Saturday, September 6
Boulder, Colo.
1:30 PM
Colorado
1-1 , 0-0
31
vs
7
Delaware
1-1 , 0-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Delaware
0
7
0
0
7
Colorado
7
10
7
7
31
Staub Shines To Lead Buffs Over Delaware
September 06, 2025 | Football
BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado's third-string quarterback, Ryan Staub, came off the bench to toss a pair of touchdown passes and lead the Buffaloes to a 31-7 victory over Delaware Saturday at Folsom Field.
Staub accomplished what he did in dramatic fashion, as well, not coming into the game until the final 46 seconds of the first half and orchestrating a perfect two-minute drill, throwing his first touchdown pass with just nine seconds left in the first half to put CU up 17-7 headed into the locker room. Then a mere 83 seconds of game time later, he hit Sincere Brown for 71-yards to open up the second half, and the game, 24-7 in favor of the Buffs.
"He earned it," Coach Prime said of Staub. "You want to reward them with an opportunity. I think that strengthens your team. When people say 'they played the guy that was on the third string quarterback,' and then guess what? He played so well the whole student body was chanting his name. I said, 'You got to be kidding me.' That's a blessing for me, because I really take a liking to those young men, like I'm I'm the guy I cried when I saw the movie Rudy. I did, okay, that's just who I am."
CU ran the ball well for the second straight game, picking up 131 yards with two rushing touchdowns, and CU's defense gave up some big plays but made big plays when needed, evidence by the defense having seven pass breakups, seven tackles for loss, five quarterback hurries, two sacks, a forced fumble, and interception.
After playing three quarterbacks, Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders was asked if he knew how he was going to handle the quarterback situation moving forward.
"Yeah, I know exactly how I will handle the quarterback situation," Coach Prime said. "I'm not going to say it, but yeah, I'm not lost for direction."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The plan all along was that each of CU's top three quarterbacks, Kaidon Salter, Julian Lewis and Staub, would each get two series and switch.
Salter got the start and the Buffs seized early momentum with a strong defensive performance followed by Salter picking up 75 of the Buffs 87 yards on the drive, hitting 6-of-6 passes for 46 yards and three rushes for another 29 yards and the 9-yard touchdown run. The drive was setup by a couple of big defensive plays on the first drive of the game, led by a sack from Martavius French and quarterback hurry by Keaton Wade.
The Buffs extended their lead in the second when Alejandro Mata nailed a 28-yard field goal at the 13:03 mark, following Salter's efficient passing and Simeon Price's rushing efforts. Delaware responded late in the quarter, capitalizing on a 45-yard pass to set up a touchdown with 45 seconds remaining. After Lewis' orchestrated an eight play drive in his first series, the Buffs went three-and-out in his second.
Delaware then made the game interesting with its only touchdown of the game, led by Jo Silver, who had the final four touches of the Blue Hens TD drive, culminating in a 4-yard touchdown with just 45 seconds left in the half, making the score 10-7 in favor of the Buffs.
That's when the Staub magic began. After two incompletions, DeKalon Taylor busted loose for 23-yards on 3rd-and-10 to get out near midfield. Staub then hit Joseph Williams for 31 yards approaching the red zone. Staub on the following play found Taylor on a check-down and Taylor found himself wide open at about the 15-yard line and scored a touchdown to give CU a 17-7 advantage going into the locker room.
Staub picked up the second half where he left off the first, hitting Sincere Brown on a 71-yard touchdown less than two minutes into the second half. That was the second longest passing touchdown of the Coach Prime era and the longest since Shedeur Sanders threw a 75-yard touchdown to Dylan Edwards against TCU in 2023, which also was the first possession of the second half.
Delaware then went on an 11-play drive but the Buffs stopped the Blue Hens on the 6-yard line as on fourth down Jeremiah Brown and French tackled Viron Ellison for no gain on 4th-and-1. Staub hit Sincere Brown for another 36-yards on a similar play to the 71-yard touchdown.
Staub explained postgame that he changed both of those plays at the line of scrimmage, "Those two plays, he wasn't supposed to run a 'Go' and on both plays, I told him to run a 'Go,' if they press Sincere, it's going up."
The Buffs got a break at the start of the fourth quarter, after Alejandro Mata picked a 40-yard field goal, Delaware was called for a personal foul, giving CU a first down, and Micah Welch scored from 10 yards out to make the score 31-7.
On the next drive, CU's Jeremiah Brown and Ben Finneseth came up big. Nick Minicucci completed a short pass to Ja'Carree Kelly, who broke free. Brown was able to hold him up and make him change direction, which gave Finneseth just enough time to punch the ball out from behind, and Brown fell on the ball.
The next Delaware series, RJ Johnson got his first career interception to hold the score 31-7 and the Buffs were able to put the game away with both Salter and Lewis getting some more possessions.
UP NEXT
The Buffs will hit the road for the first time in 2025 and open Big 12 play with a game at Houston on Friday, set for 5:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Staub accomplished what he did in dramatic fashion, as well, not coming into the game until the final 46 seconds of the first half and orchestrating a perfect two-minute drill, throwing his first touchdown pass with just nine seconds left in the first half to put CU up 17-7 headed into the locker room. Then a mere 83 seconds of game time later, he hit Sincere Brown for 71-yards to open up the second half, and the game, 24-7 in favor of the Buffs.
"He earned it," Coach Prime said of Staub. "You want to reward them with an opportunity. I think that strengthens your team. When people say 'they played the guy that was on the third string quarterback,' and then guess what? He played so well the whole student body was chanting his name. I said, 'You got to be kidding me.' That's a blessing for me, because I really take a liking to those young men, like I'm I'm the guy I cried when I saw the movie Rudy. I did, okay, that's just who I am."
