The Colorado Buffaloes are limping off two straight ugly losses to the Northwestern Wildcats and Baylor Bears. But they won’t be catching a break, as they will face the No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders on Saturday for their homecoming game.

The Buffaloes are major underdogs despite holding home-field advantage, with ESPN Analytics giving them just a 13.1 percent chance to win. But there are three key aspects of their team that could allow them to pull off that improbable upset.

Scheming Around the Wide Receivers

The Buffaloes’ wide receivers are clearly their biggest weapon at this point in the season. Despite injuries to the FBS’ leading receiver from 2025, Danny Scudero, and Colorado’s second-leading receiver, DeAndre Moore Jr., the room still found success against Baylor.

Wide receiver Joseph Williams has emerged as a star as he leads the team with 361 yards and three touchdowns. Against Baylor, he truly broke out, recording a career-high 11 catches and 127 yards in addition to a touchdown. 

Receiver Quanell Farrakhan Jr. also saw a breakout performance, racking up 117 yards on seven receptions. 

The Buffaloes also have weapons like Kam Perry and Ernest Campbell who they could feature in the offense.

All of this is to say that the Buffaloes have a true opportunity to gash Texas Tech’s defense. If they can spend the week scheming around their receivers, the offense can truly hang around that tough defense.

Picking a Quarterback and Rolling With Him

But scheming around the receivers is just as important as the choice the Buffs make at quarterback. Coach Deion Sanders made the switch from redshirt freshman Julian Lewis to junior Isaac Wilson after a slow start to the latter’s season.

But if Colorado hopes to compete against one of the pillars of the Big 12, it is unlikely to do so if it doesn’t fully back a quarterback. If there is any division in the locker room one way or the other, that alone could be the deciding factor against an opponent of this caliber.

Regardless of who Colorado chooses at quarterback, the staff and players need to back that choice completely, both leading up to and throughout the game.

Linebackers Stepping Up Without Tyler Martinez

Switching to the defensive side of the ball, the Buffaloes’ linebackers have a major responsibility to fulfill in this game.

Linebacker Tyler Martinez, who had a major impact in that room, went down with an apparent foot injury against the Bears.

Without him, Gideon ESPN Lampron, Liona Lefau and either Rodney Colton Jr., Carson Crawford, Gage Goldberg or Bo LaPenna will need to step up in that room. 

The reason that room will be so vital against the Red Raiders is their unique running game. Texas Tech utilizes two primary running backs in J’Koby Williams and Cameron Dickey, who have combined for 512 yards and seven touchdowns. In addition, quarterback Thomas Castellanos has proven to be a weapon on run downs, recording two touchdowns on 10 carries.

The linebackers will be charged to step up, despite missing Martinez, and stop that three-headed monster. If they can, that could be a deciding factor in a potential upset.

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