BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion Sanders wanted to put a spark in Colorado's struggling offense. For one electric drive to open Saturday night's game against Texas Tech, giving quarterback Isaac Wilson his first start with the Buffaloes looked like the right move.
But there wasn't much spark after the nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive the transfer from Utah engineered to start the game. And Wilson's night might be best remembered for his third interception
of the game — a pick-six straight to Texas Tech linebacker John Curry, who caught the pass several yards deep in the Buffaloes end zone.
That was the fatal blow in Colorado's 29-7 loss to the 12th-ranked Red Raiders. It left Sanders, Wilson and thousands in a crowd that started flowing out of Folsom Field after the interception still searching for answers.
“I need to stop trying to be more than I am,” said Wilson, who finished 26 of 44 for 290 yards with a touchdown to go with his three picks. “We’ve got dogs all over the field and I just need to get it to them.”
Sanders said the Buffaloes (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) will take the upcoming bye week to consider all three options at quarterback: Wilson, Kaneal Sweetwyne and highly touted prospect Julian “JuJu” Lewis, the QB who had the job before Wilson.
“That's the position that's somewhat disabling us and disarming us,” Sanders said. "Somebody's got to step up and take hold of it and get it done.”
Later, presumably talking about the quarterback position in answering a question about whether he felt his team was on the verge of finding a winning formula, Sanders doubled down.
“Let's stop the shenanigans, man,” Sanders said. “We got one darn problem. You guys know darn well what that is. Let’s stop the foolishness. We've got to play better at one specific position. That’s it.”
Lewis, who recently turned 19, started the first four games of the season after showing promise a season ago. But with the Buffs struggling in what would become a 23-13 loss to Baylor, Sanders made the switch at halftime, hoping it would ignite his stagnant offense.
Wilson, whose older brother, Zach, played at BYU and is now with the New Orleans Saints, got the starting nod Saturday and the Buffaloes looked like a different team. He threw for 54 yards, ran for 10 and even caught two passes for seven yards on gadget plays as part of a drive that gave Colorado the lead.
The Buffaloes' next 12 drives ended with two missed field goals, four interceptions, an unsuccessful fake punt, three punts and two turnovers on downs.
“We kept stalling out and I take full blame on that,” Wilson said. “I did not make smart decisions tonight. Like I said, I need to stop trying to do too much.”
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