Whether it was Pat Shurmur's conservative play calling or the sort of end-game clock management that leaves you ready to throw something at the TV, Colorado fans had a lot of grievances after a 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech to open the season.
The fans were already at their wits' end with Shurmur after a first half where Georgia Tech was turning the ball over right and left, only for the Buffaloes' offense to miss out on opportunities to take a commanding lead.
But after Tech took a 27-20 lead with a 1:07 remaining, clock management issues came into play. Colorado started the possession at the 25 with two timeouts. The first play was a swing pass that lost two yards. It took 22 seconds.
*Colorado down 7 with a minute left and 70 yards to go*
— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) August 30, 2025
Pat Shurmur: pic.twitter.com/3uCsBcZbEy
The next play was an 11-yard pass over the middle to Hykeem Williams, leaving a third-and-1....and the clock continued to run down to 29 seconds. Salter then scrambled five yards for the first down, going out of bounds with 18 seconds remaining.
Georgia Tech takes it in Boulder 🐝
— SleeperCFB (@SleeperCFB) August 30, 2025
Horrible clock management by the Buffs 😬
pic.twitter.com/C5nlgqCXYz
Timeouts still do not roll over to the next game
On the ensuing first down, Salter went deep to the end zone, which took 10 more seconds. So the Buffaloes went a total of 14 yards in 59 seconds. Salter completed a sideline pass for 11 yards and missed the Hail Mary on the game's final play. Colorado still had two timeouts remaining.
Needless to say, fans were not impressed.
Keeping two timeouts in your pocket in Year 3 is inexcusable. So tired of the clock management.
— Tyler Ziskin (@TZiskBuffs) August 30, 2025
Horrific clock management by Deion Sanders. You have 1:07 with 2 timeouts and after 2 plays you have 18 seconds? That was a terrible way to manage the time you had left. Like at least waste 1 timeout to give your players a breather sheesh. #coloradobuffaloes
— James (@Jayology01) August 30, 2025
Nice to see Deion Sanders is still one of the worst coaches in America when it comes to clock management, game strategy, and really just situational football as a whole
— Charley Collier (@charleycollier_) August 30, 2025
But there was at least one fan that was encouraged by the Buffaloes' effort despite the loss and the poor situational football.
Ending the game with 2 timeouts is horrible clock management and 100% on the coaching staff. With that being said, this is the 2nd best I’ve felt after a Colorado game since UCF. Would 100% take this over the NDSU loss last year. They played a GREAT GT team and fought for 60 min!
— Buffed Prime T-Cal (@BuffedInPrime) August 30, 2025
It'll be a tough week ahead for Coach Prime and the coaching staff, but they will have an opportunity to show they have learned from their mistakes next Saturday when the Buffaloes host the mighty Delaware Blue Hens.