On Saturday night in Boulder, the Colorado Buffaloes suffered their fifth loss in six games with a 26-19 loss to the Oregon State Beavers. The loss makes the Buffaloes 4-5 and needing wins in two of their final three games to become bowl-eligible.
Coming into Saturday’s matchup versus the No. 16-ranked Beavers the huge storyline was first-year head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders demoting offensive coordinator Sean Lewis in favor of longtime NFL play-caller Pat Shurmur.
The move done to shake things up for an offense that’s struggled to protect the QB and make second-half adjustments didn’t pay any real dividends, as the offense still sputtered all night.
In fact, in the first half under Shurmur’s play-calling the Buffaloes totaled 52 yards and three points. Things were a little better in the second half, as the team touched paydirt twice, but only finished with 238 total yards and minus-7 rushing yards. In all it wasn’t much difference in anything they did offensively from Lewis to Shurmur calling plays.
The move, which had most scratching their heads when it was leaked, just didn’t look like it changed anything. In the wake of his team’s paltry offensive output, QB Shedeur Sanders was put on the spot in his postgame interview.
Shedeur Refuses To Fall For The Bait
When asked if he had a preference as to which offense he’d rather play in following the game, Sanders wanted no parts of that and refused to answer the question.
“You’re just asking me a setup question. … You just want a headline question. I’m not even gonna answer that,” Sanders responded to the reporter.
Media was trying to pit Sean Lewis versus Pat Shurmur and Shedeur was smart enough to not fall into the trap that was being set for his response. Neither offense has done anything to alleviate the amount of hits and pressure that Sanders sees and feels weekly.
Both play-callers are still using five man blocking fronts and sending five receivers out in routes, therefore allowing the QB to be exposed. Sanders took some big shots for the second consecutive week, so on that front nothing changed.
So, in essence, what did Coach Prime’s drastic change accomplish?
In the grand scope of things it accomplished nothing for the Buffaloes offense.
Deion Still Won’t Disclose Reasoning For Play-Calling Change
Following his team’s first outing with Shurmur calling plays, a confident Coach Prime told reporters this about his decision.
“I’m not going to disclose all my thoughts, man — my thoughts are my thoughts,” Sanders said. “Just know that I made the decision and I don’t stumble or stutter on it, and I’m not looking back. It is what it is, and that’s what it’s going to be.”
Sounds like Sanders is comfortable with his decision to demote the aforementioned Lewis, who left a head coach position at Kent State to take the Buffaloes offensive coordinator position. In doing so, Lewis also became the highest-paid assistant coach in program history. As for Shurmur, he’s made his mark in the NFL as a longtime offensive coordinator and two-time head coach (Giants, Browns).
