November 03, 2026 | Football
"He's In": Young Will Start Again As Buffs Lean Into Run-First Identity
BOULDER — Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders was asked Tuesday what, when he went back through the tape of Saturday's 27-24 overtime win over Kansas State, looked most sustainable.
He needed one sentence.
"We ran the ball, and we imposed our physical will," Coach Prime said. "That was it."
Colorado rushed for a season-high 222 yards against the Wildcats, threw it 21 times and never trailed in regulation, and the Buffaloes head to Tempe this week with a clear picture of who they are. Richard Young, who carried 24 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns in his first start-to-finish game as a Buff, will start again Saturday at Arizona State (5:30 p.m. MT, ESPN2) regardless of Micah Welch's availability.
"He's going to start again this week," Coach Prime said. "I can't tell you how the game is going to play out, but he's going to start again this week. I love what he brought to the table."
The run-pass split was not an accident. Colorado had talked all season about getting back to the identity of its first couple of games, and the week of practice before Kansas State turned the talk into an order.
"This is what we've got to do," Coach Prime said. "This is what we're going to do. There's no discussion. This is who we are. I know who we want to be. We're not that. This is who we are. So there was a strict emphasis on what we're going to do and how we're going to attack the opposition, and we were able to do such."
The emphasis did as much for quarterback Isaac Wilson as it did for the backfield. Wilson completed 14 of 21 passes for 185 yards, did not throw an interception for the first time since the Baylor game and delivered the 11-yard overtime touchdown to Charlie Williams on third-and-9 that ended the Buffs' five-game losing streak. Somewhere in the middle of all that, during a TV timeout, he gave his head coach a progress report.
"He was like, 'Coach, this is easy, man,' " Coach Prime said. " 'I ain't got to do nothing but hand the darn ball off and make my reads.' I said, 'That's it. That's it, Isaac.' So he's getting it, and that game was great for his growth and his development and his vision."
Coach Prime has said before that Wilson has a tendency to play hero ball. The antidote, he said, is a running game good enough that Wilson doesn't have to.
"When you give him the assistance of a running game like that, he finds it pretty easy," Coach Prime said. "Now play-action pass is working, RPOs are working, because they've got to respect it out of the run."
Young's breakout was not a surprise inside the building. Coach Prime said he had seen it in practice from the start of the season, and that the fourth-year back from Lehigh Acres, Fla., handled a long wait behind a crowded room without complaint.
"Richard runs hard, works hard, prepares, studies, does not miss anything," Coach Prime said. "He's not on anybody's list, and he hasn't had a pity party. He could have, and he should have. But he hadn't gotten his opportunity, a true opportunity, and he got it. And that's the most touches he's ever had in a college football game, so he proved that he's more than worthy. I'm happy that he didn't erupt, he didn't implode. He just kept working and kept his head down, and he got what he deserved."
Asked whether Young was simply next in line, Coach Prime shook off the premise.
"I saw something in practice from the beginning," he said. "Sooner or later, you've got to say, he's in. Ain't no negotiations about this. He's in."
The front five earned its share of the credit. Leon Bell moved to right guard and Larry Johnson III started at right tackle, a configuration Coach Prime said was built for exactly what the Buffs intended to do.
"That was different, because, okay, we're getting ready to go downhill," he said. "We're getting ready to run. So that provoked that change."
After rotating as many as eight or nine linemen early in the season, Colorado rode essentially five against Kansas State, and Coach Prime said the group that gets snaps from here will be determined the same way Young's job was.
"Practice proves everything," he said. "They've got to work hard, and they've got to really want it, and they've got to really show us in practice that they're capable."
That theme ran through the afternoon. Asked about safety Randon Fontenette, Coach Prime said the fourth-year transfer is "practicing and playing like a pro," and that the correlation is not hard to find on film.
"I could show you clips of when these guys have great games, and I can show you the practices that week, and you'd say, 'Okay, I see why everything's matching up now,'" he said. "I can show you a guy that didn't play well, and I can show you his practices, and that's what led up to it."
The defense will carry its own momentum to Arizona. Gideon ESPN Lampron was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after a 16-tackle, two-sack afternoon that pushed Colorado into the win column for the first time in conference play.
"He's been consistent all season, every game, and I love what he brings to the table," Coach Prime said.
Arizona State, meanwhile, gets the Buffs' full respect. Coach Prime called Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham "my guy" — the two arrived in the Big 12 in the same hiring class, and Dillingham was the league's Coach of the Year in 2024 — and he described a well-coached opponent with an outstanding special teams unit, a pair of dangerous receivers, a running back he called "really, really good" and a defense that will try to take away the very thing Colorado just rediscovered.
"They want to keep the ball in front of them and rally to the football, and try to eliminate our running game," Coach Prime said. "We know everybody we play is going to try to force Isaac into making mistakes. We know that, and we've got to run the ball."
What the win did not do, in Coach Prime's telling, is lift anything off the Buffs. A reporter framed the losing streak as a dark cloud that had finally parted.
"Sun's been up," Coach Prime said. "We just haven't played like we're capable of playing. But it's not dark, and the sun is always up."
He was just as quick to dismiss the idea that a weight had come off.
"You guys are still who you are," he said. "It ain't no weight off. We don't subscribe to that. They're not having a pity party. They're not saying, 'Poor little old me, we're getting our butts kicked.' No — let's go out there and win. And one day this season, we're going to put it all together. Offensively, defensively, special teams, no penalties. Everybody's going to come out at the same time."
