Colorado's penalty problem continues to hurt the team | Opinion

The Colorado Buffaloes' most pressing issue after Saturday's 23-13 loss at Baylor is clear. The Buffaloes keep shooting themselves in the foot and putting themselves behind the chains.

Colorado's penalty count has become a weekly storyline. The Buffaloes reached Baylor averaging more than 82 penalty yards per game. They piled up four penalties for 37 yards by the middle of the second quarter, during a game in which every yard mattered.

The offense managed only three first-half points and finished with 81 rushing yards on 39 carries. Colorado needed clean possessions to build rhythm, and the flags kept creating longer downs and seriously bad field position.

A problem that follows Colorado

The Baylor game offered several reminders of how penalties change a Saturday.

Colorado's defense was playing well early. Boo Carter made plays all over the field, and Toby Anene collected a sack. Randon Fontenette knocked down a third-down pass and forced a Baylor punt.

Then came the possession extended by a hands-to-the-face penalty on Colorado defensive lineman Dylan Manuel. Baylor declined a separate defensive penalty, took the personal foul, and received an automatic first down.

Coach Prime when asked about his emotions right now:

“We’re better than this. It seems as though we’re better than our opponents, but the score does not dictate that…

We gotta find out why.” pic.twitter.com/8il68nFI9m

— DNVR Buffs (@DNVR_Buffs) September 26, 2026

Those are the plays that wear down a defense. They force an offense to sit longer, and they turn a chance to flip momentum into another set of downs for the opponent.

Colorado stopped Baylor on fourth-and-inches later in the game, but the Buffaloes spent too much of the afternoon battling distance and field position created by their own mistakes.

The larger Monday takeaway is the frustrating number of mistakes Colorado can control.

The Buffs are trying to settle the quarterback position and revive a ground game that cannot regularly have pre-snap flags and personal fouls. Colorado has a full week to clean up the penalty issue, and as Coach Prime said after the game, the Buffaloes have enough talent to compete in the Big 12. They just cannot d to keep giving opponents free plays every week.

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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Colorado's penalty problem continues to hurt the team | Opinion