{"id":450369,"date":"2026-09-28T19:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T19:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/450369\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T19:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T19:30:09","slug":"three-ways-colorado-could-upset-texas-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/450369\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Ways Colorado Could Upset Texas Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"70\">The Colorado Buffaloes are limping off two straight ugly losses to the Northwestern Wildcats and Baylor Bears. But they won\u2019t be catching a break, as they will face the No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday for their homecoming game.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">The Buffaloes are major underdogs despite holding home-field advantage, with ESPN Analytics giving them just a 13.1 percent chance to win. But there are three key aspects of their team that could allow them to pull off that improbable upset.<\/p>\n<p>Scheming Around the Wide Receivers<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m3kseh39xd5q0nwrzn.jpg\" alt=\"colorado buffaloes deion sanders wide receiver joseph williams cu buffs football coach prime baylor bears big 12 offense ncaa\" title=\"colorado buffaloes deion sanders wide receiver joseph williams cu buffs football coach prime baylor bears big 12 offense ncaa\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"7m\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sep 26, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA;  Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Joseph Williams (8) scores a touchdown against the Baylor Bears during the second half at McLane Stadium.  Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7s\">The Buffaloes\u2019 wide receivers are clearly their biggest weapon at this point in the season.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/colorado\/football\/colorado-buffaloes-releases-crucial-injury-update-big-12-opener\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Despite injuries to the FBS\u2019 leading receiver from 2025, Danny Scudero<\/a>, and Colorado\u2019s second-leading receiver, DeAndre Moore Jr., the room still found success against Baylor.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7x\">Wide receiver Joseph Williams has emerged as a star as he leads the team with 361 yards and three touchdowns. Against Baylor, he truly broke out, recording a career-high 11 catches and 127 yards in addition to a touchdown.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"82\">Receiver Quanell Farrakhan Jr. also saw a breakout performance, racking up 117 yards on seven receptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"87\">The Buffaloes also have weapons like Kam Perry and Ernest Campbell who they could feature in the offense.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8c\">All of this is to say that the Buffaloes have a true opportunity to gash Texas Tech\u2019s defense. If they can spend the week scheming around their receivers, the offense can truly hang around that tough defense.<\/p>\n<p>Picking a Quarterback and Rolling With Him<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m3ksgk3wef8ej693rq.jpg\" alt=\"colorado buffaloes quarterback julian lewis baylor bears isaac wilson cu buffs deion sanders coach prime ncaa big 12 cfb qb\" title=\"colorado buffaloes quarterback julian lewis baylor bears isaac wilson cu buffs deion sanders coach prime ncaa big 12 cfb qb\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"8t\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sep 26, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA;  Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Julian Lewis (10) at the line of scrimmage against the Baylor Bears during the first half at McLane Stadium.  Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8z\">But scheming around the receivers is just as important as the choice the Buffs make at quarterback. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/colorado\/football\/colorado-buffaloes-turn-heads-quarterback-julian-lewis-decision\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Coach Deion Sanders made the switch from redshirt freshman Julian Lewis to junior Isaac Wilson <\/a>after a slow start to the latter\u2019s season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"94\">But if Colorado hopes to compete against one of the pillars of the Big 12, it is unlikely to do so if it doesn\u2019t fully back a quarterback. If there is any division in the locker room one way or the other, that alone could be the deciding factor against an opponent of this caliber.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"99\">Regardless of who Colorado chooses at quarterback, the staff and players need to back that choice completely, both leading up to and throughout the game.<\/p>\n<p>Linebackers Stepping Up Without Tyler Martinez<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m3ksj56cg7q9bnzr9n.jpg\" alt=\"colorado buffaloes deion sanders coach prime cu buffs football baylor bears gideon lampron texas tech red raiders big 12 ncaa\" title=\"colorado buffaloes deion sanders coach prime cu buffs football baylor bears gideon lampron texas tech red raiders big 12 ncaa\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"9q\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Sep 26, 2026; Waco, Texas, USA;  Baylor Bears running back Caden Knighten (11) carries the ball against Colorado Buffaloes linebacker Gideon Lampron (44) during the first half at McLane Stadium.  Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-17\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"9w\">Switching to the defensive side of the ball, the Buffaloes\u2019 linebackers have a major responsibility to fulfill in this game.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-18\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"a1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/colorado\/football\/tyler-martinez-sends-clear-message-deion-sanders-dismisses-colorado-players\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Linebacker Tyler Martinez, who had a major impact in that room<\/a>, went down with an apparent foot injury against the Bears.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-19\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"a6\">Without him, Gideon ESPN Lampron, Liona Lefau and either Rodney Colton Jr., Carson Crawford, Gage Goldberg or Bo LaPenna will need to step up in that room.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-20\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ab\">The reason that room will be so vital against the Red Raiders is their unique running game. Texas Tech utilizes two primary running backs in J\u2019Koby Williams and Cameron Dickey, who have combined for 512 yards and seven touchdowns. In addition, quarterback Thomas Castellanos has proven to be a weapon on run downs, recording two touchdowns on 10 carries.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-21\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"ag\">The linebackers will be charged to step up, despite missing Martinez, and stop that three-headed monster. If they can, that could be a deciding factor in a potential upset.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-22\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-blue my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"al\">Sign up to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/college\/colorado\/newsletter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">free newsletter<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=61576929195132\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">follow us on Facebook<\/a> for the latest news.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" preventdefault:click=\"\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\" on:click=\"q-CmUoChPn.js#s_lDqay9E5m5g[0]\" q:id=\"ar\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Colorado Buffaloes are limping off two straight ugly losses to the Northwestern Wildcats and Baylor Bears. But&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450370,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-450369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450369\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}