Pat Shurmur says Colorado’s offense will be similar to last season

The Colorado Buffaloes are just four days away from playing in this year’s edition of the Black & Gold Spring Game, and four days away from showing the world what the 2025 Buffaloes will look like as a lot of key contributors from a season ago head to the professional ranks.

Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur spoke for the final time before the scrimmage on Saturday, and provided insight on to what his offense will look like without the 2024 Heisman Trophy winner in Travis Hunter and the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year in Shedeur Sanders.

“There’s gonna be a lot of the same stuff from last year but we’ve developed a lot of fun stuff for this season,” Shurmur said after the Buffaloes wrapped up practice on Tuesday.

Colorado had a solid offense in 2024, ranking fifth in the Big 12 with 32.9 points per game. The offense ranked first in both passing yards (4,134) and passing touchdowns (37) in the conference. Shurmur’s attack put together some impressive performances last year, but there were also some very lackluster efforts.

On the other side, the Buffs ranked dead-last in the conference in rushing yards (847), tied for last in fourth down conversions (8) and tied for 10th in third down conversions (65). In the four most important games of the season (Nebraska, Kansas State, Kansas, BYU) — all of which the Buffaloes lost — the offense put up just 21 points combined in the first half.

There were plenty of times in 2024 when the offense was stagnant at times. The run game was never consistent, the pass protection was never consistent and the play calling was never consistent. If a lot of the same stuff is in place from a season ago, how will it look without Sanders running the show?

With Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter and freshman Julian Lewis battling for the starting spot, that’s where the fun stuff Shurmur mentioned could get interesting. Salter ran a triple option scheme at Liberty and had over 1,000 rushing yards in 2023 to go with 12 touchdowns on the ground. Could Shurmur be hinting at the new scheme incorporating some designed runs from the quarterback?

Lewis, on the other hand, plays a similar game to Sanders. He can make people miss in the pocket and be evasive when needed, but that’s not his game. He wants to stand tall in the pocket and pick defenses apart. If Shurmur wants to keep the offense similar to what was on the field last year, then that would fit Lewis’ play style better.

The offense will obviously need to be somewhat different, as the safety valve of Travis Hunter is gone. The most important fix for Shurmur is the rushing attack, but it’s also finding ways to get an entirely new receiver room, besides Omarion and Drelon Miller, open in the route pattern.

Shurmur’s quote could also hint at the possibility of a two-quarterback system. There has been no word out of Boulder on the status of the battle between Salter and Lewis, and Shurmur’s words could show that they have plans for both Lewis and Salter to play.

The answer to how Colorado’s offense will look will be seen on Saturday as the new-look Buffs take the field for the first time for the spring game.