After Colorado’s 29–7 loss at the hands of Texas Tech on Saturday, a Red Raiders fan staying at the same hotel as the Buffaloes claimed to have found a playbook with designated plays for the Buffaloes’ opening series, as well as plays designed for the red zone and Texas Tech tendencies. The fan, in the spirit of message board and college football fandom, asked around to see if it was possible to get the pages of plays, in which the opening calls seemed to match those made by the Buffaloes on the field in their first series, into the hands of the Red Raiders coaches.
Update: It was real. 1st six plays of the first half and 1st two of the second half (then picked off) https://t.co/M6F018Ib4J pic.twitter.com/BkNt6Ov475
— Jody S. Laughter∴ (@Lubbockist) October 4, 2026
You don’t need me to tell you this, but this is concerning for Colorado. What if the person who discovered this playbook was a friend of a friend of a coach on the Red Raiders’ staff?
If real, this sort of negligence shows a carelessness and lack of attention to detail by one member of the Buffaloes’ coaching staff. Yet, it’s far from Colorado’s only—or biggest—problem.
The Buffaloes’ offense marched down the field on its opening possession, going 75 yards on nine plays to take a 7–0 lead over the Red Raiders. That was the best the unit looked all day, as quarterback Isaac Wilson aggressively pushed the ball downfield for 290 yards but paid the price with three turnovers, each of which directly led to points for Texas Tech. After a red zone trip on its second series of the game, the Buffaloes didn’t sniff the red zone for the rest of the game.
On special teams, kicker Elliott Arnold missed a pair of kicks, a chip shot from 29 yards away in the first quarter and one from 52 yards out at the end of the second quarter. On a first quarter field goal attempt from Texas Tech, Colorado sent just eight players out onto the field for the field goal block. After a timeout from coach Deion Sanders, the Buffaloes then sent out only nine players.
These sorts of miscues, while unacceptable under any circumstances, can almost be expected when you don’t have a designated special teams coach. But this level of offensive ineptitude and bad quarterback play? It wasn’t supposed to be this way for Sanders & Co. this year.
After an abysmal season that saw the Buffaloes rank second-to-last in the Big 12 in points per game, Sanders hired offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, whose patented Go-Go offense helped UNLV field the Mountain West’s top scoring offense in 2023.
With the Buffaloes? Marion’s offense currently ranks last in the Big 12 in scoring, and may as well be called the No-Go offense.
Marion was hired to help bring the best out of former five-star recruit and quarterback Julian Lewis. Outside of a banner day against Weber State, Lewis struggled mightily in his four games and was seemingly benched, though Sanders, after Saturday’s loss, denied that was the reason Lewis wasn’t playing over Wilson.
Whether it’s Wilson, Lewis or freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne, who saw some action against the Red Raiders, it’s clear the Buffaloes have a quarterback problem a year after they started three different players at the position, and two years after Sanders’s son Shedeur left for the NFL.
Sanders knocked his defensive coordinator hire out of the park, as Chris Marve’s unit stymied the Red Raiders for much of the game until they were done in by the stagnant offense.
So Sanders is well aware of what the problem is.
“We got one glaring problem," Sanders said. "Let's stop the shenanigans, man. We got one glaring problem. You guys know darn well what that is. Let's stop the foolishness. We've got to play better at one specific position. That's it.”
Unfortunately for the Buffaloes, there may be no easy solution.
MORE COLLEGE FOOTBALL ON SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
- Forde-Yard Dash: The Winners and Losers of College Football’s Hot Seat in Week 5
- Pat Forde: College Football Playoff Projected Bracket After Week 5
- How Many SEC Teams Will Make CFP? Plus, Coaching Hot Seat Winners & Losers
- College Football Playoff and Bowl Projections After Week 5: CFP Movement Affects Postseason Picture
