Five concerns for Colorado football against the No. 24 BYU Cougars

The Colorado Buffaloes beat down on the Wyoming Cowboys 37-20 to earn their second win of the season and over a Group of 6 opponent of 2025.

While the win over the Cowboys was undoubtedly the most convincing effort that the Buffaloes have shown to date, it comes with a massive caveat. The Buffaloes were supposed to beat Wyoming and do so convincingly, so the win functions more as a first step toward being competitive in the Big 12 than anything else. The real tests lie ahead with three straight games against ranked opponents, starting with No. 24 BYU.

Did that win show you enough to be convinced Colorado can upset the Cougars? Maybe or maybe you just checked in from the "Sunny Side," either way, allow me to bring you back down to Earth with reasons to be concerned about the Buffaloes.

The run defense discussion will continue until morale improves

I've written about the run defense ad nauseam through just five weeks of the 2025 season, but it remains the most significant red flag this team has. The Buffaloes yielded 126 yards on 19 carries to Wyoming's Samuel Harris, another poor performance for a defense that is allowing nearly 200 yards per game. BYU brings LJ Martin, a bowling ball running back who can make any defense pay, and true freshman Bear Bachmeier, who can scramble as well.

Who's driving this thing?

Between the loss of star tackle Jordan Seaton and at least two of the Buffaloes' stable of running backs being hurt, Colorado is hurting on the injury front. While we wait for the Big 12 injury report to be released tonight, it can be assumed that key players for the team will be playing at less than 100%. That leaves a lot of weight on quarterback Kaidon Salter and a patchwork offensive line to play perfectly.

A final exam in Week 5

Don't be fooled by their weak strength of schedule; BYU isn't ranked No. 24 in the nation because of brand recognition, it's because of their defense. The unit has only allowed 16 points through three games and ranks in the top 20 in the nation in both passing yards allowed and rushing yards allowed. In their two games against FBS opponents, no individual rusher has run for over 50 yards.

The hard part is keeping it

Salter was on fire last week against Wyoming, doing everything you want a quarterback to do and more. He was accurate, used his legs to pick up extra yardage, and looked so much more confident in himself than he did through the first two weeks. While that's a positive sign, we also haven't seen that side of Salter against a Power 4 team or consistently enough through the season to know that he's turned a corner. Those missed checkdowns on the move haunt my dreams, and we shouldn't forget them after one great game.

Stadium pulse on mute

In our expert Big 12 Conference weekly picks, I confidently selected East Carolina to upset BYU because I didn't believe Bachmeier would be able to handle Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium in his first road game. It turns out that I was utterly wrong and might have been remembering the ECU team that I played an EA College Football 26 dynasty with because Bachmeier was unbothered by the crowd at Rowdy-Dowdy.

He was the picture of poise, completing 18 of his 25 passes for 246 and one touchdown. No turnovers, no drastic blunders, nothing; he looked like he'd done this all his life. Heading into his second road game, Folsom Field will need to reach another level to rattle the young Bear.

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This article originally appeared on Buffaloes Wire: Colorado football vs. BYU: Concerns before BYU matchup