If you thought last week's blowout loss to Utah was rock bottom for Deion Sanders and Colorado, the Buffaloes did what they could to dig deeper at home against Arizona.
Colorado fans incorrectly assumed that things could only get better after the 46-point road loss in Salt Lake City a week ago. I suppose by margin of defeat, things were slightly improved this week, but the Buffaloes still got hammered by Arizona to the tune of 52-17.
Last week, Utah only took two plays on offense to find the endzone on the game's opening possession. This week, Colorado forced Arizona to run three plays before giving up a touchdown. That's called progress, baby.
Kaidon Salter started the game and was ineffective. Ryan Staub started the second half and threw two passes. Both were intercepted. Coach Prime finally turned to freshman Julian Lewis, who provided a needed ray of light.
But it was a flashlight with a dying battery in the middle of the ocean.
Colorado fans booed relentlessly in the first half as the Buffaloes were once again overwhelmed from the opening whistle. Arizona took a 38-7 lead at halftime. Over the last two weeks, Colorado has now been outscored 81-7 in the first half.
Colorado's latest embarrassing loss will lead to changes in Boulder
The margin was closer this week. But it's arguably even more of an embarrassing result. After a week of posturing and plenty of motivation to bounce back, Colorado laid another egg. And they did it in front of the home fans at Folsom Field.
It's the type of loss that necessitates change. That change won't happen at head coach. Sanders isn't going anywhere unless he chooses to. But there will have to be widespread changes on the coaching staff. There's not an argument to be made that either coordinator should be retained. Both OC Pat Shurmur and DC Robert Livingston have not done their jobs well enough to be brought back.
Colorado's offense was dormant until Lewis provided a spark in the second half, but it was too little, too late. Shurmur cannot be in charge of Lewis's development moving forward.
Even if the offense was clicking, it probably wouldn't have mattered with the defense's pitiful performance from the first snap. It took Arizona 16 offensive snaps to pile up 24 points. A Salter fumble certainly didn't help, but Colorado's defense looked confused, undisciplined, and poorly coached.
The loss drops Colorado to 3-6 on the season. To get to bowl eligibility, the Buffaloes will now need to win out. After the way they've played the last two weeks, they seem much more likely to finish 3-9 than 6-6.
It's been a nightmare year for Coach Prime and Colorado. He'll be given time to fix it, but the honeymoon is over in Boulder for the third-year head coach.