Colorado football will return to Folsom Field on Saturday with two straight losses and a difficult assignment against No. 12 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are 4-0 and opened as a near two-touchdown road favorite.
Colorado has enough talent to make the game uncomfortable for Texas Tech, yet it will need cleaner work from an offense that has scored only 20 points in its last two games. The Buffaloes also need to settle their quarterback plan after they replaced Julian Lewis with Isaac Wilson during the Baylor loss.
Here are the clearest ways Colorado might be able to pull off an upset vs. the Red Raiders.
Choose the quarterback early
Colorado needs a clear direction at quarterback throughout the week. Wilson led a 95-yard touchdown drive at Baylor and completed a 17-yard scoring
pass to Williams after entering at halftime.
Lewis remains a talented young passer, but the offense has struggled to find rhythm across the past two games. A full week of first-team preparation for one quarterback would give Brennan Marion a chance to tailor the plan and avoid another midgame change.
Feed the receivers
Joseph Williams has become Colorado's most dependable offensive weapon, leading the team with 361 yards and three touchdowns. He set career highs at Baylor with 11 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown.
Quanell Farrakhan Jr. added seven catches for 117 yards in Waco, showing Colorado can still generate production despite injuries to Danny Scudero Jr. and DeAndre Moore Jr. Kam Perry and Ernest Campbell give the offense more options if the staff builds the game plan around quick throws, intermediate routes and shots downfield.
Make Texas Tech one-dimensional
Texas Tech's backfield is the starting point. J'Koby Williams has 285 yards and three touchdowns, while Cameron Dickey has 227 yards and four scores. The pair has combined for 512 rushing yards and seven touchdowns through four games.
Colorado linebackers will be without Tyler Martinez after his foot injury at Baylor. Liona Lefau, Gideon Lampron and the rest of the room must handle the workload against a Texas Tech offense that uses quarterback Thomas Castellanos in a wildcat package near the goal line and has already rushed for two touchdowns.
Colorado's upset path starts with a strong showing from the secondary and linebackers and by giving the receivers a chance in a game with almost no margin for error.
Follow James Carnes on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
Contact/Follow us @BuffaloesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook for ongoing coverage of Colorado news, notes and opinions.
This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Three ways Colorado football can upset No. 10 Texas Tech
