After a mixed 2-2 start to the 2025 season, Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes found themselves with a real opportunity against the 25th-ranked BYU Cougars. They somehow managed to limit the Cougars to just three third-down conversions on the day, and even had possession of a four-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
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Nevertheless, their offense stalled, and BYU was able to defend its national rankings and squeak by with a 24-21 victory. The Buffaloes are now back to having a losing record, and they look like a shell of their former selves.
That extra sense of “oomph” that both Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter were able to give the offense is now gone. Or, in the words of Asante Samuel, the Buffs are lacking a “ …major threat.”
The former New England Patriot isn’t loving what he’s been seeing from Sanders’ squad through the first month of the season. In highlighting the fact that Colorado blew the 14-point lead that they had established in the opening quarter, Samuel suggested that
“Coach prime is struggling to find an identity for his team… There’s no particular player on defense or offense that is considered a major threat that needs to be stopped… They can’t run the football consistently. Kaidon Salter hasn’t established a go-to receiver in the passing game… There is no identity.”
Samuel does trust that Sanders is aware of these problems, and even surmises that the NFL Hall of Famer is likely wondering “where are the dogs at” when looking up and down his roster. The only issue is that there are currently none to be found.
According to the two-time Super Bowl champion, the aforementioned loss of Sanders and Hunter is revealing all of the previously patched holes on this Colorado team. However, he’s now willing to bet that the absence of the 2024 Golden Arm winner is the one that is hurting the most.
“This time, last season,” Samuel noted, “Colorado was 4-1 with Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter on the team. Colorado should have won that game against BYU, but they fell short. Kaidon Salter is a big part of the problem on offense. That offense can’t get into a rhythm because of Kaidon’s style of play. He isn’t running the offense as a passing quarterback. Their offense looks like they are playing background football.”
As always, Colorado will have another chance to get back in the win column this next weekend, where they will be tasked with the same TCU Horned Frogs who managed to ruin Bill Belichick’s coming-out party in Chapel Hill just a few weeks ago.
They are currently averaging more than 37 points per game, so it’ll be yet another game where an opponent will bluntly challenge Salter to put points on the board, something that he has struggled to do since coming over from Liberty.
