Lots of changes at Colorado this year after 22 of the players from last year hit the transfer portal and Head Coach Karl Dorrell, now in his third year, replaced sixty percent of his full-time coaches—80% on the offensive side. Really dismal 2021 for the Buffaloes who finished with an overall record of 4-8 and a conference record of 3-6. Their 18.8 points-per-game ranked them 121st out of 130 FBS teams and the 320 points against just 72nd nationally—statistics and results that Dorrell thinks was needed in order for the team to improve.
As far as this year’s offense goes the transfer of Tommy Brown from Alabama is expected to help on the line. Although their leading rusher Jarek Broussard hit the portal and headed to Michigan State, the other RB’s returned and Houston State transfer Ramon Jefferson, with close to 2,000 career rushing yards, is expected to take the lead along with returning Senior RB Alex Fontenot. The early season ending injury last year to Tennessee transfer QB JT Shrout really set the Buffaloes back. Backup Brendon Lewis handled things well as a mobile conservative game manager but really didn’t display any down field game. Their top wide receiver Brenden Rice entered the transfer portal and took off to USC with another headed off to Iowa State. TE Brady Russell returns and Baylor transfer RJ Sneed could be the answer to their downfield passing attack.
For the Buffaloes to make some headway this year they are going to have to do a lot better with their run defense and pass rush. The tackles are big enough, averaging 300+ lbs, and Colorado is expected to give their linebackers more leeway to be disruptive, led by top returning LB Quinn Perry. Due to three transfers to TCU, Oregon, and USC respectively, the secondary will be young but should be able to handle things if Colorado’s pass rush improves.
As far as their matchup against TCU this past Friday night in a game that was literally slow to get going due to a weather delay and slow once it started, Colorado had a 3-0 lead at the end of the 1st Qtr and only trailed by one at the half, 7-6. But after the break the Buffaloes took on the appearance of that team we’ve been used to seeing while getting outscored by TCU 31-7 who easily won going away in Boulder.
Colorado had the advantage in the air with Sophomore QB JT Shrout connecting on 13-of-23 for 157 yards, 1 TD, and no interceptions. Combined with 78 yards picked up by their other QB, Brendon Lewis, who completed over 70% of his passes, the Buffaloes outpaced the Horned Frogs by about 100 yards. But it was the TCU ground game that Colorado just couldn’t stop or even come close to matching that killed them. Rushing 30 times for 275 yards and 4 TD’s by four different players, TCU really exposed Colorado’s lack of run defense and speed. The Horned Frog defense posted 54 tackles, 2 sacks, and 6 tackles for loss in addition to a Special Teams returned punt for a TD. After the game Colorado Head Coach Karl Dorrell had this say; “I’m confident that we can get it fixed because I know we’re a better team than what we did and what we played like today . . . We’re better than that. But I’ve got to stop talking about it. We’ve got to get better.” They’ll get their next chance on the road against Air Force.