The 2-0 Colorado Buffaloes will make the trip to the banks of Lake Michigan on Saturday, as Coach Prime and company will take on the Northwestern Wildcats for their final non-conference game of the season. Pegged as 3-point underdogs by most sportsbooks, the Buffs are looking to do something they haven’t done since 2023: go undefeated in their non-conference slate.
In order to accomplish that goal, they’ll have to beat a disciplined Wildcats squad that also has a chip on their shoulder, looking to prove their themselves as a sneakily scary team in the tough Big Ten. Here’s everything to look out for ahead of CU’s game against Northwestern on Saturday:
Keep Up the Momentum on Offense
Brennan Marion’s offense steam-rolled Weber State last week, putting up 578 all-purpose yards and scoring seven touchdowns. The passing game clicked against the Wildcats, with quarterback JuJu Lewis throwing for 366 yards and four touchdowns in less than three quarters of action. Three of those touchdowns came on explosive plays of around 50 or more yards.
Additionally, the Buffs recorded their first 100-yard rusher in a game of the Deion Sanders era, when Micah Welch picked up 106 yards and a touchdown on the ground. This comes right off an impressive performance in Atlanta, where CU rushed for 183 in a win over Georgia Tech.
All this to say: The Buffs have some juice right now on offense, and they’ve shown improvement from week to week. They’re going to need to continue to improve to beat Northwestern on Saturday, and that will be a tough task against a David Braun-led defense.
This will be Braun’s third full season in Evanston. During that time, he’s done a commendable job laying a solid foundation on defense for the Wildcats. His defense isn’t something that is going to jump off the page when you look at that stat sheet, and you won’t see them crank up insane amounts of pressure and blitz often. Instead, you’ll see a rock-solid unit with few overall weaknesses that’s really good at what they do. What they lack in top-end athleticism they make up for with discipline and fundamentals. This group rarely makes mistakes, which is what makes them so hard to beat.
In week one against South Dakota State, a notoriously good FCS team, Northwestern allowed 432 total yards, with 285 through the air and 147 on the ground. While that’s a pretty sizable number, the Wildcats only allowed one touchdowns on the day, proving their bend-don’t-break tendency that’s become a staple of Braun’s teams.
To win on Saturday, Colorado’s offense needs to be firing on all cylinders. The Buffs won’t be able to rely on explosive plays and big gain like last week. They’ll need a way consistently move the ball through both the air and on the ground, as this Northwestern team isn’t going to give up many easy opportunities. Lewis and the offense will need to sustain drives, find a way to pick up ample small wins against the Northwestern defense and keep mistakes to a bare minimum. Moving the ball slowly but surely is what’ll beat Northwestern.
Colorado fans should keep an eye on Micah Welch once again on Saturday, as finding success on the ground is paramount if the Buffs want to leave Chicago with a win. Welch has established himself as the clear top threat in CU’s running backs room, but that doesn’t mean he’s the only key back to watch. Look out for Damien Henderson and JaQuail Smith also, who have been very effective as fresh legs and change of pace backs.
In the passing game, this could be Danny Scudero’s chance to shine, if healthy. The San Jose State transfer has a knack for finding soft spots in coverage for short, quick pickups, evidenced by the fact that he led the NCAA in receptions last year. He’s been battling a lower body injury since fall camp, causing him to miss most of the action through CU’s first two games. With another week of rest, Scudero could be the difference maker for the Buffs when going against a staunch defense like Northwestern’s.
Stop the Run and Bottle Up Chiles
Saturday will be new Northwestern offensive coordinator Chip Kelly’s second game at the helm of the Wildcat’s offense. Based on what they showed in week one against South Dakota State, it’s a pretty safe bet that we’re going to see the same brand of offense he ran at Oregon, UCLA and Ohio State.
Kelly’s offense has some recognizable tendencies. Expect an up-tempo, spread-out attack that uses motion, formations and the occasional no-huddle look to create confusion and stress the defense. That gives his offense space to make plays while putting additional pressure on defenders to communicate and stay disciplined. Northwestern will look to establish the run, particularly with inside-zone concepts, to wear down CU’s defensive front while using play action and deep shots to keep the secondary from creeping toward the line of scrimmage.
Kelly has an athletic quarterback at his disposal in Aidan Chiles, who played at Michigan State under Jonathan Smith over the last two season. Colorado fans may remember that name, as Chiles played against the Buffs in 2023 during his time at Oregon State. When given space on the ground, Chiles will make you pay. He’s a prolific runner and isn’t afraid to use his legs if the situation calls for it.
Through the air, it’s a bit of a different story. Chiles has struggled while passing the ball, with only a 61.2% career completion rate, and 28 touchdowns compared to 14 interceptions. He showed lots of improvement during his time at MSU, cutting down significantly on both picks and incompletions between 2024 and 2025. He looked good last weekend against the Jackrabbits, but will be facing a much tougher defense in Colorado on Saturday.
Ideally, the Buffs should look to bottle up Chiles and make him a passer first. His stats and tape indicate he’s much more dangerous on the ground than in the air. Confining Chiles to the pocket and making his try to move through the passing game is a potential winning recipe.
Turning back to the ground, Northwestern’s running backs are another dangerous group that Colorado needs to find a way to slow down. Caleb Komolafe and FSU transfer Gavin Sawchuk are the two guys to look out for, as they’ll try to run the ball out of inside zone more often than not. The offense’s fast pace is intended to wear down the defensive line so guys like Sawchuk and Komolafe can pick up steam as the game progresses.
That’s a pretty significant concern for Colorado’s defensive line, which is relatively shallow in depth after three players that were projected to be big pieces weren’t granted additional eligibility by judges in the weeks prior to the season. CU’s defensive front has had two very impressive back-to-back performances, especially against Georgia Tech, but this week will be the toughest test they’ve had yet. They’ll need to keep their same intensity for a full 60 minutes of football to come away with the win. If the defensive line can find a way to stop Kelly’s offense, the rest of the Big 12 is going to be on watch headed into conference play.
In terms of the secondary, this Colorado group is still looking to prove itself. Despite picking up highly touted prospects from the portal like Tennessee’s Boo Carter and Notre Dame’s Cree Thomas, the group has struggled through the first two games, giving up 482 passing yards thus far. Of those, 237 came against Georgia Tech, while the remaining 245 came against Weber State. That’s undoubtedly a concerning high amount of production to allow against an FCS opponent, and the team knows it.
Against Northwestern, the secondary will have another opportunity to show it can live up to the talent that it brought to Boulder. They have the potential. Now, it’s just time to see it on the field in an actual game.
Prediction
Will Colorado knock off Northwestern to advance to 3-0?
It’s going to be a tough battle, but I’m inclined to say so. This weekend’s game will be the final game in Northwestern’s temporary stadium on the banks Lake Michigan, which only holds about 12,000 fans. I predict about half, if not more, will be wearing black and gold.
Colorado’s high-powered offense, combined with their high-end athleticism, will be too much for the Wildcats to overcome. Still, it’s going to be close. I’m officially locking in my prediction as a 28-24 Colorado victory. That means that the Buffs would leave Evanston with a dub, but they’d also cover the three-point spread.
We’ll have some killer game day content for the Northwestern game, so be sure to check back here on Saturday! We’ve got you covered for pregame analysis, game day posting and our classic postgame breakdowns.
Sko Buffs!
