Eleven games into the season, there’s nothing truly revelatory about Colorado’s 2022 team that will emerge from a single game, short of something truly miraculous or unexpected. This group of Buffs, for better or worse (mostly the latter), is what it is.

Still, for all the surprise it lacked, Colorado’s 54-7 loss Saturday night at No. 15 Washington wasn’t without notable developments that reinforce some of the things we already knew about the Buffs heading into the matchup.

Here are the five biggest takeaways from Colorado’s 10th and most recent loss of the season.

1. This looked like the first time Colorado lacked a sense of fight

Even as the good feelings from the Oct. 15 win against Cal waned with one lopsided loss after another, Colorado still showed a sense of fight and, at times, was competitive. The energy and positivity interim head coach Mike Sanford has infused in the program since he took over the post on Oct. 2 were noticeable, even in defeat.

Saturday, however, was perhaps the first time under Sanford that the Buffs looked the way they did under former head coach Karl Dorrell – not only overmatched and losing big, but looking so plainly out of it. Granted, there were situations in which Colorado appeared energized, the two most notable of which were a goal-line stand to keep the score at 33-0 and a hobbled J.T. Shrout returning to the game to throw a 69-yard touchdown pass to Montana Lemonious-Craig to prevent his team from being shut out. But the Buffs were out of the game early and unlike losses to Oregon and USC, there weren’t even the brief moments when it seemed as though it might threaten to make it a game for a minute.

I’m often extremely hesitant to take away too much from athletes’ perceived body language. These are competitive, prideful young men who, for all of the losses this season, are competing at the highest level of their sport. But this looks like a team that sees a light at the end of the tunnel.

2. Colorado made a worthwhile gamble on defense, even if it didn’t pay off

Entering Saturday’s game, much of the conversation (understandably) centered around Washington quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and what, if anything, Colorado might be able to do to neutralize the nation’s leader in passing yards.

While they didn’t stop him, the Buffs at least slowed him down a bit, with Penix finishing with a season-low 229 passing yards. They accomplished that by playing eight men in coverage for much of the evening and having only three players along the defensive line. By doing that, they kept Penix in relative check and didn’t have Washington receivers running free with nobody around them, but that strategy made an already suspect run defense undermanned. The Huskies capitalized on that with 280 rushing yards, the third-most Colorado has given up in a game this season, and 6.5 yards per carry.

Despite the results it birthed, I think the Buffs’ coaching staff took a sensible risk. Penix has picked apart defenses better than Colorado’s this season and without an extra defensive player in the secondary, he almost certainly would have done the same to the Buffs. So why not dare the Huskies to try to beat you in a way that is contrary to coach Kalen DeBoer’s offensive philosophy – with a run game that entered the night averaging just 4.1 yards per carry.

Given their talent and personnel, Colorado comes into every game with mostly unenviable options. On Saturday, they took the most appealing one they had from a defensive standpoint. Sometimes, you have to divorce the decision from the result, with this being one of those instances.

3. Washington offers some hope for Colorado’s near future, but it comes with limitations

There has been a worthwhile discussion this week about how Washington’s quick turnaround – from 4-8 last season to 9-2 this season – should be a source of optimism for Colorado fans once a new coach is brought aboard. With the one-time transfer exemption, rebuilds aren’t quite as long and arduous as they used to be. Nowadays, improvement can come quickly, with experienced and proven college players available to bolster a roster.

It’s an argument, however, that glosses over some key differences. Washington, for one, is a program with more recent success, with 10 (soon to be 11) bowl appearances since 2010, a College Football Playoff berth in 2016, and a 10-win season and a Rose Bowl appearance as recently as four years ago. It spends more money on football, as well, with a budget of $24.27 million during the 2020-21 academic year, compared to Colorado’s $17.52 million. Most of all, there was a greater talent baseline for DeBoer than whatever will be awaiting the Buffs’ new coach. The Huskies’ average recruiting ranking in the four seasons before DeBoer’s hiring was 23rd. The Buffs’ average ranking over the past four years is 47th.

This isn’t to say whoever takes over in Boulder won’t make immediate improvements. I’d frankly be concerned if they didn’t. But the road back to relevancy won’t be quite as short and smooth, as I’m sure many Colorado fans understand.

4. Owen McCown will get his redshirt

When Shrout briefly exited the game midway through the third quarter with an injury, he was replaced by sophomore Drew Carter. For weeks, as the subject of a possible redshirt for one-time starting quarterback Owen McCown has been discussed more openly, there existed a potential roadblock to what seemed like an otherwise workable plan – what if Shrout had to be pulled from a game? With the midseason transfer of Brendon Lewis, the Buffs don’t have a ton of options or depth at quarterback, meaning that while McCown can’t play another game this season if he wants to preserve his redshirt, circumstances might necessitate him coming into a game.

But when such a scenario arose Saturday, Carter entered the game. It helped that it was late enough in the contest and there was no hope of a win, but with only one game left, it removes basically any doubt that might have been left about whether McCown will still have four years of college eligibility left after this season – whether that’s at Colorado or elsewhere.

5. It’s a shame Alex Fontenot didn’t get a more desirable senior season

After a strong junior season, Fontenot entered 2022 as an offensive focal point for the Buffs, especially after the departure of many of the team’s top weapons to various other schools. After a subpar first two games, he was sidelined for nearly two months with an injury.

Since coming back for a Nov. 5 loss against Oregon, he has shown Colorado exactly what it was missing. In the three games since his return, he has rushed for 220 yards and averaged 5.8 yards per carry. Over the past two games, he has been, by far, the Buffs’ best and most reliable source of offensive production, a strong runner who doesn’t give up on plays after contact.

What this season might have looked like for both him and his team had it not been for injury is unknown. Maybe the Buffs might have another win or two. But in his sixth season with the program, he has shown in spurts what he’s capable of accomplishing.