The legend of Shedeur Sanders was born tonight
Hell of a game. Shedeur Sanders is legit, and so is Coach Prime.
CSU had a clear physical advantage and won in the trenches on both sides of the ball, but Shedeur basically carried the team on his back in the second half. Kid isn't just all flash and raw talent; he has good QB instincts and is clearly well-coached.
In any case, great game. Being a college football fan on the West Coast has some advantages, because it's still 11:30 pm here.
September 17th, 2023 at 2:48 AM ^
The bandwagon CU fans booing CSU injuries for ruining their tempo was also super classy.
September 17th, 2023 at 3:34 AM ^
I never knew Colorado low key had the largest fan base in the nation.
Suddenly everyone is a Buffs fan lmao
September 17th, 2023 at 10:47 AM ^
It was the same booing for fake injuries that every fanbase everywhere - even ours - has done when some team is trying to kill clock or slow down play.
September 17th, 2023 at 4:09 PM ^
If you are going to fake injuries, you probably wouldn’t start with the one guy you absolutely don’t want to take off of the field during some of those key plays.
September 17th, 2023 at 2:55 AM ^
they struggled against a bad team but they are light years better than they were last year.
good team, should get to a bowl game. i could see them at 9-3 …. could also end up 6-6 and i wouldn’t be surprised.
September 17th, 2023 at 2:59 AM ^
Next 2 games will be telling. I want to see if they can consistently keep Shadeur upright in the pocket when they have an Oregon or USC challenging their O-line
September 17th, 2023 at 7:23 AM ^
I'm not saying CU will win but, where the fuck did USC get a defense all of a sudden? Say what you will about Prime, I think he's a douche, but his kid is a legit qb who can throw and move. If CU has anything it's playmakers at the skill positions on offense. I have more confidence in Oregon St. defense then I do USC's.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:01 AM ^
So you think USC's defense isn't as good as CSU's? They got to Sanders on a few blitzes tonight that were more than just one man leaking through. So, I'm pretty confident that USC will be able to get to him. It isn't making any implication on my opinion of Sanders at QB. It's more that I don't think his line will keep consistent pressure off of him against Oregon or USC if CSU was able to find success getting to him.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:48 AM ^
This is a legit debate, actually. CSU could tackle but not play a responsible zone. USC can't do the former. Might be able to do the latter.
Caleb Williams will throw for all the yards though, especially if Hunter is out like is reported.
September 17th, 2023 at 3:21 AM ^
Washington state
Oregon state
Utah
UCLA
Oh and the next two weeks at Oregon and hosting USC and Caleb f****ing Williams.
I am not certain Georgia would be 9-3 in their place...
September 17th, 2023 at 3:27 AM ^
could see them beating wsu, ucla and osu. maybe not likely but they’re a decent team
losses to ou, usc, utah likely
September 17th, 2023 at 10:20 AM ^
This is a 6-6 team at best. They barely have a defense and their o line is non-existent. Rely way to much on hero plays
September 17th, 2023 at 4:30 PM ^
You could see them going 9-3? You don't have very much football knowledge. I'll be surprised if they win 6 games.
September 17th, 2023 at 2:59 AM ^
CO has played 3 crap teams this season. Needed 2 OT to defeat a lousy CSU team.
Washington is going to hang 50 on "PrimeTime" Saturday. CO cant keep up with that kind of attack.
WA is good for a 2 TD win vs CO. The week after that USC will put 55 on CO. CO will be 3-2, then all this silliness about CO will come to an end.
September 17th, 2023 at 7:43 AM ^
Oregon is CU's next opponent. And yeah, hype meets conference reality next week. And the week after
September 17th, 2023 at 3:09 AM ^
How are people not realizing this colorado team is legit?
They will beat Oregon and then get usc at home.
This train is rolling.
And to top it off, bryce underwood was in attendance for this epic qb performance.
Sanders is type of talent that wills a team to wins.
Underwood is probably a better talent too.
