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There are two games left on Colorado’s schedule, but for all intents and purposes, Deion Sanders’ third season in Boulder can be chalked up as a lost year.

The Buffaloes, at 3-7 overall and 1-6 in Big 12 play, have been among the worst Power 4 teams in the country this fall. They rank 108th nationally in scoring offense, 107th in scoring defense, 107th in yards per play and 108th in yards per play allowed.

This is a far cry from where most expected the program to be in Sanders’ third year.

“College rosters are a blank canvas where it’s not like you have to wait a few years to rebuild,” a Big 12 assistant coach said. “He’s had plenty enough time to build a program.”

To gain a better sense of the Buffaloes’ issues, The Athletic spoke to coaches and personnel staffers around the Big 12 to find out what went wrong with Colorado’s roster this season. They were granted anonymity so they could speak candidly.

It’s always difficult to replace a Heisman Trophy winner.

The Buffaloes figured to regress a bit after losing two-way star Travis Hunter, who made such an impact as a playmaker at receiver and as a cornerback in the secondary. They also lost quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who shouldered a heavy load for the offense, and two Day 3 NFL Draft picks at receiver in LaJohntay Wester and Jimmy Horn.

As he does every offseason, Sanders hit the transfer portal aggressively to bolster his roster. The headlining addition of the 33-man class was Liberty quarterback Kaidon Salter, but Colorado also signed some others who created optimism among the fan base — defensive linemen Jehiem Oatis (Alabama) and Gavriel Lightfoot (Fresno State) and receivers Sincere Brown (FCS Campbell), Hykeem Williams (Florida State) and Joseph Williams (Tulsa). There were also transfers from SEC programs such as Auburn, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Ole Miss.

But this group has largely fizzled, and as a result, the program took a significant step back after the breakthrough 2024 season, when it went 9-4 and remained in Big 12 title contention late in the season.

“If you take a look at a lot of the guys that they brought in, there wasn’t a ton of production,” a Big 12 general manager said. “They took a bunch of Power 4 big names, big (recruiting) star guys, and they put them in with the expectation that they were going to have big jumps. And they just didn’t.”

Another Big 12 personnel staffer said: “We say it all the time at our place: If a player can’t develop at a place like Alabama or Georgia, where they have every resource, why are they going to come here and be any better or different?”

Salter was one of the players with a history of production. In 2023, he threw for 2,876 yards, rushed for 1,089 and accounted for 44 total touchdowns while leading Liberty to a Conference USA championship and a Fiesta Bowl appearance.

His numbers dipped across the board in 2024, but he was still an enticing option for several programs when he entered the transfer portal in the offseason. Landing him was seemingly a solid get for Colorado.

Colorado has turned to true freshman Julian Lewis at quarterback. (Ben Queen / Imagn Images)

In the best-case scenario, Salter would bridge the gap from Shedeur Sanders to Julian Lewis, a current freshman and former top-50 recruit, in 2026.

However, Salter’s been a bad fit in the Buffaloes’ offense. He was benched after just two games, and regained the starting nod after one game only to be benched again earlier this month in favor of Lewis.

Salter has thrown for 1,242 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions this season. He’s rushed 293 yards and five touchdowns but is averaging a career-low 3.3 yards per carry — due in part to the 16 times he’s been sacked.

“He’s in a pro-style system now, NFL, (with offensive coordinator) Pat Shurmur, pocket passer-(friendly),” the general manager said, “and when that kid was good at Liberty, they were running the hell out of him. So I think that was part of it.”

In his second-to-last start against Utah, Salter completed 9 of 22 attempts for 37 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. In his last start, against Arizona, he completed 11 of 15 passes but for only 49 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Colorado’s performance in those games was troubling. The Buffaloes lost 53-7 at Utah and were outgained 398 to minus-18 in the first half. The following week, they lost 52-17 at home to Arizona.

Those were the sort of blowout losses that came to define the later stages of Karl Dorrell’s tenure. At the very least, Sanders was supposed to make the program much more competitive.

To Colorado’s credit, they showed more fight two weeks ago in a road game at West Virginia. However, the result, a 29-22 loss, was still unsatisfactory. That clinched Sanders’ second losing campaign in three seasons at the helm.

And with a transfer-heavy roster, there will be questions about what sort of spirit Colorado will demonstrate given there’s nothing left to play for over these next two games — at home versus Arizona State and at Kansas State.

“They started the year off not well,” the general manager said. “It was like a little bit of the snowball effect that the guys that had just never really been there, and they hadn’t really done that. So I think that hurt them.”

The first Big 12 assistant coach said, “Putting the roster together is like buying lottery tickets. He kind of hit on more mean dudes on their roster last year that played with more grit and tenacity.”

Sanders’ roster-building strategy is well known. He’s going to sign small high school classes and rely heavily on the transfer portal to fill out the majority of his roster. He signed a total of 27 high school players in his two full recruiting cycles, 12 in the Class of 2024 and 15 in the Class of 2025. With the early signing period less than a month away, the 2026 class sits at only 12 commitments and does not include a player ranked in the top 200 nationally in the 247Sports Composite.

Sanders notoriously does not hit the road to recruit high school players — whether that’s visiting campuses or making in-home visits. To be fair, he had a cancerous tumor in his bladder this offseason and has dealt with blood clots. However, his reluctance to leave campus to recruit predates his recent health issues.

For the most part, Sanders goes all in on one five-star or top-100 prospect every cycle and makes a big splash. Last year, it was Lewis, who was the No. 50 overall prospect and had been a long-time USC commitment. Five-star offensive tackle Jordan Seaton was the major get in the 2024 cycle. And five-star corner Cormani McClain, who eventually transferred to Florida, was the centerpiece of Sanders’ first class.

While those were good additions, Colorado has not brought in nearly enough high-end talent during Sanders’ time in Boulder. And the roster isn’t very balanced.

The receivers are good, the defensive backs have some talent, but Colorado is struggling along the line of scrimmage, just like it was in Sanders’ first season.

“College football is not about the first-round picks,” the first assistant coach said. “College football is about the Day 3 guys. Your fifth-, sixth-, seventh-round picks. That’s what college football is about. That’s what makes your roster competitive. You can’t have a five-star with a bunch of minions.”

To be clear, Colorado isn’t having a bad season because it takes a lot of transfers. Lane Kiffin has followed a similar plan at Ole Miss and has the Rebels poised to make their first trip to the College Football Playoff this season.

But when you sign small high school classes, you’ve got to hit on your transfers. So when you miss with those evaluations, like Colorado has done this year, things can go sideways.

“(Transfers) usually aren’t there very long, so they’re just trying to get in and get out of there,” the personnel staffer said. “They take a few high school kids, but that’s the only way to have a mature roster, is to have people there for a few years who know what it’s supposed to look like (in the program).”

Once this season ends, it’ll be fascinating to see if Sanders changes his approach to accumulating talent as well as the composition of his coaching staff, which includes several former NFL players who didn’t have any collegiate coaching experience. This year has clearly illustrated that the current approach isn’t working.

“You think you’re going to show up and finesse college football,” the first assistant coach said. “Well, college football’s got a lot more variables going on and you’ve got to make sure you’re hitting on all cylinders.”