Deion Sanders finds himself in an interesting position he's never been before. After starting the season with a 2-3 record, the Colorado Buffaloes coach needs answers he may not have. On paper, Coach Prime's team has been in every game they've played in. However, the results say otherwise.
The rematch of last year's Alamo Bowl between Colorado and BYU last week started differently than the letdown in San Antonio. With the Buffs establishing an early 14-0 first quarter lead, it appeared Sanders would roll into a Big 12 win.
The difference in this game compared to the last is that the Buffs started fast, forgetting there were three more quarters left to play in the game. The Buffs established some semblance of a rushing attack, but decided to go away from it and tried to establish a passing attack. The Buffs added Dre’lon Miller to the offensive backfield rushing rotation, who had 8 rushes for 52 yards, and should have gone more with that because they were successful running against BYU.
The Buffs had the BYU defense guessing what they were going to do because of Kaidon Salter's ability to run the ball. The offense began to get stagnant with the lack of play-calling. Pat Shurmur's offense was catered to Shedeur Sanders last year and it's not plug and play for Salter. The Buffs also don't have Jimmy Horn Jr., Travis Hunter, and LaJohntay Wester on the field as well. Those backyard route combinations were lethal, forcing opposing teams' defensive backs to cover Buffs' receivers longer than four seconds on the field with one of them getting open for Sanders to complete a pass.
The reality is that the playmakers who are no longer with the team fit the play calls Shurmur was handing down. Salter’s ability to run and throw passes to receivers like he did over the past two seasons at Liberty will require several things to happen. This includes a new playbook and more playmakers on the field.
Salter missed open Buffs receivers at a few points in the BYU game and it's starting to show changes need to be made going forward. The losses don't fall solely on his shoulders because the defense couldn’t put pressure on BYU quarterback Bear Bachmeier, who rushed the ball 15 times for 98 yards and completed 19 out of 27 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns.
The Colorado defense literally walked the Cougars' offense down the field because of multiple defensive penalties when it was critical to avoid mistakes. There is no pressure from the front seven on the defensive line to really talk about, but the finger is being pointed at Salter missed throws? What changes for Saturday's matchup with TCU?
Watching Salter play, his confidence is beginning to dwindle and hopefully he continues to stay strong and fight through it as the season progresses. The Buffs lost to another top 25-ranked team in the tenure of Coach Prime with no real accountability for a lack of "big game" awareness. The Buffs have an uphill battle to climb, and if they aren’t successful, when will Deion Sanders take more blame for the product on the field? This is where being able to deliver on what he said he would when he first arrived in Boulder matters.
Colorado hits the road to face TCU in the latest Big 12 matchup (7:30 p.m. ET, FOX).
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