A scouting report of the Colorado Buffaloes and Texas Tech Red Raiders ahead of Saturday’s game at Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.

Colorado Buffaloes

Head coach: Deion Sanders, 2nd season (10-10, 37-16 career)

2024 season: 6-2, 4-1 Big 12

Last week: Bye

Rankings: No. 20 CFP, No. 21 AP, No. 24 Coaches

5 Buffs to watch

RB Isaiah Augustave: CU’s leading rusher, with 271 yards on the season. Although CU rotates its backs, Augustave has started two games in a row and posted 144 yards and two touchdowns in those games. He had a season-high 91 yards in the Buffs’ 34-23 win against Cincinnati on Oct. 26.

OL/DL Tyler Brown: A starter on the Buffs’ offensive line in the first seven games, Brown has started practicing with the defensive line, which has been hampered by injuries. Brown could make an impact at guard and defensive tackle.

CB Preston Hodge: Enjoying a good first season with the Buffs, posting 26 tackles, two interceptions and six pass breakups. He had a season-high two pass breakups against Cincinnati two weeks ago.

WR Drelon Miller: He’s not a starter, but Miller continues to find his way onto the field and he’s becoming a bigger part of the game plans. The freshman has caught 18 passes for 105 yards and ran the ball three times for 11 yards. He’s had multiple receptions in five consecutive games.

DE Samuel Okunlola: CU’s co-leader in sacks with 3.0 and one of the leaders in tackles for loss, with 5.5. He also has 21 tackles overall. The Pitt transfer has eight sacks and 11.5 TFLs in the past two years combined.

Texas Tech Red Raiders

Head coach: Joey McGuire, 3rd season (21-14)

2024 season: 6-3, 4-2 Big 12

Last week: Won at No. 11 Iowa State, 23-22

Rankings: RV in AP and Coaches’ polls

5 Red Raiders to watch

S CJ Baskerville: He’s third on the team with 50 tackles and tied for the team lead with three interceptions. He’s also had three pass breakups and 2.5 tackles for loss. Baskerville started 10 games for the Red Raiders last year, finishing second on the team with 78 tackles while adding 4.5 tackles for loss, two interceptions and five pass breakups.

RB Tahj Brooks: On the verge of becoming Tech’s all-time leading rusher, he has 4,099 yards and is 121 shy of the record. Posted 1,538 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2023, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors. He ranked fourth nationally with 118.31 yards per game last year and is fifth this year at 130.9 per game.

WR Josh Kelly: Washington State transfer is Tech’s leading receiver, with 68 catches for 736 yards and five touchdowns. Caught 61 passes for 923 yards and eight touchdowns at Washington State last year. A sixth-year senior who played four years at Fresno State, he’s caught 216 passes for 2,964 yards and 17 TDs in his career.

QB Behren Morton: He has put together a solid season so far, completing 62.1% of his passes for 2,300 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions. He has thrown for 5,171 yards, 41 touchdowns and 19 interceptions during his four seasons at Texas Tech.

LB Ben Roberts: Enjoying a stellar sophomore year, with 65 tackles (second on the team), 4.5 tackles for loss and four QB hurries, as well as three forced fumbles. Named the co-defensive freshman of the year in the Big 12 last year, leading the Red Raiders with 107 tackles, including 6.5 tackles for loss, two forced fumbles and an interception.

When Colorado has the ball

CU’s offense has been clicking lately, especially early in games. The Buffs are averaging 36.4 points per game in conference play, and they’ve scored at least 34 points in four of the five games. In those four games, they’ve run the ball well (91-plus yards each time), but when scoring just 28 points in a loss to Kansas State, the Buffs had a program-record-low minus-29 rushing yards. The key to it all, of course, is dynamic quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who has played his way into Heisman Trophy contention. “In my opinion, I think Shedeur Sanders is the best quarterback in college football,” Texas Tech head coach Joey McGuire said. “If I was an NFL GM and I had a pick to where I needed a quarterback, he’d be the first quarterback taken in this year’s draft. He should be. I have a lot of respect for him.” Sanders is an exceptional passer, but he also has a dangerous group of receivers, led by Travis Hunter, who has better odds than Sanders to win the Heisman. The key to slowing down CU is the defense hitting and sacking Sanders. Tech is last in the Big 12 in sacks, but McGuire said, “We have to hit the quarterback. He takes a lot of hits and he is a tough guy. He just keeps getting back up. The times that people have done that, it’s affected some of the throws.”

When Texas Tech has the ball

The Red Raiders lead the Big 12 in scoring at 36.4 points per game, including 32.3 in conference games. They’ve done it with a fairly balanced attack, with 53.4% of their plays coming on passes and 46.6% on the ground. Tech has one of the nation’s best running backs in Tahj Brooks, who is averaging 130.88 yards per game (fifth in the country). Tech runs a lot of RPO (run-pass options) with QB Behren Morton, but Morton doesn’t carry the ball much. When Morton throws it, however, he’s good, posting 2,300 yards and 19 touchdowns. In addition to trying to stop Brooks, CU will have to contend with a trio of good receivers (Josh Kelly, Caleb Douglas and Coy Eakin), but the Buffs trust their secondary to do the job. “I think the thing that’s going to be different than what we’ve seen is tempo,” CU linebackers coach Andre Hart said. “They’re a tempo team. Just finding out that rhythm and then also seeing the formations quicker (is important) because thing about tempo is that you can’t hide a lot when you’re in tempo. You have to be very good looking at film, understand the formations, location of the ball, and what you’re going to get next based off the previous play. This is going to be a really good challenge for us to actually go against team who really plays tempo majority of the time.”

Special teams

CU’s kicking game has been on a roll of late. Placekicker Alejandro Mata has made seven field goals in a row and is 9-for-11 on the season. Punter Mark Vassett overcame some early struggles to get in his own groove in recent weeks, especially when it comes to pinning the opponent deep. Six of Vassett’s past eight punts have pinned the opposition inside of its 20-yard line. Texas Tech kicker Gino Garcia has had an exceptional season, going 13-for-13 on field goals. He had a tough start to the 2023 season but has made 27 of his past 29 field goal attempts. Punter Jack Burgess has had a solid season for the Red Raiders, landing 14 of his 36 punts inside the 20.