Colorado
Deion Sanders turn to Ryan Staub as Colorado quarterback foreseen by former coach
Georgia vs. Tennessee: Which team looks more complete going into Week 3?
USA TODAY’s Blake Toppmeyer and the Knoxville News Sentinel’s Adam Sparks break down where the Bulldogs and Vols are going into Week 3.
A former University of Colorado interim football coach has been predicting this would happen for quite some time.
It’s kind of a crazy story: Ryan Staub, who started the season as the third-string quarterback at Colorado, is now on track to become the new No. 1 QB for Colorado under coach Deion Sanders. Staub might even run away with the job if he performs well in Colorado’s next game Friday at Houston.
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He’s that good, said Mike Sanford, who served as Colorado’s interim coach before Sanders was hired in December 2022. Sanford said he’s been “predicting this for kind of a while” based on his knowledge of Staub and how he stacks up against the other two top quarterbacks at Colorado.
“My take is he’s the best quarterback of the three, period, no matter how they got there,” Sanford said in an interview this week with USA TODAY Sports. “The world of football still comes down to a meritocracy, and whoever’s the best ultimately is going to have the opportunity to get out there and play.”
Sanford recruited Ryan Staub to Colorado before Deion Sanders
Sanford, now the coach at Valor Christian High in Colorado, has an admitted bias: He’s the coach who recruited Staub out of Southern California and helped persuade him to commit to Colorado about 10 months before Sanders arrived in Boulder. Sanford also counseled Staub after Sanders brought his son Shedeur with him to quarterback the Buffaloes in 2023 and 2024.
Sanford was let go by Colorado after the team finished 1-11 in 2022. But Staub stuck with his commitment and served as Shedeur’s backup in Sanders’ first two seasons at Colorado.
For those outside the program, this made Staub easy to overlook. He rarely played except for a 23-17 loss at Utah in the final game of 2023, when Shedeur sat out with a fractured back.
Then when Shedeur left for the NFL, Colorado installed two newcomers in front of Staub for 2025: Transfer Kaidon Salter, who led Liberty to a 13-1 season in 2023, and Julian “JuJu” Lewis, a four-star freshman recruit.
Sanford still believed. He just wasn’t sure Staub would get an opportunity.
“I didn’t know he’d get that chance, that legitimate chance, because his arrival to CU didn’t follow the narrative to CU that probably a lot of people want with the current CU program, which is a five-star (recruit) or major transfer who had been a really significant player,” Sanford said.
Deion Sanders gave him that chance last week in a 31-7 win at home against Delaware.
Ryan Staub’s unlikely shot under Deion Sanders
Colorado listed Staub as the No. 3 quarterback behind Salter and Lewis before both of the team’s games this season. Salter was the only quarterback who played in the season opener against Georgia Tech, a 27-20 loss. After that, Sanders said Lewis would get his first college playing time against Delaware, which he did when he came off the bench for two drives in the second quarter, both of which ended in punts.
But then came the unexpected twist. As part of a tryout of sorts, Sanders put in Staub with 45 seconds in the first half, with the Buffs leading 10-7. Staub missed on his first two passes. But then he took over, completing a 31-yard pass and then a 21-yard touchdown pass with nine seconds left before halftime. Then on his team’s first drive after halftime, he hurled a third-down pass for a 71-yard touchdown. By the time he left the game, the Buffs were up 31-7 after he led them on three touchdown drives in four possessions.
“This is a real-life story that’s happening right before your eyes,” Deion Sanders said at a news conference Tuesday.
Sanders said his goal in the Delaware game was to give each quarterback two series initially and then “somebody was going to come out of the pack.”
Sanders wouldn’t confirm if Staub would start at Houston Friday but acknowledged Staub has been getting a majority of the practice reps this week. He also said after the game last week that he had made up his mind about his next move at quarterback. “I’m not lost for direction,” he said.
Ryan Staub’s origin story at Colorado
Staub played high school football at West Ranch High in Stevenson Ranch, California, north of Los Angeles. It’s close to Interstate 5 near Six Flags Magic Mountain and is situated in a “dang wind tunnel,” as Sanford remembers it when he visited him there as Colorado’s offensive coordinator under then-head coach Karl Dorrell.
“I went out there to watch him throw,” Sanford said. “He was sweet, man, really, really good throwing session, did not miss throws. … I was super impressed that here’s a guy who’s not super tall (6-foot-1) and doesn’t have massive hands, and he just consistently was just piercing into headwinds, piercing it and throwing super accurate passes to two or three of his high school receivers. He just didn’t miss.”