CU ran the ball well for the second straight game, picking up 131 yards with two rushing touchdowns, and CU's defense gave up some big plays but made big plays when needed, evidence by the defense having seven pass breakups, seven tackles for loss, five quarterback hurries, two sacks, a forced fumble, and interception.
After playing three quarterbacks, Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders was asked if he knew how he was going to handle the quarterback situation moving forward.
"Yeah, I know exactly how I will handle the quarterback situation," Coach Prime said. "I'm not going to say it, but yeah, I'm not lost for direction."
HOW IT HAPPENED
The plan all along was that each of CU's top three quarterbacks, Kaidon Salter, Julian Lewis and Staub, would each get two series and switch.
Salter got the start and the Buffs seized early momentum with a strong defensive performance followed by Salter picking up 75 of the Buffs 87 yards on the drive, hitting 6-of-6 passes for 46 yards and three rushes for another 29 yards and the 9-yard touchdown run. The drive was setup by a couple of big defensive plays on the first drive of the game, led by a sack from Martavius French and quarterback hurry by Keaton Wade.
The Buffs extended their lead in the second when Alejandro Mata nailed a 28-yard field goal at the 13:03 mark, following Salter's efficient passing and Simeon Price's rushing efforts. Delaware responded late in the quarter, capitalizing on a 45-yard pass to set up a touchdown with 45 seconds remaining. After Lewis' orchestrated an eight play drive in his first series, the Buffs went three-and-out in his second.
Delaware then made the game interesting with its only touchdown of the game, led by Jo Silver, who had the final four touches of the Blue Hens TD drive, culminating in a 4-yard touchdown with just 45 seconds left in the half, making the score 10-7 in favor of the Buffs.
That's when the Staub magic began. After two incompletions, DeKalon Taylor busted loose for 23-yards on 3rd-and-10 to get out near midfield. Staub then hit Joseph Williams for 31 yards approaching the red zone. Staub on the following play found Taylor on a check-down and Taylor found himself wide open at about the 15-yard line and scored a touchdown to give CU a 17-7 advantage going into the locker room.
Staub picked up the second half where he left off the first, hitting Sincere Brown on a 71-yard touchdown less than two minutes into the second half. That was the second longest passing touchdown of the Coach Prime era and the longest since Shedeur Sanders threw a 75-yard touchdown to Dylan Edwards against TCU in 2023, which also was the first possession of the second half.
Delaware then went on an 11-play drive but the Buffs stopped the Blue Hens on the 6-yard line as on fourth down Jeremiah Brown and French tackled Viron Ellison for no gain on 4th-and-1. Staub hit Sincere Brown for another 36-yards on a similar play to the 71-yard touchdown.
Staub explained postgame that he changed both of those plays at the line of scrimmage, "Those two plays, he wasn't supposed to run a 'Go' and on both plays, I told him to run a 'Go,' if they press Sincere, it's going up."
The Buffs got a break at the start of the fourth quarter, after Alejandro Mata picked a 40-yard field goal, Delaware was called for a personal foul, giving CU a first down, and Micah Welch scored from 10 yards out to make the score 31-7.
On the next drive, CU's Jeremiah Brown and Ben Finneseth came up big. Nick Minicucci completed a short pass to Ja'Carree Kelly, who broke free. Brown was able to hold him up and make him change direction, which gave Finneseth just enough time to punch the ball out from behind, and Brown fell on the ball.
The next Delaware series, RJ Johnson got his first career interception to hold the score 31-7 and the Buffs were able to put the game away with both Salter and Lewis getting some more possessions.
UP NEXT
The Buffs will hit the road for the first time in 2025 and open Big 12 play with a game at Houston on Friday, set for 5:30 p.m. on ESPN.
Team Stats
DEL
COL
Total Yards
396
398
Pass Yards
312
268
Rushing Yards
84
130
Penalty Yards
31
40
1st Downs
19
21
3rd Downs
2
7
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
27:03
32:57
1st Quarter
DEL 0, COL 7
COL - Salter,Kaidon 9 yd run (Mata,Alejandro kick), 12 plays, 87 yards, TOP 06:06
2nd Quarter
DEL 0, COL 10
COL - Mata,Alejandro 28 yd field goal 12 plays, 43 yards, TOP 03:59
DEL 7, COL 10
DEL - Silver,Jo 4 yd pass from Minicucci,Nick (Reed,Nate kick) 7 plays, 80 yards, TOP 02:54
DEL 7, COL 17
COL - Taylor,DeKalon 21 yd pass from Staub,Ryan (Mata,Alejandro kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 00:36
3rd Quarter
DEL 7, COL 24
COL - Brown,Sincere 71 yd pass from Staub,Ryan (Mata,Alejandro kick) 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:14
4th Quarter
DEL 7, COL 31
COL - Welch,Micah 10 yd run (Mata,Alejandro kick), 5 plays, 24 yards, TOP 02:23
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
Players Mentioned
ILB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
S
/ Football
ILB
/ Football
S
/ FootballQB
/ Football
PK
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballColorado Football Postgame Press Conference
Sunday, September 07
Mark Johnson & Gary Barnett break down the win vs Delaware | The Buffalo Stampede: Colorado Football
Sunday, September 07
Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders Weekly Press Conference
Thursday, September 04
Colorado Football: Offensive Line Coach George Hegamin | Mic'd Up
Thursday, September 04