To be fair for the good of his career, he should probably pick colorado.
He will throw for a million yards.
September 17th, 2023 at 3:21 AM ^
Then what? The Pinstripe bowl finishing 3rd in the Big12?
September 17th, 2023 at 6:46 AM ^
What are you smoking? I want some.
September 17th, 2023 at 3:14 AM ^
SC anchor just asked rhetorically is unranked Mizzou beating a ranked team on a walk-off 61 yard FG worthy of rushing the field...but did they ask that of the Colorado fans who beat a trash MWC team? Let's all get mad at Deion about it and pretend we don't also have a lightning rod coach!
September 17th, 2023 at 4:25 AM ^
It was a very entertaining game. Sloppy and chippy but entertaining. CSU game to play to the echo of the whistle and even after. I still don't get how that safety wasn't tossed for targeting on the cheap shot. I thought there was gonna be a full on brawl at that moment.
My thing is that I'd bet all the money in my pockets that Coach Prime will not be at Colorado for more than 2 seasons (including this one). Some cash soaked boosters from A&M or another SEC school that has an off year will fire the money cannon at him. But the other question is will he lose interest in coaching after his son's depart and take their shot at the league? I'm guessing that window is about 2 years tops. Maybe less. Anyway, good for the Buffs to make hay in the moment while the sun is shining. If they get a few lucky breaks I could see them at 8-4 or 7-5....IF they get super super lucky breaks I still think that their gold standard dream season is no better than 10-2...So given all of that I'd bet the under on 7.5 for them.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:56 AM ^
That safety should have been tossed because he intentionally aimed for the ribs and intentionally went in hard to hurt Hunter. That is the very hit that targeting is meant to stop - intentional injury attempts. Unfortunately, its written to put emphasis on head hunting - which is necessary, to be sure, but it limits the reach of the rule. The refs chose to enforce the limits rather than rely on the intent of the rule itself.
Poor officiating.
September 17th, 2023 at 4:24 PM ^
Except that’s not what targeting is, well … targeting. Targeting is trying to eliminate headshots that are inherently dangerous and lead to traumatic brain injuries and possibly things like CTE down the line.
There is an argument that any intent to injure should be an ejectable offense, but that’s harder to separate from a legitimate football play than headshots.
September 18th, 2023 at 10:52 AM ^
It seems to me that the officials always have the latitude to kick someone out for dirty play or intending to injure. They seemingly rarely go there (which is probably the right stance). But when it's 100% obvious to anyone with eyes that the safety tracked him from across the field on a play that wasn't going anywhere they should get together and toss the kid. Personal foul ? For sure. Not every infraction can be run through a formula where a+b+c = "targeting".
Again talking about the obvious. Not the in the heat of the game a guy breaking tackles and a dude comes up and plows him. That's a football play. What we had here was a hit job on a defenseless player. Seems like they can call a personal foul and then toss him. I don't think that there needs to be a defined penalty in order to toss a guy. We don't need "flagrant level 1; flagrant level 2...etc"
In baseball if a pitcher hits a batter there are times that the manager also gets tossed. It would be interesting to explore having that in football. After say 3 personal fouls then start tossing coaches as well. I dunno. That's probably a solution in search of a problem as I don't see this happening every week.
I just keep thinking if that happened at the Big House the reaction would be off the charts.
But whatever. Moving on.
September 17th, 2023 at 6:30 AM ^
The defining play of the game was when Shedeur Sanders stuck his fingers inside an opponent’s helmet and tried to poke the guy’s eyes.
Did noone else catch that? The refs sure as hell didn’t.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:49 AM ^
Just looked that up and saw some clips of it. Ugly. Reminded me of Brandon Spikes against Georgia in 2009. There's no room for that behavior in the sport.
