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BOULDER, Colorado — Deion Sanders couldn't believe it. He even said he was "dumbfounded" when Colorado was thumped by 46 points a week ago. 

After Colorado's 53-7 loss to Utah in Salt Lake City, which is the largest margin of defeat for the Buffaloes in the rivalry with the Utes, Sanders said, "This is bad." 

"This is probably the worst beating I've ever had except when my momma whooped me as a kid," added the Colorado head coach.

Utah out-gained Colorado 587-140 in total yards — out-rushing the Buffaloes 422-38 yards. Defensively, Utah smothered Colorado and the Buffaloes allowed 17 quarterback pressures, 13 quarterback hurries and seven sacks, according to Pro Football Focus. 

"We gotta fix this,"  last Saturday. "Right now, we just gave a blueprint away. 'You know what? Next week, let's run on them, throw on them, blitz them. They can't stop it, blitz them. They're not going to block nobody, just blitz them.' That's what we're up against."

When Arizona faces Colorado at Folsom Field on Saturday, the assumption is the Wildcats are going to play bully ball and blitz all night. 

"Well, yes and no," said Arizona defensive coordinator Danny Gonzales. "The things Utah did that were successful, Utah chose violence and Colorado didn't respond right away. It was 40-0 before you could blink your eyes. ... I thought they came out and fought their ass off in the second half."

Gonzales said Colorado's loss to Utah was an anomaly for the Buffaloes this season. Said Gonzales: "You gotta throw the Utah game out. It's not even in our breakdowns." 

Gonzales noted Utah "did some unique things that you can copycat and steal, because we're all copycats and thieves. We'll have an answer for that. ... If we blitz them it shouldn't be a surprise. It shouldn't be anything off-guard." 

The Wildcats are also looking to stop the run against a Colorado team that is the second-worst rushing offense in the Big 12, which has been a red flag for Arizona the last two games. If Arizona's rushing defense was on pace with its first five games, the Wildcats would have the second-best rushing defense in the Big 12. After giving up 490 rushing yards to BYU and Houston, the Wildcats have the eighth-best rushing defense in the conference.

"I take a lot of pride in rush defense, so the last two weeks have been gut-wrenching to me," Gonzales said. "We'll have a plan this weekend, I'll promise you that." 

The Buffaloes don't have big-bodied quarterbacks like BYU's Bear Bachmeier and Houston's Conner Weigman, who both ran for nearly 100 yards apiece against the Wildcats. Colorado starting quarterback and Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter is capable of peeling off chunk runs, but he's more known for his athleticism and speed more than his power. Salter has 2,279 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns in his career.  

Gonzales half-jokingly dared Colorado offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur to install quarterback power.

"See if they can execute it and out-block us," Gonzales said. "Bring it, Colorado. Bring quarterback power and we can talk about it after." 

One common theme in Arizona's last two losses is "a lot of opportunities missed in terms of tackling and getting people to the football," said Arizona head coach Brent Brennan.  

Arizona had a season-high 15 missed tackles against BYU and 10 against Houston, according to Pro Football Focus. Arizona safety Genesis Smith had a team-high four missed tackles against Houston. Smith and linebacker Max Harris both lead the team with 11 missed tackles this season.

Often times, especially against Houston, short gains would turn into first downs — or touchdowns. 

Smith and strong safety Dalton Johnson "have to make those tackles for 2-yard gains. If they don't, it's really hard to call a defense," Gonzales said. 

Even though Salter is expected to start, the Wildcats are preparing for two quarterbacks, along with sophomore Ryan Staub, who has appeared in three games this season and has passed for 427 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.

"They might both play," Gonzales said. "They might stick with one. Luckily, not a significant difference in what they do schematically."

With Staub, "you've got different problems there because he came in the second half (against Utah) and you saw a spark. They did some different things with him," Gonzales said. 

Salter "is an explosive football player and he can make the throws he needs to make, but he's also dangerous in the run game, which is obviously something we had to deal with the last couple of weeks," Brennan said.

"He's a really good football player," Brennan added. 

Both Salter and Staub "bring a little bit of something different to the table, but they're all high-level, high-talent and really good," Brennan said. Colorado also has highly-touted freshman quarterback and former USC commit Julian Lewis, who has played one game this season. 

"We're going to be ready for whatever shows up," Brennan said. "We just gotta line up and play."