Junior athlete Travis Hunter celebrates making a touchdown during the Rocky Mountain Showdown at Canvas Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
The first three weeks of the 2024 season for the Colorado Buffaloes have seen a week one nail-biter, a blowout loss to a Big 10 rival and an emphatic victory in week 3. Coming off a massive rivalry win in the Rocky Mountain Showdown against Colorado State, the Buffaloes will be looking to build on their momentum this Saturday in a home game against the Baylor Bears.
This is a notable matchup as it marks the University of Colorado Boulders first in-conference game as a member of the Big 12 since 2011. The school left the Pac 12 this offseason. The Buffaloes will enter the match as 1.5 point favorites, but as any college football fan knows, a spread that close means it’s anyone’s ballgame.
Baylor went a disappointing 3-9 last year, only two years after going 12-2 and winning the Big 12 Championship. This team should have a chip on their shoulder as they look to avenge last years’ underwhelming season.
Both teams enter Saturday at 2-1. Baylor’s lone loss came in a 23-12 effort against Utah in week 2, led by one of their two quarterbacks Dequan Finn. Finn, a Toledo transfer who opened the season as the Bears’ starter, missed Week 3’s win against Air Force with an injury.
In an interesting update leading up to this weekend’s game, Baylor released an updated depth chart that listed the starting QB as either Dequan Finn or Junior Sawyer Robertson. In their 31-3 win over Air Force last week, Robertson threw for nearly 250 yards and picked up a touchdown on the ground. Expect both quarterbacks to see the field Saturday in Boulder.
However, Robertson’s 29 pass attempts this season pale in comparison to Shedeur Sanders’ 121. It is fair to say that CU will have the advantage of experience at the quarterback position.
Elsewhere on offense, Baylor freshman running back Bryson Washington made his first career start and rushed for over 100 yards and a touchdown against Air Force. Stopping the Bears’ run game will be a key component of the Buffaloes’ defensive scheme in order to limit long drives and get off the field.
The Bears also allowed a mere 25 passing yards against Air Force. However, with respect to the Falcons, Colorado’s stout passing attack should prove to be a significantly greater challenge.
A positive development for the Buffaloes last week was that in addition to the passing attack, Colorado’s running game experienced a much needed revival. It accounted for the first 100 yard game of the season led by true freshman Micah Welch, who ran for 65 yards on only nine carries.
“He did a phenomenal job, especially as a true freshman, he got here in the spring and got ready, got physically, mentally and psychologically ready for his moment, and he excelled,” Coach Deion Sanders said.
While the offensive line was seen as a weakness in the first two weeks, week 3’s improvement is a very positive sign. If the Buffs running game can continue to complement Sanders’ lethal air attack, the offense can develop more of a rhythm and extend drives as they head into conference play.
Speaking of Shedeur Sanders, he received high praise from his head coach this week after the win against CSU.
Meanwhile Travis Hunter now has a 2.5/1 career touchdown to interception ratio. His elite play on offense and defense cannot be talked about enough.
Colorado leads the all-time series in this matchup 9-7. The previous meeting between these two
teams took place in October of 2010, a game which saw Baylor win 35-21 with their soon-to-be Heisman trophy winning quarterback Robert Griffin III.
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. this Saturday at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado and is streaming live on FOX.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Ryan Chun at ryan.chun@colorado.edu
