WACO, Texas — The Colorado Buffaloes’ Big 12 Conference opener in 2026 once again might have exposed this group’s true colors.
While it is a little early to tell the whole story, Colorado’s penalty issues continued and the offense could only sniff the red zone a handful of times in a 23-13 loss Saturday afternoon at Baylor.
In its first visit to Waco since 2007, CU (2-2, 0-1) committed eight penalties. Its special teams unit was outplayed, and momentum was lost in an instant after tying the game at 13-13 early in the fourth quarter at BU’s McLane Stadium.
After an ineffective first half of leading the offense, quarterback Julian Lewis was benched in the second half in favor of Isaac Wilson.
The Buffaloes stuck to their strengths early on, rushing for 44 yards across their first two drives, before Elliott Arnold made a 24-yard field goal to put CU up 3-0 with 3:22 remaining in the first quarter. Baylor (3-1, 1-0) responded with points of its own, in the form of a 13-play, 54-yard drive that resulted in a 37-yard field goal.
Colorado then managed just 54 yards over the course of its five second-quarter drives. The Buffs once again failed to convert on fourth-and-short at the midway point of the period, and the Bears capitalized with a three-play, 48-yard drive that resulted in a 3-yard touchdown pass from DJ Lagway to Gavin Freeman to give Baylor a 10-3 lead that it carried into the break.
Colorado wide receiver DeAndre Moore Jr. was injured in the first half as well, and he was not able to return to action, diminishing the options for Lewis and, later, Wilson.
While Lewis was 11 of 16 in the first half, he threw for just 75 yards and faltered when pressured on late-down situations. That led to Wilson taking over as the Buffs took the field for the second half.
Wilson at the very least looked like a competent quarterback capable of keeping the Buffs in the game. CU was consistently in the shadow of its own end zone, though, and punted on each of its first three drives with Wilson at the helm.
Baylor added a 27-yard field goal with 7:14 remaining to make it 13-3 before Colorado returned the favor to cut the deficit to 13-6 through three quarters.
The Buffs managed to tie the contest at 13 when Wilson found Joseph Williams for a 17-yard touchdown, but quickly fell back into a hole after DJ Lagway led Baylor on a five-play, 65-yard scoring campaign on the very next drive, giving the Bears a 20-13 lead.
Baylor added a 54-yard field goal to extend the advantage to 23-13, before JaQuail Smith fumbled on CU’s next drive, effectively ending the game.
Colorado returns to Folsom Field next Saturday for a matchup with No. 11 Texas Tech (4-0, 1-0 Big 12). Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. MT and the game will be broadcast on FOX.
This story will be updated.
