Senior quarterback Shedeur Sanders makes a touchdown during the game against Baylor University at Folsom Field on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (Clementine Miller/CU Independent)
The last time Colorado played Baylor, it took just about everything imaginable for the Buffaloes to escape with a win.
A 43-yard Hail Mary as regulation expired. Overtime. And finally, a Baylor fumble through the end zone that preserved Colorado’s 38-31 victory.
Two years later, the Buffs probably would not mind a little less drama.
Colorado enters its Big 12 opener Saturday in Waco coming off a 41-7 loss to Northwestern, a game in which almost everything that could go wrong eventually did. Four turnovers, nine penalties and a defense that surrendered 423 yards turned a 2-0 start into the Buffs’ first loss of the season.
Baylor enters conference play at the same 2-1 record, but heading in the opposite direction. After losing its opener to Auburn by one point, the Bears have beaten Prairie View A&M 44-3 and Louisiana Tech 36-19 at McLane Stadium.
For Colorado, Saturday is the first chance to show that what happened at Northwestern was a bad night rather than the beginning of a trend.
Colorado has to stop beating itself
Colorado actually moved the ball reasonably well against Northwestern.
The Buffs finished with 348 yards, including 180 on the ground, but rarely gave themselves the chance to turn those yards into points. Micah Welch and Damian Henderson II both lost fumbles early, including Henderson’s in the red zone, while quarterback Julian Lewis threw two second-half interceptions.
Colorado had not committed four turnovers in a game since November 2025.
The penalties did not help either.
The Buffs were flagged nine times for 80 yards against Northwestern and have now committed 28 penalties for 247 yards through three games. That is an average of more than 82 penalty yards per game.
Head coach Deion Sanders’ message afterward was fairly simple.
“They played a heck of a game, forced us to turn the ball over, forced us into bad decisions,” Sanders said. “(They) forced us into doing things that are not truly who we are.”
Baylor is not exactly spotless in that department. The Bears have committed 24 penalties for 215 yards through three games, nearly 72 yards per game.
That creates a fairly straightforward priority Saturday.
Whichever team spends less time undoing its own positive plays will make life considerably easier.
Colorado has already shown that it can sustain drives and produce yards. Through three games, the Buffs average 411 yards of offense, including 181 rushing yards per game.
The problem is turning them into points consistently.
Against Colorado’s two FBS opponents, Georgia Tech and Northwestern, the Buffs have scored just 21 total points.
Moving the ball has not always been the issue.
Finishing has.
Baylor’s backup quarterback is making the most of his opportunity
Colorado’s secondary will also face its most productive passing attack yet.
Baylor averages 468.7 yards of offense per game, including 306.3 through the air. The Bears have already thrown eight touchdown passes through three games.
And they have done much of that without starting quarterback DJ Lagway.
Lagway suffered a lower-leg injury in Baylor’s season opener, giving junior Nate Bennett an opportunity to start the past two games. Bennett has responded by completing 45 of 60 passes for 567 yards and six touchdowns.
His latest performance was his best.
Against Louisiana Tech, Bennett completed 21 of 24 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns while adding another score on a 25-yard run. Baylor finished with 418 yards and scored on passes of 51, 43 and 36 yards.
Those explosive plays should get Colorado’s attention.
The Buffs have allowed 242.7 passing yards per game and six passing touchdowns this season. Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles threw for 241 yards and three touchdowns last week, with all three scores going to Joseph Himon II.
Baylor has several receivers capable of creating similar problems.
Gavin Freeman leads the Bears with 305 receiving yards after opening his Baylor career with consecutive 100-yard performances. Jayden McGowan has emerged as another big-play option, catching two touchdowns in each of Baylor’s past two games.
Colorado’s pass rush could help.
Lamont Lester Jr. has four sacks and six tackles for loss through three games, while Randon Fontenette leads the Buffs with 24 tackles and their only interception.
Colorado’s defense established an aggressive identity in its opener against Georgia Tech.
Against Baylor, it will need that pressure without leaving another offense room to create explosive plays behind it.
The run game cannot disappear
The strange part about Colorado’s offensive performance against Northwestern is that the run game was not particularly bad.
The Buffs rushed for 180 yards despite spending most of the game playing from behind. JaQuail Smith provided the biggest spark, carrying eight times for 91 yards.
Through three games, Colorado is averaging 4.5 yards per carry.
That remains a major part of offensive coordinator Brennan Marion’s identity.
Against Georgia Tech, Colorado ran 49 times. Against Weber State, the Buffs paired that ground threat with Lewis’ best passing performance of the season, when he threw for 366 yards and four touchdowns.
Northwestern showed what happens when turnovers prevent that balance from ever developing.
Baylor will make getting it back difficult.
The Bears are allowing just 101.7 rushing yards per game and three yards per carry. Opponents have managed only 287 total yards per game against them, while Baylor has forced six turnovers.
That makes this a much different matchup than Weber State.
Colorado cannot simply assume its running backs will control the game. But keeping Welch, Smith and Henderson involved would take pressure off Lewis and keep Baylor from turning Saturday into a game where the sophomore quarterback has to throw his way out of long-yardage situations.
Lewis has completed 63.3% of his passes for 658 yards, six touchdowns and two interceptions this season. Both interceptions came against Northwestern after he began his Colorado career with 150 consecutive attempts without one.
One rough game does not erase what he showed over the first two weeks.
Saturday gives him his first opportunity to respond to one.
A very different kind of Baylor rematch
There are not many players left who need a reminder of what happened the last time these programs met.
Colorado’s 2024 win over Baylor became one of the defining games of that season, with Shedeur Sanders finding LaJohntay Wester on a Hail Mary before Travis Hunter forced the game-ending fumble in overtime.
This time, there is no Sanders at quarterback or Hunter on defense.
There is also no guarantee that the Buffs who arrive in Waco Saturday resemble the team that started this season 2-0.
That is what makes the matchup interesting.
Colorado’s first two games offered reasons for optimism. The defense dominated Georgia Tech’s rushing attack. The offense exploded for 52 points against Weber State. Lewis looked increasingly comfortable, and Marion appeared to have several running backs he could trust.
Then Northwestern exposed just how quickly turnovers, penalties and defensive lapses can erase all of it.
Baylor has its own imperfections, but the Bears enter Saturday averaging 32 points per game while allowing only 13. They have won both of their games at McLane Stadium and have outscored their past two opponents 80-22.
For Colorado, the conference opener is less about recreating the chaos of 2024 and more about returning to what worked before last weekend.
Run the ball. Protect Lewis. Pressure the quarterback. Limit explosive plays.
And, maybe most importantly, stop giving possessions away.
Colorado leads the all-time series with Baylor 10-7 and is making its first trip to Waco since 2007.
Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. MT Saturday, Sept. 26, at McLane Stadium. The game will air on ESPN2.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Shruthi Rajesh at shra3446@colorado.edu
