Colorado vs. Delaware football: Three takeaways from the Buffs’ 31-7 victory

The Colorado Buffaloes defeated the Delaware Blue Hens 31-7 on Saturday -- here's three takeaways from the win

Sep 6, 2025, 6:51 PM Updated: 7:35 pm

(Zachary Giesenschlag / Sko Buffs Sports)

BOULDER, Colo. — The Colorado Buffaloes got in the win column on Saturday as they took care of business against the Delaware Blue Hens with a 31-7 victory. Quarterback Ryan Staub stole the show as he threw for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the win while the defense found their mojo with a solid effort against the run. Colorado’s special teams unit was also firing on all cylinders as the Buffs pulled away in the second half.

While the final score looks pretty, the Buffs wavered at times and had fans at Folsom Field feeling a little tense when they only led by three points with just under a minute before halftime. It’s only the second week of the season, so there’s plenty of time for this group to still iron out

“We’re crossing some bridges to find out who our best guys are still,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said after the win. “In the NFL, we had three preseason games. This would be preseason game two.”

Here’s three big takeaways from Saturday afternoon’s contest.

1. DON’T FORGET ABOUT RYAN STAUB

Ever since Shedeur Sanders played his final snap in the black and gold last December, there have been questions surrounding the Buffs’ quarterback rotation. True freshman Julian Lewis is poised to be the future, but at 17 years old, there’s still a lot of growth to be had. To counteract that, Coach Prime and the Buffs brought in veteran Kaidon Salter from Liberty, who brings in tons of experience to a quarterback room that hasn’t seen any meaningful action.

Salter played two drives to open Saturday’s game, and led the Buffs to 10 points. Lewis followed suit, but couldn’t get anything generated in his two drives. To the surprise of many, Staub came in after Lewis, and took full advantage of the two drives that Coach Prime was giving him.

“Instead of me telling the story I wanted it to tell its own story. The plan was, each quarterback was going to get two series apiece… and somebody was going to come out of the pack,” Prime said after the win.

Staub finished with 157 yards and two touchdowns while completing seven of his 10 pass attempts. He was firing the ball deep down the field — something that the other two didn’t do — and injected an immense amount of energy into a Buffs offense that had previously lost it all. He found Joseph Williams on a 31-yard strike, and connected twice up the sideline with Sincere Brown for a 71-yard touchdown and another 36-yard completion.

“If they press Sincere, it’s going up,” Staub said.

Staub didn’t finish the game, as Salter and Lewis each got some more run in the fourth quarter. By that time, the game was out of reach, and none of their snaps had the same impact as the ones they got early on. Salter finished with 102 yards through the air (13-for-16) while Lewis totaled just eight yards (2-for-4).

Coach Prime said that he knows how the quarterback rotation will look Friday night against Houston, but expand on that thought any further.

"I'm not lost for direction."

– @DeionSanders on how he plans to handle his QB situation moving forward pic.twitter.com/3eW4reGlPU

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) September 6, 2025

2. DEFENSE GOT BACK TO ITS ROOTS

Colorado’s defense was all out of sorts in the Week 1 loss against Georgia Tech as they were ran all over. They flipped that script on Saturday, as they held the Blue Hens to just 84 yards on 30 carries. Jeremiah Brown and Ben Finneseth, two guys who have stuck it out as backups with this program over the years, got the start and took full advantage of the moment. Brown’s eight tackles led the team, while Finneseth recorded three tackles and forced a fumble on the Herculean effort down the field.

BEN FINNESETH FORCED FUMBLE 👀🔥 #SkoBuffs

pic.twitter.com/ZjwOYhcdcY

— We Coming 🦬 (@SkoBuffsGoBuffs) September 6, 2025

After defensive coordinator Robert Livingston threw everything at the wall last week, he got the Buffs defense back to running the basics, with a lot of Cover 1. That scheme — which treated the Buffs very well in 2024 — allowed the front seven to wreak havoc up front because the cornerbacks didn’t allow much separation in coverage. Makari Vickers, who underwent heart surgery over the offseason, came in and made a big impact, as he showed that there is plenty of depth in the cornerback room.

The tackling still wasn’t amazing, but it’s early. Teams schedule these games against weaker opponents earlier in the season so they can fix the little things before conference play begins. The Buffs have two easier opponents left on the schedule before BYU comes to town on Sept. 27

3. THE SPECIAL TEAMS WERE SPECIAL

One of Coach Prime’s favorite saying is “Mata don’t miss,” referring to kicker Alejandro Mata, who is now 36-for-42 on field goals in his career. He made a 28-yard field goal early in the second to push the lead to 10-0.

Buck Buchanan took care of business as well, as all six of his kickoffs were touchbacks. Kickoffs have been a problem for Colorado in the first two seasons of the Prime era, but Buchanan has established himself as the fix to that issue.

Damon Greaves, the Australian punter, was the story of the day on special teams. He punted the ball five times for 251 yards with a long of 67. One of those was downed at the six yard line and another was downed as close to the goal line as possible as his precision was on point all afternoon.

Winning the special teams battle is an underrated aspect of every football game, and the Buffs dominated this aspect of the game on Saturday. The Blue Hens didn’t start a single drive past their own 26-yard line thanks to Colorado’s special teams.

The Buffs now look to carry this momentum into Friday night’s contest against the Houston Cougars. Kickoff from the Lone Star State is set for at 5:30 p.m. MDT on ESPN.