Colorado football coach Deion Sanders admitted after his team’s latest loss Oct. 24 that he can’t figure out why his team can seem so "disciplined" six out of seven days a week, but then comes game day and it all falls apart.

This time the Buffaloes lost at Oklahoma State 57-24. The Cowboys outscored the Buffaloes 37-0 after Colorado built a 24-20 lead late in the first half.

“We're so disciplined in this and that, and this and that, and every darn thing we do, but it seems like as soon as we go in the field, we're not disciplined,” Sanders said. “I really don't understand it, because we are disciplined in every area of this program, when it comes to academics, when it comes to being somewhere on time, when it comes to wearing the proper uniform, when it comes to just your manners in the building. Everything. But (when) we get on the field at the most critical moments, we blow it.”

Colorado (2-5) now has lost five consecutive games and hasn’t won a road game in the Big 12 Conference since 2024. The Buffaloes also are 2-15 against Power Four conference teams since December 2024. The blowout loss comes a week after Sanders thought his team made a breakthrough by battling Utah to the end in a 27-24 loss at home.

Sanders even benched his quarterback, Isaac Wilson, with about seven minutes remaining and the Buffs trailing 50-24. Despite a strong first half, Wilson committed three turnovers after halftime: two interceptions, plus a fumble on his first play of the second half.

“I don’t feel like we ever recovered” after that fumble, Sanders said.

Will Deion Sanders change quarterbacks again?

Penalties and bad quarterback play have come to define Sanders’ fourth season at Colorado this year. After last week’s loss, Colorado ranked third nationally in most penalty yardage per game (84.3). The Buffs also led their conference in penalties in 2023 and 2024. On Saturday against the Cowboys, the Buffaloes committed another 11 penalties for 84 yards. Sanders called that “totally undisciplined.”

Meanwhile, it’s also now an open question who will start at quarterback for Colorado in its next game at home Oct. 31 against Kansas State. Freshman Kaneal Sweetwyne finished the game at quarterback and completed 3 of 5 passes for 63 yards. Previous starting quarterback Julian Lewis hasn’t played since he was benched a month ago in a 23-13 loss at Baylor Sept. 26.

Wilson has thrown seven interceptions in three starts and this time was outplayed by Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who completed 21 of 36 passes for 386 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. The Cowboys (5-2) rang up 598 yards of offense, compared to 399 for Colorado, only 35 of which came in the third quarter when the game blew wide open. The Buffs also gained only 56 yards rushing on 30 carries.

“This stuff hurts, man,” Sanders said to start his postgame news conference. “I’m gonna try to mask it as much as possible, but this stuff hurts.”

The loss wasted a big game for Colorado receiver Joseph Williams, who made nine catches for 135 yards.

“I don’t know what to do right now,” Williams said. “We’re gonna go back to the drawing board, figure out what’s the issues with everything, and we’re gonna come back next week and try (to) come out with a win.”

Colorado player notes similar 'disconnect' with team discipline

Colorado led 24-23 at halftime, the most points the Buffs have scored in the first half against a major college team since Oct. 26, 2024.

It was like a dam had finally burst after so much buildup. They scored on four of their first five possessions with three touchdowns and a 45-yard field goal. All three of those touchdowns involved Wilson, who threw two of them and pushed one in from 1 yard out for the other.

He completed 14 of 16 passes in the first half for 222 yards, looking much like the gunslinger Sanders has tried to find for his team since his quarterback son Shedeur Sanders last played for the Buffs in 2024.

The problem for Colorado is that Oklahoma State has its own gunslinger at quarterback – Mestemaker, who led his team to scores on five of their first six possessions with three field goals and two touchdowns. Mestemaker had 264 passing yards and two passing touchdowns of his own before halftime with 12 completions in 18 attempts.

Neither team led by more than seven points in the first half. But then on the first play of the second half, Wilson fumbled the ball away. And it all went downhill for Colorado from there.

“We’re so disciplined in every aspect off the field,” Colorado linebacker Gideon Lampron said. “Even in practice, we’re disciplined. I just, I don’t know the disconnect. And I hope we can figure that out.”