Deion Sanders highlights quarterback struggles following Colorado's loss to Texas Tech

Colorado has a serious quarterback problem. Deion Sanders won't say it, but he wants everyone else to do just that.

"You know what it is. If I say it, you're gonna run with it," Sanders said following Colorado's 29-7 loss to Texas Tech. "You know darn well what it is. Just write it yourselves. You know what it is. It's blatant. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it. I would respect y'all a lot more if you just said it yourselves. You know darn well what it is."

Despite getting putrid quarterback play on Saturday night, Colorado still led Texas Tech well into the third quarter. Then the Buffaloes threw an interception on three consecutive drives, with two of them coming from quarterback Isaac Wilson. One of Wilson's picks was in the end zone, resulting in a zero-yard pick-six for the Red Raiders.

Wilson finished the game with 290 passing yards, one touchdown and three interceptions. Including a pick thrown by receiver Joseph Williams, Colorado totaled four on the evening.

In his press conference, Sanders insisted upon gesturing toward one position instead of naming it specifically.

"We got one glaring problem," Sanders said. "Let's stop the shenanigans, man. We got one glaring problem. You guys know darn well what that is. Let's stop the foolishness. We've got to play better at one specific position. That's it."

Whether Sanders wants to address the issue himself, quarterback play has severely hindered the Buffaloes. They've yet to score more than 14 points against Power Four competition, and their 394.2 total yards per game rank 14th in the Big 12.

On the whole, Colorado has thrown for just eight touchdowns to six interceptions. That won't get it done, especially in conference play.

"We've been horrible," Sanders said of the Buffs' offensive struggles. "Don't sugarcoat it. We've been horrible. What'd we have? Seven points. You're not gonna win. Don't sugarcoat it no more. Just tell it how it is."

The simple fact is that Colorado has struggled mightily at the quarterback spot since Shedeur Sanders went to the NFL. The Buffaloes started three different quarterbacks last season, and they could be on track to do that again with Kaneal Sweetwyne getting a little action at the end of Saturday night's loss.

It certainly doesn't help matters that Sanders is being intentionally vague about Julian Lewis -- who began the season as Colorado's starter.

With Lewis faltering in the first four games, Sanders turned the offense over to Wilson against Texas Tech. That wasn't much of a surprise, but the fact that Sweetwyne replaced Wilson against Texas Tech was.

In his postgame press conference, Sanders sidestepped a question about Lewis' tumble down the depth chart. In fact, he said he'd prefer Lewis to address it himself.

"I would love for JuJu to come here and he'd tell you what happened," Sanders said. "So, 'You benched JuJu from first to third string.' No, that's not how it went down. It didn't happen like that."

Later, Sanders refused to answer a question about Lewis because he didn't play.

"JuJu didn't play today," Sanders said. "I'm not gonna badger the kid. I'm not gonna say nothing derogatory about the kid. He didn't play today. ... I'm worried about our team and winning. You're trying to single out one kid. You can't do that."

Didn't Sanders himself single out Lewis when asked about his benching? Did he not single out the quarterbacks while imploring everyone else to do it for him?

The bizarre echange aside, Lewis is apparently in the mix to start again moving forward with Sanders saying the Buffaloes have "three options" at quarterback as the battle rages on into Week 6.

"Every darn day is an open competition," Sanders said. "That's the position that is somewhat disabling us and disarming us."