‘Unbelievable,’ ‘Unserious, Embarrassing on So Many Levels’ — CFB Fans Stunned by Reports of Colorado’s Playbook Leak Before Texas Tech Loss
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Colorado lost 29-7 to No. 12 Texas Tech on Saturday night. They were held to a single touchdown, threw four interceptions, and fell to 2-3 on the season with their third straight loss. Now they have an alleged playbook leak controversy to deal with.
A group of Texas Tech fans claimed they found a roughly 25-page Colorado playbook at the Buffaloes’ team hotel bar before kickoff. Film comparisons posted after the game appear to show Colorado ran exactly those scripted plays to open both halves, and fans online had a lot to say about it.
CFB Fans React After Colorado’s Playbook Reportedly Found at Team Hotel
The story broke when a poster on an “On3 Texas Tech” message board going by the name VivaTerlingua said he and a group of fans found the document at the hotel bar the night before the game.
“OK I’m not posting pics of it but a bunch of us are in the Colorado team hotel at the bar and we found a 25 page or so playbook that I would bet large amounts of money on is the actual CU playbook,” the poster wrote. “It’s got opening plays, red zone info, our tendencies, etc. etc. Seriously, how can we get this to the Texas Tech team?”
Former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz said the material ‘appears to be authentic’ after the comparisons surfaced.
“So someone in Colorado’s program left their game plan playbook in the team hotel which was found by some Texas Tech fans. It appears to be authentic. WILD,” Schwartz wrote.
College Transfer Portal shared a post that placed playbook pages alongside broadcast clips from the Fox telecast, noting that the first six first-half plays and the opening two plays of the second half matched the script exactly.
“WILD: The Colorado playbook left at a hotel matched the 1st & 2nd half openers perfectly. Absolute negligence by Colorado,” the account wrote. There is no evidence that Texas Tech coaches received, saw, or used the document before kickoff.
The fan reactions came quickly and were not kind. “Unbelievable man, my Alma mater is a banter club,” wrote one user.
Underdog’s Ben Cary went further. “Deion and crew are so unserious. This is embarrassing on so many levels,” Cary wrote.
Others were caught off guard by the logistics of it all.
“NGL I thought it was BS I had no idea they still had paper playbooks,” said another user.
“This ain’t no AI either,” pointed out one fan.
“This is insane. How does this get leaked?” asked one user.
One fan framed it as a rules issue.
“@Big12Conference @brettyormark this is cheating 😂,” wrote another fan.
A follow-up post from one user added specific context on where the script apparently ended.
“To follow up on this – Colorado’s first five or six plays lined up exactly with what was found in the hotel. Buffs went away from the script once they reached the red zone,” the user noted.
The apparent leaked game plan document was only part of the story on Saturday. On Colorado’s second snap after halftime, with the Buffaloes still leading 7-3, receiver Joseph Williams took a pitch and threw an interception on a play the sheet labeled “JOJO PASS EXIT.” Colorado did not score again.
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Quarterback Isaac Wilson, a Utah transfer who got the start after Sanders benched Julian Lewis, went 26-of-44 for 290 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. The 12 drives after the opening scoring march ended in four interceptions, two missed field goals, a failed fake punt, three punts, and two turnovers on downs
Texas Tech’s Brice Pollock had two interceptions, and linebacker John Curry caught a Wilson pass in the end zone for a fourth-quarter touchdown.
Sanders acknowledged the obvious problem after the game without naming it directly.
“We have one glaring problem,” Sanders said. “You guys know what that is. Let’s stop the foolishness, man. We have one glaring problem.”
Colorado has been outscored 93-27 over its three-game losing streak. According to PFN’s CFB Offense Impact metric, the Buffaloes rank 113th nationally with a grade of 66.5. Their PFN’s CFB Defense Impact metric ranks 44th with a grade of 81.7. Texas Tech ranks 29th on defense with an 86.5 grade and 49th on offense with a 78.5 grade.
Sanders has called an open quarterback competition during the bye week. Colorado returns to host Utah on Oct. 17.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.
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