5 things we learned from Colorado football's loss to Baylor

The Colorado Buffaloes were hoping to rebound after their blowout loss against Northwestern, but that did not happen against Baylor, as Colorado lost their first Big 12 game of the season 23-13.

Their run game struggled throughout most of the game, finishing with just 83 yards on 2.1 yards per attempt after having at least 180 rushing yards in their first three games. Quarterback Julian Lewis struggled in the first half and was ultimately benched for Isaac Wilson in the second half. Colorado's passing attack combined for 280 yards, 6.7 yards per attempt and a passing touchdown.

On defense, the numbers were not terrible. Baylor quarterback DJ Lagway finished the game with just 221 passing yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Their top receiver, Gavin Freeman, had just 59 receiving yards, and the Bears’ top running back, Dawson Pendergrass, was held under 100 rushing yards. But Baylor kept the chains moving thanks to 80-plus yards of Buffaloes penalties.

Here is everything we learned from Colorado's loss to Baylor.

Colorado's starting QB job might be up for grabs

Statistically, Julian Lewis did not have a bad first half, completing 11 of 16 passes for 75 rushing yards. However, in the first half, he seemed unsure where to go with the ball at times. His decision-making was poor, and it is a miracle he did not throw an interception. He also took multiple sacks where he should have just thrown the ball away. Isaac Wilson did not have the best day on paper, but the offense at least looked better with him out there. Colorado scored only three points with Lewis in the game, while they scored 10 points with Wilson at quarterback. Going into their game next week against Texas Tech, the quarterback position is certainly up for grabs, but Wilson would appear to have the edge based on his performance in the second half.

Joseph Williams is the leader of this offense

Typically, the quarterback is supposed to lead the offense. However, that is clearly not the case for Colorado this season, no matter who the quarterback is. That will be problematic throughout the season, but they still have a vocal leader in wide receiver Joseph Williams, who did everything he could to win this game. He completed a 49-yard pass on a trick play to Quanell Farrakhan Jr and finished the game as the leading receiver with 11 receptions for 127 yards and a touchdown. It is his second game this season with at least 100 yards. He is going to be someone every team needs to account for this season, no matter who plays at quarterback for the Buffaloes.

The Buffaloes have to address their special teams issues

Special teams has a lot of problems. Baylor had a kick return for 27 yards, an average of 18.6 yards per punt return, with their longest punt return being 36 yards. On the other side, Colorado averaged just 13.5 yards per punt return and had a poorly timed fair catch at the five-yard line. Colorado's punter Damon Greaves had a good day with 49.5 yards per punt, a long of 58 yards on a punt and one punt inside of the 20-yard line. But he was about the only positive aspect of the Buffaloes' special teams game. They really need a special teams coordinator.

Ball security remains a major concern

While Colorado had only one turnover in this game, it remains an overall problem. Both Lewis and Wilson made throws that put the ball in harm's way and were lucky not to throw an interception. The turnover came from running back JaQuail Smith in the fourth quarter as the Buffaloes tried to get the game back to a one-possession game. They now have three lost fumbles from their running backs in the past two games, and when you are a team that heavily relies on your running backs, it is incredibly problematic when the backs cannot hold onto the ball and have costly turnovers.

The passing game is flat when the run isn't working

Besides the fumble, the run game was simply ineffective. They had 39 rushing attempts for just 83 yards, averaging 2.1 yards per carry, despite four different players getting at least 10 yards. Colorado's leading rusher, Micah Welch, only had 35 yards. Smith had 33 yards and Richard Young had 31 rushing yards. Especially with Texas Tech coming up next week, this is a bad sign for the Buffaloes' offense.

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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: 5 things we learned from Colorado football's loss to Baylor