Paul Finebaum casts doubt on Colorado, bleak outlook for rest of 2025 season
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum cast a good amount of doubt on Deion Sanders and Colorado for the remainder of the 2025 season. At 1-2 through three games, Finebaum called it bleak.
Colorado fell to Houston 36-20 on Friday night after naming QB Ryan Staub the starter. However, the change didn’t bring enough spark to the offense on the road and the defense fell woefully short of containing the Cougar attack. The schedule doesn’t get any easier in a wild Big 12.
Perhaps there’s another quarterback on the horizon considering the carousel over the first few weeks. But Sanders might have better luck in 2026, per Finebaum.
“It’s certainly in the short term, pretty bleak,” Finebaum said on The Matt Barrie Show. “It was sad to watch that the other night. I mean, I think you know what Deion has overcome. I think everybody in the country pulls pulls for him, but they’re not going to be a factor the rest of the season.
“And I just don’t know how Deion, battling everything else he is battling, will be able to battle that because he’s so used to the spotlight. And there’s never been anybody better with the bright lights on, but when you lose a couple of games like this, and you’re treading water, you’re not going to garner a lot of attention the rest of the way.”
After coming in relief against Delaware and earning the start Friday night, Staub didn’t play well. He was 19-of-35 passing for 204 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.
“Staub didn’t play well. I saw what you saw,” Sanders said. “He did not play well today. That wasn’t his best, to say the least.”
Even in losses, the Colorado offense showed a little juice. But it’s the defense that has not played up to snuff, giving up 36 and 27 points in the two losses this year.
“We’re not struggling. We’re getting our butts kicked,” Sanders said of the defense. “You don’t have to be polite with me, you don’t have to sugarcoat it. I come from a momma who kept it like that with me. We are getting our butts kicked. We are not successful on either side of the ball as we would wish to be …
“Guys are not making plays. You are seeing what I see. You got a sack, you miss a sack. You got a play, you miss a play. You can’t give up explosions. Because explosion plays lead to touchdowns and we can’t continue to miss tackles because those things lead to first downs. A first down leads to a touchdown. We got to do better. But we got to coach them up better.”
