“The Morning After” edition two: Baylor pounces on Colorado chaos
The Colorado Buffaloes let Week 3’s mistakes and frustration against the Northwestern Wildcats snowball into a Big 12 opener loss to the Baylor Bears. The Buffaloes' offense was shaky all game, leading Colorado head coach Deion Sanders to bench quarterback Julian Lewis for Isaac Wilson at halftime.
Welcome to the second edition of “The Morning After” column, where I will analyze the best online commentary from games, with all types of fan reactions sprinkled in.
It’s only natural to start this week by addressing the quarterback carousel that has now followed Colorado in back-to-back seasons. Lewis was sacked three times in the first half and completed only 5-of-11 passes beyond the line of scrimmage.
The Buffaloes still only trailed 10-3 at halftime, but it wasn't pretty. Here’s offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, visibly frustrated at his starting quarterback.
Lewis has played scared against better competition, and this week was no different. He needs to stop being afraid to use his arm strength and take more risks. He has a tendency to hold onto the ball too long, which leads to a sack or throwaway. It’s very concerning that after more than two years in a college environment, Lewis still has the pocket awareness and footwork of a high school recruit.
Much of the offense’s struggle came on third-down plays, where Colorado converted just 3-of-15 attempts. Only one of those conversions came when Lewis was under center.
What makes that stat even more frustrating is that the Buffaloes didn’t put themselves in bad situations behind the sticks. Five of those third-down opportunities came on short yardage (one to four yards to gain). Failure on third down has been a growing theme.
The inability to move the chains made the drive chart look pretty bad.
It didn’t help that DeAndre Moore, Colorado’s second-leading receiver coming into the weekend, got injured badly in the second quarter.
Moore had to be helped off the field, and his return status this season is unknown. The hit Moore took was scary, and I’m surprised it didn’t result in a targeting call.
One positive from the afternoon was Joseph Williams stepping up to lead the wide-out unit. He caught a career-high 11 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown. His grab from Wilson in the second half tied the game briefly at 13 apiece. He also completed a 49-yard downfield pass off a reverse-pass play call to sophomore Quanell Farrakhan Jr. on the first drive.
It wasn’t all that one-sided, however. Farrakhan hauled in seven catches for 117 yards and emerged as another big-play threat for Colorado.
However, these back-to-back performances from the Buffaloes are very concerning. Especially since the next few games on the schedule are a gauntlet. Colorado is 2-11 in its last 13 games against Power Four opponents.
If the Buffaloes can’t come away with a win in the home stand against either the No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders, No. 13 Utah Utes, or Kansas State Wildcats, the possibility of going bowling this season for the second time in Coach Prime’s four years in Boulder will dwindle.
Whether Lewis or Wilson takes the first snap next week, the quarterback won't fix all of Colorado’s problems. Buckle up; it could get quite toxic.
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