Colorado coach Deion Sanders, desperately seeking a spark amid a rough stretch of four losses in five games, made a drastic change ahead of the Buffaloes' Week 10 game against Oregon State by stripping offensive coordinator Sean Lewis of play-calling duties in favor of former NFL coach Pat Shurmur. The gamble didn't pay off. Colorado was held without a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter when the Buffaloes managed two scores in the last 15 minutes before ultimately falling 26-19.
"We're not gonna demean Sean Lewis," Sanders said in his postgame press conference. "We're not gonna do that. We're not gonna take that tone. Sean is a good man. I think he's a good play-caller. We just needed change at the time. We just needed to try something else at the time, and that's what we did. I don't look back on it. I don't second-guess myself whatsoever, because it's more to it than what you may know."
Despite the play-caller change, many of the same issues plagued Colorado against Oregon State. Three running backs combined for 31 yards rushing, and the Buffaloes actually finished with negative total yards rushing. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders was sacked four times and even had to go the locker room for a brief period as the hits started to mount.
Colorado is now 4-5 after starting the year 3-0 and climbing as high as No. 18 in the AP Top 25. The Buffs are in a four-way tie for last place in the Pac-12 with a 1-5 record in conference play with their lone win coming against a 2-7 Arizona State team.
"The passion. The passion of it," Sanders continued. "Like, the passion of that first game. The passion of those games, we're missing that. And that's still something that we're trying to apprehend and we're trying to locate it as well."
Sanders' squad has to win at least two more games to secure bowl eligibility, though the schedule doesn't line up favorably. Next is a home tilt against an Arizona team coming off its third straight win against a ranked opponent. Colorado then closes the year with two-straight road clashes against Washington State and Utah, a Pac-12 powerhouse that has one home loss in the past three years.
