Disastrous Pat Shurmur decision dooms Buffs as Prime screws up

BOULDER—The Colorado Buffaloes were pacing to have their best scoring year since the memorable 2001 season, but Deion Sanders didn’t think that was good enough.

The first-year head coach of the Buffs demoted Sean Lewis to co-offensive coordinator late this week, and Coach Prime’s genius solution was promoting offensive analyst Pat Shurmur. The failed NFL coach is known for running some of the most boring offenses of the century across the sport and became the play-caller in Boulder ahead of the Buffaloes clash with Oregon State on Saturday. In Shurmur’s debut on the headset, he lived up to his calling card producing a pitiful offensive performance.

The giant stinker led the No. 16 Beavers to beat the Buffaloes 26-19. Colorado climbed back a bit to make it respectable, scoring 14 in the fourth quarter. A vast majority of CU’s yards, 160 of a 238 total as well as the scoring came when the game had already been wrapped up.

“This is hard, the reason it’s hard is because we know we are capable of playing better, coaching better, and we are coming up short when we have enough to get the job done,” Sanders said. “It’s painful, it hurts, the team, the coaches, the fans, it hurts, we rallied at the end and did not quit.”

Lewis’ mid-week demotion was bizarre given Colorado had scored 227 points through 6.5 games, or about 35 points per 60 minutes. Sure things had stifled lately as Colorado went for just 30 points in their last 21 possessions since that 29-0 halftime lead over Stanford, but it was shocking nonetheless. And the Buffaloes took an even further step back on Saturday night, though so may blame it on a banged-up Shedeur Sanders.

“We’re not going to demean Sean Lewis, we’re not going to do that or take that tone,” Sanders explained. “He’s a good man, I think he’s a good play-caller. We just needed change at the time. We just needed to try something else at the time. That’s what we did and I don’t look back on it or second guess myself. There is more to it than what you may know. So let’s just trust the process.”

Sanders never elaborated what more to it there was, with some speculation of how hard his son had been hit or just how many opportunities he’s had to showcase himself since Pac-12 play began. Sanders still ended up with 245 yards against the Beavers, more than Colorado’s total as a team.

Lewis, 37, left his head coaching gig at Kent State to become the highest-paid assistant coach in CU history. Sanders inked him to a three-year, $2.7 million in the offseason and his offense had climbed CU from third-worst a season ago to 32nd in the country coming into the week.

Meanwhile, Shurmur, 58, was brought in this summer as an analyst and had been out of the game since he was fired by the Denver Broncos for leading a terrible offense in the 2020 and 2021 seasons. A trait known from his head coaching of the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns.

Sanders really struggled to explain the move and furthermore about the Buffs when pressed on his team postgame.

“It has so much to do—and that’s a great question—it’s not just that, it’s that and execution of the play that is called and it’s that and the timing of the play that’s called and it’s that and the thought process behind these things—a lot goes behind that,” Sanders said. “You guys are just seeing what you see, you’re missing a whole lot of intangibles that transpired for us to be in this situation right now.”

What we did see was Shurmur’s debut, which included two quarters where Colorado failed to gain more than 26 yards. The Buffs punted seven times including forcing themselves at the end of the half due to poor clock management. CU held the ball at their own four-yard line with less than a minute left and only kept it for 28 seconds. That led to a 33-yard return including a penalty and a one-play touchdown drive that started in the black and gold’s own red zone. It would be the single score that ended up separating the two teams at nights end.

“I’m not going to disclose all my thoughts, my thoughts are my thoughts. I’m not going to disclose when I make a decision to do something,” Prime said. “Just know I made a decision and I don’t stumble or stutter on it. I’m not looking back, it is what it is and that’s what it’s going to be. I made a decision to help this team win. You guys don’t know all the intangibles in it, you just from the outside of the crib looking in. I got tinted windows and you can’t even see in the house but you’re making conclusions on what I should or shouldn’t do.”

Sanders of course came to our house in Colorado maybe without the close up knowledge of Shurmur’s failures in Denver. Prime said he doesn’t want to use the word demotion because everyone is still making the same amount of money but it was just movement around the staff. He was further pressed about the change and for the first time in his CU tenure continued to not give any real insight into the questionable choice.

“You know how we’ve been doing it for the entire year? When we’re in the big meeting room, all these guys are in the room (sic) Coach Shurmur has had a tremendous influence on suggesting things this entire season, that has not changed,” he said. “Now you just have a tremendous influence in not just suggesting but calling it. These things are not changing, it’s still a group effort. It’s not one guy doing good or bad, it’s a team effort last time I checked. So we’re going to consistently do what’s best for us to win. Both of these guys are really talented men, they both can contribute tremendously. You’re looking at two guys with two different references of experience and that’s wonderful. A guy that’s gleaned almost 30 years from the pros and another guy from college, that’s a phenomenal look. You need that unity coaching-wise, great question.”

Of Colorado’s 19 points, two came from a PAT returned fumble and three came on a field goal from a five-play drive that started in plus territory thanks to a turnover. Before Saturday the team’s worst scoring outing at home was a 36-point day against Nebraska in a win.

Shurmur’s black and gold offense was the same as it was in orange and blue, bad and boring. As CU took a step back, Sanders didn’t offer much of an explanation as to why the Buffs saw it necessary for the change.

As for the hot young coordinator in Lewis, who likely has been Colorado’s best man in the gig in over a decade. He has already helped Prime bring in some big names for the future and score big wins this season for son and team—he was embarrassed this week and demoted, no matter what Deion says.

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