The Colorado Buffaloes left Saturday's loss with a quarterback problem. That is clear. Isaac Wilson threw three interceptions, and the offense scored only seven points despite gaining 375 yards against No. 12 Texas Tech.
The bigger concern is that the quarterback issue is only one part of a program that keeps undermining itself.
Colorado led 7-3 at halftime, outgained Texas Tech 375 to 315 and held Will Hammond to 134 passing yards. Yet the Buffaloes left Folsom Field with a 29-7 loss after four interceptions, two missed field goals, a failed fake punt and eight penalties for 84 yards.
The defense deserved better
Chris Marve's defense was good enough to beat a ranked team.
Texas Tech entered the game averaging more than 36 points per game and left Boulder with 315 yards, its
lowest total of the season. Colorado forced two fourth-down stops in the first half, recorded two sacks and made Texas Tech work for nearly every productive possession.
Santana Hopper delivered one of the best interior defensive performances Colorado has seen in recent years. He finished with 10 tackles and five tackles for loss, accounting for nearly half of Colorado's 11 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Hopper was consistently disruptive against the run and pushed the pocket throughout the night.
The defense could not survive four second-half interceptions, especially when John Curry returned Wilson's final interception for a touchdown. Texas Tech turned Colorado's mistakes into 26 unanswered points.
Mistakes now define Colorado football
The list of special teams failures was hard to ignore. Elliott Arnold missed field goals from 29 and 52 yards. Colorado failed on a fake punt from its own 46-yard line. The field-goal-block unit forced a timeout after taking the field with only eight players, then came out with only nine. Then Boo Carter let a late punt roll to Colorado's 2-yard line before the embarrassing pick-six.
Deion Sanders said afterward that special teams are a team responsibility and accepted responsibility for the fake punt. Still, Colorado does not have a dedicated special teams coordinator, and Saturday's issues reminded many of us that the special teams unit lacks a consistent voice and clear accountability.
Colorado's penalty issues are also no longer an occasional frustration. The Buffaloes lead the Big 12 in penalties and committed two costly personal fouls during Texas Tech's go-ahead touchdown drive. One questionable pass-interference penalty hurt Colorado, yet the team also gave Texas Tech 30 yards of field position in one second-quarter sequence without the Red Raiders gaining an offensive yard.
The bye week brings added pressure
Wilson's 290-yard passing night showed why Colorado gave him the starting job, because he is not afraid to push the ball downfield and deliver several difficult throws. The three interceptions showed the part of his game that has to change quickly.
Sanders said Colorado has "one glaring problem" after the loss, clearly pointing toward quarterback play. The issue is real, but quarterback problems don't explain special teams or the discipline that keeps penalties from becoming a weekly storyline.
Colorado is 2-3 and 0-2 in the Big 12 entering the bye. The defense has supplied enough evidence to believe this team can compete with a difficult remaining schedule. The rest of the program has not supplied enough evidence that they can finish games, protect leads, or avoid the penalties that keep turning competitive performances into lopsided final scores.
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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Colorado's problems go far beyond the quarterback | Opinion
