The mystery around Colorado’s fall-off is turning into a full-blown crisis. From a 9-4 high in 2024 to a 1-2 stumble out of the gate in 2025, the Buffaloes don’t just look shaky—they look lost. Coach Willie Fritz’s Houston exposed them, Georgia Tech gashed them, and even Delaware didn’t flinch much. The strongest sign came not from Prime himself, but from defensive line coach George Helow, who made it crystal clear: the losing is eating at this staff.
On September 19, defensive line coach and run-game coordinator George Helow didn’t waste his breath when he sat down on Thee DNVR Pregame Show. Asked if the urgency was real, he fired back like he’d been waiting for the question. “I mean, no one likes getting their butt kicked, you know? And everybody should be ticked off about it. I know I am, you know, you high achievers don’t like mediocre people and mediocre people don’t like high achievers. You know, I’ve been part of eight championships before.” He rattled off his championship pedigree—two national titles, Big Ten, ACC, Cotton Bowl—as if to remind the room he knows what winning tastes like. His message was simple: losing ain’t normal, and mediocrity is poison.
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Helow dug deeper, talking about standards. “And I’m not giving my resume on the but when you’re around stuff like that, you have very high expectations and standards, and it’s not okay to lose it’s not okay to not fix the problems that have gone on and, you know, I’m ready to get it right, and I’m looking forward.” That’s not a throwaway line—that’s a culture check. Helow touched on the human side too: “It’s putting your arm around, you know, your players, and saying, hey, man, I believe in you.” In short, he’s telling his defensive line: feel the sting, but channel it.
Colorado’s defense has been the soft spot all year (3 games so far), giving up 320 rushing yards to Brent Key’s Georgia Tech in the opener and another 200-plus to Houston. Helow’s job is fixing the run defense, but his words carried a bigger weight: accountability. He’s demanding urgency, not just game plan tweaks. Deion Sanders himself called the Houston loss a straight-up butt-kicking, but Helow went deeper. He’s pushing for urgency in a room that feels sadness creeping in. Coaches can talk positivity all day, but when the defensive line coach basically tells you “stop accepting average,” it forces every player to look in the mirror. The message? Effort and passion are no longer optional.
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Colorado Buffaloes struggles all over the field
After Week 3, it’s pretty obvious now: Colorado’s not touching last year’s magic. With Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter gone to the NFL, this roster is showing cracks everywhere. They’re 1-2, averaging 23.7 points a game while giving up 23.3. That basically screams middle-of-the-pack, not contender. The raw yardage numbers are even uglier: 334 yards of offense per game against 430 allowed on defense. That’s not just a gap—that’s a chasm in the Big 12.
The ground game is one of the biggest red flags. Colorado has managed just 372 rushing yards and five scores in three games. Opponents? They’ve piled up 613 and six. And it’s not just the backs hurting them. Quarterbacks like Haynes King and Conner Weigman have turned into nightmares, combining for 239 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the Buffs. When you can’t set the edge or contain QBs, you’re basically letting opponents dictate pace from the first snap.
The passing numbers don’t offer much relief either. The Buffs have put up 631 yards, 4 TDs, and two picks through the air. Solid, sure. But their defense has coughed up 677 yards and four touchdowns right back. That’s not winning football—it’s a wash. Factor in the yards per play split (5.3 on offense, 6.1 allowed on defense), and it’s clear why every game feels like Colorado is chasing instead of dictating.
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Even the little things are tilting against them. They’re converting just 37% on 3rd downs, opponents are clipping along at 38.5%. Add in time of possession—under 28 minutes for the Buffs, over 32 for opponents—and you see why this team fades late. It’s death by paper cuts: not one giant collapse, but small leaks across the board adding up to a sinking ship.
And that’s the bitter truth in Boulder right now. They’re not getting blown out, but they’re not winning either. In the Big 12, “average” doesn’t just lose games—it buries seasons. Helow’s fire and Deion’s bluntness show the urgency. But until the Buffs turn those words into stops, drives, and actual wins, the sadness in that locker room isn’t going anywhere.