By Brian Howell,Gqlshare

Copyright denverpost

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders hasn’t publicly announced who will start at quarterback on Saturday, but he did make it clear he wants more leadership out of that position.

It appears Kaidon Salter has taken that to heart, and he might be returning to his starting role.

Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reported Wednesday that CU is “expected” to go back to Salter as its starting quarterback when its hosts Wyoming on Saturday (8:15 p.m., ESPN) at Folsom Field.

If it is, indeed, Salter at the helm of the offense, the fifth-year senior appears to have answered a challenge from his head coach.

“Leadership is what I want to see, and consistency, from all of our guys, not just Kaidon,” Sanders said Tuesday.

On Wednesday, tight ends coach Brett Bartolone said he’s liked what he’s seen from Salter this week.

“I see what I see in practice,” Bartolone said. “Like, I thought he came out (Monday) in practice and was very level-headed and was very positive, which is what we need. He seemed more vocal. He seemed to be talking more with the other guys. And I think that’s very important for the quarterback position to be vocal, whether you’re a vocal guy or not.”

Salter, a fifth-year senior transfer from Liberty, is by far the most experienced quarterback in the room, with 31 career starts under his belt. He started 29 games at Liberty, going 21-4 over the past two years.

After an offseason competition this year with freshman JuJu Lewis and sophomore Ryan Staub, Salter won the starting job and was in the lineup for the Buffs’ first two games.

Salter admitted to some nerves in the opener, a 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech, although he did throw for a touchdown and run for a score and had the Buffs in position to win in the fourth quarter.

The next week, on Sept. 6 against Delaware, Sanders employed a three-man rotation. Salter got two series, followed by Lewis and Staub in a 31-7 win.

Although Salter got CU off to a 10-0 lead in his first two series (including a touchdown run), Staub stole the show that day by throwing for 157 yards and two touchdowns.

Last week, Salter was benched. Staub, making just his second career start, struggled in a 36-20 loss to the Cougars, going 19-for-35 for 204 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Now, it appears that Sanders and the CU staff have elected to turn back to Salter, and Bartolone said the senior has handled the QB shuffle well.

“I haven’t really seen much change in a negative way from Kaidon,” Bartolone said. “I thought (Monday’s) practice was good from his standpoint. There’s always few things we’ve got to clean up, and I’m confident that we’ll do that.”

So far this season, Salter is 30-of-44 (68.2%) for 261 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 67 yards and two touchdowns.

No matter who is at quarterback, Bartolone said the Buffs need better execution as a unit to find success on offense – and part of that includes sticking with a solid starter at quarterback.

“We got to find our identity as an offense, who we are as an offense,” Bartolone said. “Us coaches have to find that, and we have to get that out of our players.

“We’ve got to solidify the quarterback position, and make sure he’s comfortable and do things that maximize his skill sets. Once we find that, and I feel like we’re truly on track in doing that, then we’re going to be in a much better place.”

CU is near the bottom of the Big 12 in points (23.7 per game) and yards (334.3 per game), and Bartolone said it comes down to better execution.

“I think we’re an offense that should be able to run the ball,” he said. “I think we’re an offense that should be able to throw the ball. I think we should be able to put together a plan that maximizes the skill sets that our receivers have, and we have a great receiving core. … Our offensive line is mean; they’re nasty. We should be able to run the ball. We should be able to protect (the quarterback).

“Again, it comes down to execution. We’ve got to execute a lot better.”

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