Five games into the season, Colorado’s midterm grades are in. They read as if two different students handed in the work.
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The defense has kept the Buffaloes (2-3, 0-2 Big 12) within reach most nights. The offense has outgained opponents by 47.7 yards per game, yet its 18.6 points per outing rank 125th of 138 FBS teams. Outside of a game-winning blocked field goal at Georgia Tech, special teams have been a problem.
Here’s how each position group grades out.
Quarterbacks: D
Julian Lewis completed 61-of-95 passes for 733 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions in four games. His effort against FCS-level Weber State accounted for 366 of those yards and four of those touchdowns. Against the three FBS opponents he faced, Lewis averaged 122.3 passing yards per outing. He was benched at halftime at Baylor and didn’t play against Texas Tech.
Isaac Wilson has completed 40-of-71 passes for 443 yards with two touchdowns. His three interceptions all came in his first start. Colorado has thrown six interceptions this season, every one of them coming in its three losses.
Until someone takes hold of the job, this is the grade holding the rest of the offense back.
Running backs: C
Colorado is built to run, and for three weeks the backs held up their end. Micah Welch leads the team with 218 rushing yards on 44 carries, an average of 5.0 yards per attempt. His two rushing touchdowns are the only ones that have come from a Colorado running back. JaQuail Smith has 186 yards on 38 carries.
Ball security pulled the grade down. Running backs lost fumbles in back-to-back games: Welch and Damian Henderson II at Northwestern, then Smith late at Baylor. Colorado hasn’t run for a touchdown in three games — since its Sept. 12 win over Weber State. By the time Utah visits Oct. 17, that drought will be five weeks old. Against Texas Tech, the backs combined for 14 carries; Wilson had 17.
At nearly 5 yards a carry, Welch and Smith have earned more work than they got against Tech.
Offensive line: B-
The line has done its part for a run-first offense. Colorado topped 180 rushing yards in each of its first three games, including 5.5 yards per carry at Northwestern. Quarterbacks have been sacked 11 times in five games, or 2.2 times per outing, and five of those came at Baylor.
The group has held up through a steady rotation up front. The ground game has stalled the past two weeks, with 83 yards on 39 carries versus Baylor and 78 on 32 against Texas Tech.
The foundation is there. The staff built this line to run behind it. It needs to keep trusting it.
Receivers and tight ends: B
Joseph Williams has been the most reliable part of this offense. He has 32 catches for 454 yards, and his five touchdown receptions are tied for the Big 12 lead. On Wednesday, he was named to the Biletnikoff Award watch list.
Quanell Farrakhan Jr. has 12 catches for 148 yards, 117 of them at Baylor. DeAndre Moore Jr. has 18 catches for 242 yards, 107 of them against Weber State. Tight end Charlie Williams caught the 20-yard touchdown with 37 seconds left that beat Georgia Tech.
The room hasn’t been at full strength. Danny Scudero, a second-team AP All-American at San Jose State last season with 1,297 receiving yards, has been limited to two games by injury. Kam Perry arrived from Miami (Ohio) after an All-MAC first-team season, with 43 catches for 976 yards and six touchdowns. Through five games at Colorado, he has four catches for 21 yards.
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Steadier quarterback play would let this group carry even more of the load.
Defensive line: B+
Georgia Tech ran 30 times for 51 yards in the opener, just 1.7 yards per carry. Santana Hopper leads the Big 12 with 9.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 of them against Texas Tech. Despite only playing in four games, Lamont Lester Jr. is tied for the Big 12 lead with four sacks, three of them at Georgia Tech. Toby Anene has 5.5 tackles for loss, three sacks and a forced fumble. The Buffs have 44 tackles for a loss as a team.
The levee has tended to break late. Baylor’s run game came alive in the fourth quarter in Waco, and Texas Tech put its win away with a 30-yard rushing touchdown in the final minutes. Opponents average 130.2 rushing yards per game.
If the front finishes games the way it starts them, this grade has room to climb.
Linebackers: B
Colorado lost linebacker Tyler Martinez to a lower-leg injury at Baylor. He was the vocal leader of the defense and had 17 tackles in four games.
The rest of the room has picked up the slack. Gideon Lampron was a first-team All-MAC pick at Bowling Green last season, with 119 tackles and 17.5 tackles for loss. At Colorado, he has 38 tackles, 5.5 of them for loss, including a stuff of Quinten Joyner on fourth-and-1 at the Colorado 7 against Texas Tech. Liona Lefau, who made 22 starts in three seasons at Texas, has 31 tackles.
Losing a leader in the middle of the defense could have sent this group sideways. It hasn’t.
Secondary: B-
Safety Randon Fontenette leads Colorado with 39 tackles and has an interception. Fellow safety Naeten Mitchell is third on the team with 34 tackles. Cornerback Jason Stokes Jr. has the defense’s only other interception, along with four pass breakups and a forced fumble.
Big plays have been the issue. Northwestern’s Aidan Chiles completed 17-of-22 passes for 241 yards, three of them touchdowns to the same receiver. At Baylor, two minutes after Colorado tied the game in the fourth quarter, DJ Lagway went over the top to Jadon Porter for the 33-yard touchdown that put the Bears back in front. Pass interference calls have extended drives, too, including Baylor’s first-half touchdown drive and Texas Tech’s third-quarter touchdown drive that proved pivotal. Opponents have averaged 216.6 passing yards per contest.
The tackling has been solid. Forcing turnovers is the next step.
Special teams: D-
Colorado has made 3-of-7 field goal attempts. Elliott Arnold is 3-of-6. He made a 52-yarder against Weber State but missed from 29 and 52 yards against Texas Tech. Colorado has gained 14 yards on six punt returns all season and allowed a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown at Georgia Tech. The Texas Tech game added a failed fake punt, a timeout burned when the field goal defense lined up with eight players only to come out of that timeout with nine guys on the field, plus a 15-yard personal foul on a punt.
Punter Damon Greaves, averaging 45.5 yards on 24 punts, has been the steadiest piece.
The only thing keeping this grade from an F is Boo Carter‘s block of a 45-yard field goal on the final play at Georgia Tech, which saved a 14-13 win.
Most of that isn’t on the players. Colorado chose to play a third of the game without a coordinator. Five games in, the results show what that choice looks like.
Up next
Midterms aren’t final grades. The next test arrives Oct.17, when No. 12 Utah visits Folsom Field.
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