BOULDER — The Deion Sanders era has reached a new low.

The over 48,000 people who attended Colorado’s homecoming game against Arizona on Saturday night at Folsom Field should ask for their money back.

A week after an embarrassing, 53-7 loss at Utah — the worst loss since Coach Prime took over — the Buffaloes (3-6, 1-5 Big 12) suffered their worst home loss since the start of the 2023 season, a 52-17 defeat at the hands of the Wildcats (5-3, 2-3).

Here are three takeaways from the game:

The (likely) end of the Kaidon Salter era

We have likely seen the last of Kaidon Salter in a CU uniform. The veteran quarterback has just not worked out since transferring in from Liberty.

After another disappointing performance, Salter was benched near the end of the first half Saturday night. He completed 11 of 15 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown, while adding 27 yards on nine carries on the ground.

He led just one scoring drive on six possessions.

If that is indeed it for Salter, he’ll finish with a 3-5 record as a starter this season with 113 completions on 179 attempts (63%) for 1,242 yards, 10 touchdowns and 6 interceptions.

After Ryan Staub struggled in relief, throwing two interceptions without a completion on the first two drives of the second half, 5-star freshman Julian ‘JuJu’ Lewis was finally put in the game for his first action since he played just two series against Delaware in early September.

The 18-year-old impressed in the first extended action of his career, 

Defense provides no resistance

This Buffs defense couldn’t stop a nosebleed right now.

An Arizona offense that came into Saturday night with average statistics in the Big 12 faced no resistance as the Wildcats racked up 417 yards of offense with an average of 6.6 yards per play.

They scored on eight of 10 drives before the second-team offense entered the game midway through the third quarter. 

Penalties, penalties, penalties 

Need any more proof this isn’t just a players issue for the Buffs? Look at the penalties by both teams.

CU committed 14 penalties of all varieties (procedural, disciplinary, etc.) for 110 total yards, while Arizona had just 8 for 75 yards.

No matter the level, that amount of penalties is a coaching issue and the sign of a poorly-run operation.