The Colorado Buffaloes don't have Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter anymore, which really shines a light on one of the team's biggest flaws: Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur.
Denver Broncos fans don't need to say, "I told you so," because many fans of the CU Buffs program are also Broncos fans already, but any fans of Colorado football who weren't paying attention when Shurmur was in Denver with the Broncos are finding out the hard way what Broncos fans already painfully experienced.
Shurmur is not a good offensive coordinator at this point, and Buffs fans found that out the hard way in a devastating 36-20 loss at the hands of the Houston Cougars.
Former Broncos coach Pat Shurmur is predictably driving CU fans to the brink
Go ahead and read some of the latest reviews of Shurmur's offense from fans and media alike. It's not pretty.
Shurmur's offense had twice as many punts and turnovers (six punts, two turnovers) as they did third-down conversions (4) against Houston on Friday night as they fell to 1-2 on the season. They barely reached 300 yards of total offense and fans are calling for Deion Sanders to make an overdue change.
Shurmur has experience as a coach in the NFL, but at this point, what does that even mean? He has not been doing a good job since before Vic Fangio hired him.
Back when he was with the Broncos, Shurmur tried explaining why the Broncos were actively practicing incomplete passes during practice, or justifying why some first halves were just "low scoring" and that was that.
Shurmur's time in Denver was far too nonchalant for fans to ignore, especially because he was directly responsible -- at the time -- for the development of young quarterback Drew Lock. Lock was coming off of a strong finish to his rookie year when Shurmur took over for the fired Rich Scangarello.
Ultimately, as bad as Drew Lock may have been as Denver's starter, Shurmur's offense and ability to develop quarterbacks certainly didn't do him any favors.
Even with a better quarterback in 2021, Shurmur came under fire for his constant obsession with the "run-run-pass" formula almost every time the Broncos had the ball. There was no creativity, no forward-thinking, and it felt like he was actively holding the operation back.
I wonder if that sounds at all familiar for Colorado fans and what they're experiencing now...
Without star players like Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, the Colorado football program has found itself in a rough rebuilding project and Shurmur is not the offensive mind to push the rock up the hill.