoping he could provide a spark. The Utah transfer led a nine-play, 75-yard TD drive on the opening possession vs. Texas Tech but the Buffs were shutout the rest of the game.
Wilson was asked to dropback 55 times (44 pass attempts), threw three costly INTs and reminded Colorado football fans why he was relegated to third string last year at Utah. It was also a reminder that the Buffs have a massive QB problem, a problem that doesn’t look like it will be solved this year.
“We have one glaring problem,” Deion Sanders said postgame. “You guys know what that is. Let’s stop the foolishness, man. We have one glaring problem.
“We have to play better at one position.”
Aside from the abysmal points per game average, the biggest evidence of Colorado’s QB issues is found in scoring range.
The Buffs have the worst red-zone conversion rate in the Big 12 (64%). Only six of their 14 red-zone trips have ended in TDs and only nine of them have ended in points.
During the Colorado football team’s three-game losing streak, the offense has had 40 drives. Only five of them ended with points. 17 of them ended with turnovers.
OC Brennan Marion’s Go-Go offense is the worst it’s ever been.
The ugly
Deion Sanders’ Buffs are the most-penalized team in the Big 12 (82.6 penalty yards per game).
A lack of discipline has reared its ugly head in every Colorado football game this season. Penalties have erased big plays, given opponents extra opportunities and completely flipped the momentum of games.
The only thing uglier than the penalties have been the Buffs’ special teams.
Colorado has missed the most field goals (4) in the Big 12 this season, including two in the first half against Texas Tech. The Buffs have also allowed the most punt return yards (150) and kick return yards (265) while having the fewest touchbacks (10) in the conference.
Deion Sanders’ decision to not hire a special teams coach has become indefensible, especially after a mind-blowing sequence vs. Texas Tech (no, not the failed fake punt attempt on 4th and 7).
Colorado had to burn a timeout because it only had six players on the field to block a Texas Tech field goal attempt. Only nine Buffs took the field for the FG block after the timeout, leaving Coach Prime incensed.
This sport is a three-phase game and the Colorado football team has a failing grade in at least two of them. The bye week provides Deion Sanders and his coaching staff time to fix what’s been ailing them before a top-10 Utah team comes to Boulder.
Follow Colorado Buffaloes beat reporter Scott Procter on X.
