Colorado’s defense had been one of the main parts of this season fans could point to with some pride, which made Saturday night in Stillwater so hard to watch. Oklahoma State put up 57 points and 598 yards on the Colorado Buffaloes, and both numbers are the most any opponent has posted against them in the Deion Sanders era.

Even last season’s 53-7 loss at Utah did not reach those totals. To find a Colorado defense that gave up more in both categories, one has to go back to nearly four years ago (Nov. 26, 2022), when Utah won 63-21 in Boulder and piled up 662 yards. After that loss, Colorado hired Sanders a week later.

A defense that looked like 2022 again

The comparison is the part that stings. The Utah game was the final picture of the program Sanders was hired to fix. The Utes scored 42 points before halftime, and Colorado’s offense did not gain a single yard in the first quarter.

Sanders arrived promising to rebuild everything, and for most of this season his defense backed that up. But on Saturday, it unfortunately looked a lot like the unit he was brought in to fix. Oklahoma State averaged 7.9 yards per play and piled up 28 first downs. Colorado forced only one three-and-out all night, and the Cowboys had to punt just twice.

Oklahoma State picked on the corners

Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker carved up the secondary for 386 yards and four touchdown passes, averaging more than 18 yards per completion. Wide receiver Justin Bowick did the most damage, with five catches for 138 yards.

Sanders saw it the same way after the game. 

“They tested our corners, and we didn’t do well against the opposition,” Sanders said in his postgame press conference. “And this was one of the first teams who really tried our corners just like we tried theirs.”

Hearing that from Sanders is jarring. He built his Hall of Fame career at cornerback, and his own coverage group lost the matchup he cares about the most.

The run defense gave way too

The ground game hurt Colorado almost as much. Oklahoma State ran for 188 yards, and running back Caleb Hawkins accounted for 120 of them on 19 carries. On one 78-yard touchdown drive, Hawkins ripped off a 39-yard run and added a 17-yard catch.

Colorado’s front, which had been living in opposing backfields for weeks, managed just four tackles for loss. When that pressure disappears, a defense built on disruption has nothing to fall back on, and Oklahoma State scored on six of its last seven possessions.

Even the stops ended in points

The drives Colorado did slow down still finished with points on the board. Oklahoma State kicker Sam Keltner made all five of his field goal tries, matching a program record, which tells you the Cowboys kept reaching scoring range no matter what Colorado tried.

Sanders did not hide from any of it. 

“First half, we played as a unit. But we gave up some things we shouldn’t have. Blew some coverages too. Got to do better,” Sanders said.

His shortest answer of the night summed up the feeling in Boulder better than any stat could.

“This stuff hurts, man,” Sanders said.

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