Staub wasn’t highly recruited but got some scholarship offers, including from Arizona before committing to Colorado. He led his high school team to a 19-4 record as a starter and had 5,422 yards passing along with 687 yards rushing on 66 carries. Besides his throwing ability, Sanford admired his humble but confident character and marveled at his running ability.
“I was shocked at how he was willing to put his face in the fan and get physical,” Sanford said.
Staub then waited his turn at Colorado even though it didn’t look like it would ever come.
He could have transferred for a better chance elsewhere but didn’t. Why not?
“To be honest, I don’t know,” Staub said after the Delaware game. “I kind of fell in love with the process. I really enjoyed being here. I enjoyed being in this building under our coach. … I didn’t really know where I was at. I stuck my head down and just decided to keep working. And I got rewarded for that.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
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Colorado
Julian Lewis Says Deion Sanders’ Colorado ‘Wasn’t Really Looking at Defenses Much’ Last Season
Colorado quarterback Julian Lewis made a stunning admission that could explain the team’s 3-9 finish to the 2025 season.
While speaking to ESPNU at Big 12 media days, Lewis was asked what the biggest difference was between last year and this year, and he revealed that the Deion Sanders-coached Buffaloes typically didn’t watch film during his first season with the team.
“My play, I’m actually looking at the defenses now,” Lewis said. “Last year, we wasn’t really looking at defenses much, just kind of high school free-balling, just out there playing football. But it’s a lot bigger than that now, so it should be fun.”
Before taking a redshirt year, Lewis played in four games as a true freshman with two starts and threw for 589 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions while completing 55.3 percent of his passes. He should fare even better this season with the benefit of film study.
Lewis will enter the 2026 campaign as Colorado’s starting quarterback, so he will have the opportunity to show his improvements when the Buffaloes open the year against Georgia Tech on Sept. 3.
State and federal agencies are starting to reopen public lands, state wildlife areas and a segment of the Colorado River that were closed in light of the Snyder Fire in Mesa County.
Stage 2 fire restrictions — banning all open fire or flames, including charcoal grills and wood-burning stoves — remain in effect as extreme fire danger, spurred on by hot and dry conditions, persists across the region.
The Snyder Fire started on Friday, June 26, when several smaller fires burning on the Colorado-Utah border combined. As of July 7, the fire was 98% contained after burning over 30,200 acres and killing three wildland firefighters.
With fire activity decreasing and containment increasing, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Bureau of Land Management shared their plans Tuesday to reopen lands impacted by the wildfire.
Parks and Wildlife said in a news release that it, alongside the Bureau of Land Management, had lifted the closure for public access and downstream recreation on the Colorado River, starting at the James M. Robb-Colorado River State Park in Fruita and extending to the Utah state line. It also reopened the boat ramp at the Fruita section of the James M. Robb-Colorado River State Park in Fruita to downstream traffic.
The state agency’s Horsethief State Wildlife Area in Fruita and the Loma Boat Launch State Wildlife Area also reopened.
The BLM said in a news release that all lands within the perimeter of the Snyder Fire burn area remain closed to ensure public and firefighter safety.
“The burned landscape — including vegetation — remains dynamic and unpredictable as it naturally recovers from the fire impacts. This order is effective immediately and will remain in effect until the order is rescinded,” the BLM said.
Both agencies also warned that fire danger remains extremely elevated and Stage 2 fire restrictions are in place.
A map of current federal and state fire restrictions is available on the Rocky Mountain Area Interagency Fire Restriction Dashboard or by visiting DFPC.Colorado.Gov/sections/wildfire-information-center. The Colorado Trails Explorer (or COTREX) app also has wildfire closure alerts.
Under current conditions, Parks and Wildlife advised the following actions to prevent sparking wildfires:
- Use established rings: Where permitted, only build campfires inside permanent metal fire rings in designated campgrounds.
- Clear nearby debris: Remove all dry grass, leaves and pine needles within a 10-foot radius of any flame.
- Drown and stir: Extinguish fires completely with water, stir the ashes, and ensure the debris is cold to the touch.
- Watch campfires constantly: Never leave a fire or portable stove unattended. If you see an unattended fire, call 911.
- Keep vehicles off brush: Avoid parking or idling cars on tall, dry grass where hot exhaust systems can ignite a fire.
- Secure towing equipment: Ensure trailer safety chains do not drag and spark against asphalt. Check them at every stop.
The BLM added that under its Stage 2 restrictions, smoking is prohibited except in an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable materials.
Gas-powered stoves or grills with a shut-off valve are still allowed in cleared areas under this stage.
Violating Stage 2 fire restrictions by lighting a campfire is a Class 2 misdemeanor. Violators face an immediate citation, a mandatory court appearance, steep fines and potential jail time. Additionally, you can be held financially liable for all fire suppression costs and property damage if the campfire sparks a wildfire.
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