Every week, there seems to be a new reason why the Colorado Buffaloes have a big game.

Season openers always have a certain amount of hype. That was followed by back-to-back rivalry games at Nebraska and Colorado State. Now comes not only the start of Big 12 play, but the return to a conference that CU left 14 years ago.

That’s why CU head coach Deion Sanders isn’t placing any extra importance on Saturday’s matchup with Baylor at Folsom Field.

“Every game means a lot to us,” Sanders said this week.

There might be a touch of importance added to this one as the Buffs begin conference play, but more important to CU is carrying momentum gained from last week’s 28-9 win in Fort Collins and continue to improve as a team.

Offensively, the Buffs gained some traction in the run game behind an offensive line that had its best game of the year. CU rushed for a season-high 109 yards against the Rams, while quarterback Shedeur Sanders was sacked just once.

“The O-line, they had great practice (last week), and we took advantage of that too, so we was waiting to have good runs this game,” running back Micah Welch said.

Welch had 65 yards against CSU and was a good complement to Shedeur, who threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns.

The Buffs will look to keep it going against a Baylor defense that has been salty this year, allowing just 9.7 points and 230.3 yards per game.

“We got to be who we are,” coach Sanders said. “We’ve got to run the ball effectively … (and) our receivers are a tough cover. When we’re protecting our quarterback, our receivers are a tremendously tough cover. So I don’t wish that on anybody. I feel like we could do some phenomenal things, as (the Baylor Bears) feel like they could shut us down in some areas of concern, but our guys are pretty good. We just gotta give our quarterback a little time and we’re OK.”

As good as the Buffs can be offensively, they’re starting to make their mark on defense.

For the first time since 2018, CU has held each of its first three opponents below 30 points. Dating back to the 2023 finale, the Buffs have held four consecutive opponents below 30 points, the longest streak for the program since five straight games to start the 2018 season.

“Yeah, most definitely,” linebacker LaVonta Bentley said when asked if CU could be led by its defense. “I think we’ve been doing pretty good on defense. We’ve just got to be consistent. We got to start out fast and just have that energy, have that fire there. And once we do that, man, this team is gonna be crazy.”

First-year defensive coordinator Robert Livingston has received a lot of praise for setting the tone for the Buffs’ defense.

“He’s allowing us to be us,” Bentley said.

The confident defense is allowing just 21.0 points and 374.3 yards per game — significant improvement from last year (34.8, 453.3). Tasting success has Bentley and his teammates wanting more.

“Everybody in the world knows that you can do it,” he said. “So, you just got to keep pushing yourself each and every day and going out there and prove it to yourself and prove it to the team that we can do it each and every week.”

For the Buffs, Saturday’s game is a big opportunity to start conference play with a win. It’s also an opportunity to keep the train going forward, on both sides of the ball.

“Our young men, we’ve got to do a better job of equipping them with the ability to just keep on going,” Coach Prime said. “And don’t look either right or left, don’t look at the hate or the cheers. Just keep on going.”