What Colorado Buffaloes' Ryan Staub Said After Underwhelming Start At Houston Cougars

Quarterback Ryan Staub's first start in two years was a stinker.

Going up against a fairly average Houston Cougars squad, the Colorado Buffaloes' offense struggled to find consistency, and coordinator Robert Livingston's defense couldn't find answers throughout an embarrassing 36-20 loss on Friday evening. With plenty to fix moving forward, Colorado now stands 1-2 overall and 0-1 in Big 12 Conference play.

Staub, who turned heads last week against Delaware, completed 16 of his 35 passes on the night with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Ryan Staub Takes Blame After Colorado's Loss At Houston

What Ryan Staub Said Colorado Buffaloes Big 12 Loss Houston Cougars Deion Sanders Kaidon Salter Julian JuJu Lewis Quarterback — Sep 12, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Ryan Staub (16) scrambles with the ball during the fourth quarter against the Houston Cougars at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Staub took much of the blame for Colorado's rough offensive performance, particularly in third-down situations. On the night, Colorado converted just four of 14 third downs.

"Third down efficiency. We had two good drives in the first half," Staub said, per BuffStampede's Olver Hayes. "Lot of that falls on me. Put the defense out there too much."

Fortunately for the Buffs, they have a winnable game next week against the Mountain West's Houston Cougars.

"We just gotta stay pushing," Staub said, per Hayes. "We gotta lean on each other and get back to work."

Confidence In Quarterback Room

While coach Deion Sanders may not yet know who he'll start against Wyoming next week, Staub believes the he and fellow quarterbacks Kaidon Salter and Julian "JuJu" Lewis are all capable.

“It’s still solid," Staub said of Colorado's quarterback room, per Yahoo Sports' Nikki Edwards. "We all need to support and help each other.”

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Recapping Colorado's First Big 12 Loss

Just about everything went wrong for Colorado early on both sides of the ball, as Houston jumped out to a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter. The Buffs' tackling issues resurfaced and Staub got off to a slow start in only his second career start.

Colorado settled in midway through the second quarter, aided by a 38-yard rushing touchdown by Simeon Price — the first of his college career.

Despite gaining some momentum before halftime, Colorado opened the third quarter flat. Houston chewed up over eight minutes off the clock on its first drive of the half and never let the Buffs regain any substantial momentum in the game's final 30 minutes

Wide receivers Omarion Miller and Joseph Williams each had over 50 receiving yards and running back Simeon Price led the Buffs with 51 ground yards.

Defensively, safety Tawfiq Byard led the Buffs with 14 total tackles and also recorded a pass breakup. Safety Ben Finneseth followed with seven tackles and linebacker Shaun Myers had six.

Colorado will host the Wyoming Cowboys next Saturday in its final nonconference game. Kickoff at Folsom Field is set for 8:15 p.m. MT on ESPN.