Colorado football coach Deion Sanders confirmed Tuesday, Oct. 13, that Utah transfer Isaac Wilson will start his second consecutive game at quarterback for the Buffaloes, this time against his former team Saturday night against the Utes.
Sanders said at his weekly news conference Tuesday that Wilson is “up to the task” but did have some special advice for him after he threw three interceptions his last game
.“Make sure you throw the ball to the guys on our team,” Sanders said he told Wilson recently.
Sanders said he meant that with a sense of humor, but his quarterback situation has been no joking matter. Now they face a home game against Utah, which is 5-0 and ranked No. 11 in the US LBM Coaches Poll.
Wilson started seven games as a freshman for
Utah before he transferred to Colorado and is coming off a bye week following a 29-7 loss against Texas Tech. Wilson threw three interceptions in the second half off that game as the Buffs fell to 2-3 with their third loss in row.
“He’s a great leader, so I feel like this week is going to be a real big week for him,” Colorado receiver Joseph Williams said Tuesday.
Wilson has replaced Julian Lewis as starting quarterback after Lewis struggled as a starter in the first four games of the season.
How bad has the quarterback situation been under Deion Sanders?
Count the ways. He’s started four different quarterbacks since his quarterback son Shedeur last played for the Buffaloes in 2024, when they finished 9-4. This year, Colorado has lost three consecutive games and ranks:
▶122nd out of 138 major college football teams in scoring offense (18.6 points per game).
▶133rd in red zone offense (64%).
▶105th in third-down conversion percentage (35.6%)
▶118th in fourth-down conversion percentage (35.7%).
To summarize, that means the Buffaloes are really struggling to score points and sustain drives even when they get close to the opponents’ end zone.
And now they play maybe the toughest team on their schedule. Despite this, Sanders said he hasn’t considered changing play-callers like he did last year and in his first season at Colorado in 2023. Colorado offensive coordinator Brennan Marion is only five games into the job.
“I believe in him,” Sanders said of Marion.
Sanders’ record against Power Four conference teams since Shedeur Sanders left is 2-12.
By contrast, Sanders’ predecessor at Colorado, Karl Dorrell, was 3-12 against power conference teams before his firing in 2022.
Is yet another quarterback on tap for Deion Sanders?
Sanders might even play another new quarterback – freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne, a 6-foot-3 dual-threat recruit from Lehi, Utah.
A big clue about this came earlier this week when one of Sweetwyne’s teammates, receiver Quanell Farrakhan, posted on social media that he had a new jersey number (5) instead of his previous jersey number of 14, which Sweetwyne also wears. Two players can’t wear the same jersey number on the field at the same time, so the fact that Farrakhan is changing numbers indicates that Colorado wants to play both of them.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Deion Sanders reveals Colorado quarterback plan: 'throw the ball to guys on our team'
