Last year at this time, if you had told me Colorado would be 3-8 (1-7 in Big 12 play) heading into their final game of the season, I would have said to put your money where your mouth is. Luckily, that didn't happen; otherwise, we would've had some serious problems.
Where do you even start?
The quarterback situation was handled very poorly at the beginning of the season. Yes, Kaidon Salter was very inconsistent, to say the least, but you brought him in to be the guy to warm the seat for Julian Lewis.
Coach Prime had other ideas initially.
Head coach Deion Sanders went with a three-quarterback approach in the Delaware game, which ultimately led to the starting of Ryan Staub in week three at Houston, and that didn’t go as planned.
My opinion is that the game would have been closer, potentially winnable, if Salter had played. Instead, Staub went 19-of-35 on pass attempts, throwing for 204 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. It just didn’t seem that he was comfortable in that game by any means, and he looked lost.
That performance led Prime to go back to Salter week four against Wyoming.
Salter had a decent four-game stretch for Colorado after the benching, including a win over a then-ranked Iowa State team in Boulder. Poor play in the BYU and TCU games was concerning, as these were two more games that were very winnable and could’ve shifted Colorado’s season.
Julian Lewis provided a spark of promise for a brighter tomorrow
After back-to-back blowout losses to both Utah and Arizona, Deion and company elected to go with true freshman Julian Lewis to take the reins at quarterback, and show the team what they have going forward into next season.
Lewis played fairly well in his first collegiate start, despite missing starting tackles Jordan Seaton and Larry Johnson III. He accounted for 299 yards passing while adding two touchdowns in a 29-22 loss in Morgantown.
Following the bye week at home against Arizona State was the theme of the year for Colorado. A blowout loss once again left the Buff faithful scratching their heads due to poor coaching decisions and undisciplined play. Colorado was surely in this game as well until Arizona State scored 21 unanswered points, putting the game out of reach.
It all culminates with the final game of the season on the road against Kansas State.
Also worth mentioning, it has been reported that Lewis will be redshirting this season, upon Prime's request, and Colorado will be starting Salter in their finale.
It is still fair to say Colorado has a bright feature, especially with Lewis at quarterback. They have some solid pieces on the defensive side of the ball as well, including players such as Tawfiq Byard, London Merritt, and Alex McPherson, to name a few.
Linebacker and secondary need to be the primary focus on the defensive side of the ball, mixed with some defensive line depth. Colorado has to address those needs if they want to be a competitive ball club in 2026.
It was an uncertain and disappointing season for Colorado in 2025. While there are some areas to look forward to with this team, we’ll have to wait and see how Prime attacks the transfer portal and what type of freshmen they add on signing day.