Colorado picked a rough week to need a rest.
The Buffaloes head to Waco for Saturday’s Big 12 opener two days after Baylor confirmed quarterback DJ Lagway is cleared to return from an ankle injury. That is not ideal timing for a Colorado team coming from a 41-7 loss at Northwestern, especially when BetMGM lists the Bears as a 10-point favorite to win the game.
Both programs have an identical 2-1 record. But the mood around them is far from it. Baylor has won two straight games at home; Colorado, on the other hand, is trying to show that one ugly night in Evanston did not reveal something bigger.
Saturday’s 10 a.m. MT kickoff on ESPN2 will also be Colorado’s first trip to Waco since 2007. Deion Sanders knows the correction has to start immediately.
“We’re changing a few things, but nothing alarming,” Sanders said Tuesday. “But we’re just asking more of the kids as well as the coaches.”
Colorado has to stop beating itself
The Northwestern score looked like a complete demolition. The underlying numbers were stranger.
Colorado finished with 348 yards, only 75 fewer than Northwestern, but four turnovers and three failed fourth-down attempts wrecked seven possessions. Northwestern scored 31 points immediately after those drives.
There is your problem in one sentence. Moving the ball means very little if drives keep ending before the offense gets to cash them in.
Colorado does have something useful to carry into Waco, though. The Buffaloes have rushed for 183, 180, and 180 yards through three games thus far. Three different running backs have led the team in rushing, and the 181-yard average has given offensive coordinator Brennan Marion a dependable base even when the passing game has wobbled.
That balance should help Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis, who threw two interceptions at Evanston but still found Joseph Williams for a 50-yard touchdown. Williams now has touchdown catches of at least 50 yards in consecutive games.
The challenge, however, is getting those good possessions to survive long enough to make sense.
Baylor is not entering the weekend expecting Colorado to fold. Coach Dave Aranda said the Bears are preparing for a response. “We’re going to get their best game,” Aranda said. “Their best effort, their best shot.”
Lagway gives Baylor a Different problem
Baylor managed the last two games without Lagway. Nate Bennett was efficient in the 36-19 win over Louisiana Tech, completing 21 of 24 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns. Now the starter is back.
“He’s got the green light for this week,” Aranda said Monday.
Lagway injured his ankle on Baylor’s opening drive against Auburn but stayed in the game and threw for 333 yards and two touchdowns. His return gives Baylor another running threat at quarterback, which is especially relevant after Colorado struggled to contain Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles and the Wildcats’ misdirection game.
The Bears also have a lot around him. Gavin Freeman has 29 catches through three games, while Jayden McGowan has scored four touchdowns over the last two. Lagway does not need to manufacture every explosive play himself, which makes Colorado’s assignment a little less forgiving.
Sanders called Baylor’s offense a tempo unit and warned that Colorado has to be “on our P’s and Q’s.” He also praised a Bears defense he described as physical and opportunistic.
There is history here, too. Colorado won the last meeting 38-31 in overtime in 2024 after Shedeur Sanders hit LaJohntay Wester on a Hail Mary as regulation expired.
Nobody in Boulder needs another game that dramatic at this point.
Colorado needs cleaner football, a run game that travels, and a defense ready for a quarterback Baylor has been waiting to get back. Aranda, for his part, is planning as if last week made the Buffs more dangerous, not less.
“We’re going to get their best game,” he said.