Colorado (3-5, 1-4 Big 12) and Arizona State meet Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.
Watch the Press Conference
He needed one sentence.
"We ran the ball, and we imposed our physical will," Coach Prime said. "That was it."
Colorado rushed for a season-high 222 yards against the Wildcats, threw it 21 times and never trailed in regulation, and the Buffaloes head to Tempe this week with a clear picture of who they are. Richard Young, who carried 24 times for 120 yards and two touchdowns in his first start-to-finish game as a Buff, will start again Saturday at Arizona State (5:30 p.m. MT, ESPN2) regardless of Micah Welch's availability.
"He's going to start again this week," Coach Prime said. "I can't tell you how the game is going to play out, but he's going to start again this week. I love what he brought to the table."
The run-pass split was not an accident. Colorado had talked all season about getting back to the identity of its first couple of games, and the week of practice before Kansas State turned the talk into an order.
"This is what we've got to do," Coach Prime said. "This is what we're going to do. There's no discussion. This is who we are. I know who we want to be. We're not that. This is who we are. So there was a strict emphasis on what we're going to do and how we're going to attack the opposition, and we were able to do such."
The emphasis did as much for quarterback Isaac Wilson as it did for the backfield. Wilson completed 14 of 21 passes for 185 yards, did not throw an interception for the first time since the Baylor game and delivered the 11-yard overtime touchdown to Charlie Williams on third-and-9 that ended the Buffs' five-game losing streak. Somewhere in the middle of all that, during a TV timeout, he gave his head coach a progress report.
"He was like, 'Coach, this is easy, man,' " Coach Prime said. " 'I ain't got to do nothing but hand the darn ball off and make my reads.' I said, 'That's it. That's it, Isaac.' So he's getting it, and that game was great for his growth and his development and his vision."
Coach Prime has said before that Wilson has a tendency to play hero ball. The antidote, he said, is a running game good enough that Wilson doesn't have to.
"When you give him the assistance of a running game like that, he finds it pretty easy," Coach Prime said. "Now play-action pass is working, RPOs are working, because they've got to respect it out of the run."
Young's breakout was not a surprise inside the building. Coach Prime said he had seen it in practice from the start of the season, and that the fourth-year back from Lehigh Acres, Fla., handled a long wait behind a crowded room without complaint.
"Richard runs hard, works hard, prepares, studies, does not miss anything," Coach Prime said. "He's not on anybody's list, and he hasn't had a pity party. He could have, and he should have. But he hadn't gotten his opportunity, a true opportunity, and he got it. And that's the most touches he's ever had in a college football game, so he proved that he's more than worthy. I'm happy that he didn't erupt, he didn't implode. He just kept working and kept his head down, and he got what he deserved."
Asked whether Young was simply next in line, Coach Prime shook off the premise.
"I saw something in practice from the beginning," he said. "Sooner or later, you've got to say, he's in. Ain't no negotiations about this. He's in."
The front five earned its share of the credit. Leon Bell moved to right guard and Larry Johnson III started at right tackle, a configuration Coach Prime said was built for exactly what the Buffs intended to do.
"That was different, because, okay, we're getting ready to go downhill," he said. "We're getting ready to run. So that provoked that change."
After rotating as many as eight or nine linemen early in the season, Colorado rode essentially five against Kansas State, and Coach Prime said the group that gets snaps from here will be determined the same way Young's job was.
"Practice proves everything," he said. "They've got to work hard, and they've got to really want it, and they've got to really show us in practice that they're capable."
That theme ran through the afternoon. Asked about safety Randon Fontenette, Coach Prime said the fourth-year transfer is "practicing and playing like a pro," and that the correlation is not hard to find on film.
"I could show you clips of when these guys have great games, and I can show you the practices that week, and you'd say, 'Okay, I see why everything's matching up now,'" he said. "I can show you a guy that didn't play well, and I can show you his practices, and that's what led up to it."
The defense will carry its own momentum to Arizona. Gideon ESPN Lampron was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after a 16-tackle, two-sack afternoon that pushed Colorado into the win column for the first time in conference play.
"He's been consistent all season, every game, and I love what he brings to the table," Coach Prime said.
Arizona State, meanwhile, gets the Buffs' full respect. Coach Prime called Sun Devils head coach Kenny Dillingham "my guy" — the two arrived in the Big 12 in the same hiring class, and Dillingham was the league's Coach of the Year in 2024 — and he described a well-coached opponent with an outstanding special teams unit, a pair of dangerous receivers, a running back he called "really, really good" and a defense that will try to take away the very thing Colorado just rediscovered.
"They want to keep the ball in front of them and rally to the football, and try to eliminate our running game," Coach Prime said. "We know everybody we play is going to try to force Isaac into making mistakes. We know that, and we've got to run the ball."
What the win did not do, in Coach Prime's telling, is lift anything off the Buffs. A reporter framed the losing streak as a dark cloud that had finally parted.
"Sun's been up," Coach Prime said. "We just haven't played like we're capable of playing. But it's not dark, and the sun is always up."
He was just as quick to dismiss the idea that a weight had come off.
"You guys are still who you are," he said. "It ain't no weight off. We don't subscribe to that. They're not having a pity party. They're not saying, 'Poor little old me, we're getting our butts kicked.' No — let's go out there and win. And one day this season, we're going to put it all together. Offensively, defensively, special teams, no penalties. Everybody's going to come out at the same time."
Colorado (3-5, 1-4 Big 12) and Arizona State meet Saturday at Mountain America Stadium.
Watch the Press Conference
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