Colorado playbook allegedly found at hotel bar by opposing fan amid offensive woes

Colorado has been struggling on offense, and it doesn't help that the team's playbook is allegedly falling into the hands of opposing fans.

On Friday night a poster on a Texas Tech message board claimed to have found the Buffaloes' game script at the bar in the team hotel. The fan declined to share photos of the playbook on the message board Friday, but images of the alleged playbook were later posted on social media Saturday -- and those images did seem to match Colorado's opening script. 

"OK, I'm not pics of it but a bunch of us are in the Colorado team hotel at the bar and we found a 25 page or so playbook that I would bet large amounts of money on is the actual CU playbook. It's got opening plays, red zone info, our tendencies, etc," the user wrote.

Posts on message boards should always be met with skepticism, and Colorado told CBS Sports it has no comment on the story.

Besides, coaches can always use decoys as a way to fool opponents. Mike Leach famously left a fake playbook in the trash can ahead of the Red River Rivalry against Texas when he was an offensive coordinator at Oklahoma.

That said, the images posted online did seem to match Colorado's opening possession in each half, to a degree. In a video on X, one user shows that the first six plays of the first half and the first two plays of the second half matched what the script laid out.

The message board poster inquired about how to get the playbook to Texas Tech, but they either weren't successful or it didn't matter. On Colorado's opening possession, it drove 75 yards in nine plays for a touchdown. Those were the only points the Buffaloes scored all game.

For most of the season, it's looked as though each one of Colorado's opponents has known what's coming. Coordinator Brennan Marion's offense has 27 points in the last three games, and coach Deion Sanders has grown frustrated with his rotating cast of quarterbacks, including the ballyhooed Julien Lewis, who was benched a week ago. 

"We've been horrible," Sanders said of Colorado's offensive struggles. "Don't sugarcoat it. We've been horrible. What'd we have? Seven points. You're not gonna win. Don't sugarcoat it no more. Just tell it how it is."

Colorado now gets a week off before it has to face Utah, and that's a defense that certainly doesn't need extra help. Perhaps the Buffs will take better care of their playbook when the Utes visit Boulder.