September 17th, 2023 at 7:37 AM ^
Shedeur looks good but is also constantly playing with fire and I suspect the better teams on the schedule will get to him. Nebraska was really bottling him up until their offense's incompetence just broke them (similar to Illinois vs. PSU), and at times CSU clearly got to him with pressure and didn't looks in coverage. But more importantly, CU's just been winning a bunch of close-ish games with (likely) unsustainable play in high-leverage situations. CU has gotten 4 TOs each from Nebraska and CSU the past 2 weeks, and overall are +5 in the TO margin in those 2 games. They gave up nearly 500 yards to a CSU team that, while improved from last year, shouldn't be matching a P5 team on both the offensive and defensive line in terms of heft and talent.
Without Prime as HC this CU team would be an unqualified great story. With Prime, it's still that but helmed by an asshole who signed a great OC (who was a good HC at Kent St. and will be leaving after this season with much better job prospects) and has won a bunch of close games. Oregon is a different beast than the other teams they've played, obviously, and I'm intrigued to see how they look against them. I no longer expect them to get blown out by anyone but Oregon has corners who can hang with CU's guys AND has an offense that will absolutely shred this Buff defense.
September 17th, 2023 at 7:38 AM ^
We’ll know how good they are over the next two weeks. Compared to who they’re about to play, Oregon and USC, they haven’t played anyone.
They could easily be 3-2 and a relative afterthought by the end of the month. Oregon has a legit defense that can hang with CU’s skill players, and it’s going to be on the road for Colorado. They could legitimately get mugged in that game.
USC probably still doesn’t have a defense and that game will probably be a track meet, but their offense will absolutely shred CU’s defense and Sanders is going to have to find a way to keep up.
September 17th, 2023 at 7:40 AM ^
One thing I noticed when I switched to this game was there seemed to be less commercials.
September 17th, 2023 at 7:52 AM ^
I don't get all the Prime hatred. He makes things fun and does things a little differently. You'd think, as someone who was an all-time great player, that he'd get a little more slack.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
Do you remember when Harbaugh was hired by Michigan? Do you remember when the media was covering him nonstop? Michigan fans loved it, most others hated it. Deion is this decades Harbaugh to Michigan on steroids. That’s what’s happening now.
I get the hate. Watching that game last night was a circus. A bunch of celebrities with no ties to Colorado acting like they are the biggest fans of the program, musicians, telling people to buy their single when it comes out, hearing about a DJ in the locker room, playing for the players while they get ready, Michigan State level actions on the field, I could go on and on. It was obnoxious and I’ve only watched a half of them this year.
But that’s what makes sports entertaining. Hero's and villains.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:03 AM ^
Ohh, I get it now. The guy who has self-promoted himself since grade school, made the NFL Hall of Fame, has coached successful programs at different levels of football, and is now making the game fun for players and fans of CU is a bad person because he self-promotes. Okay. Because nobody else has ever self-promoted. (Most can't back it up so well, though...)
September 17th, 2023 at 2:05 PM ^
What I dont get is the need for Prime fans to have him be universally loved. The yankees, Brett favre, Tom brady (not us of course), Tim Tebow all got a ton of coverage and were disliked by a ton of people. You know the one difference though nobody was out there telling you you needed to like them. Nobody was droning on and on about you being a Tim Tebow hater.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:37 AM ^
No doubt CU has been a wildly fun team to watch this year. And little doubt that the run ride is about to end. Against better competition who gets to review existing tape on this season, the losses are coming. I'm thinking things come crashing down rapidly, like struggling to get from 3-0 to 6-6.
But it doesn't really matter. CU has already outdone last season. CU has proven the hype is legit. The recruiting level is about to hit nuclear level. With CU going to the Big 12, that conference is going to have a legit powerhouse among its ranks.
September 17th, 2023 at 10:29 AM ^
This was good take until you said they are going to be a legit powerhouse. Literally, no evidence points to this.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:38 AM ^
Playing like an actual legit Heisman candidate. We’ll see how he does against better PAC 12 competition.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:47 AM ^
It won’t last and neither will Sanders. He’ll be gone soon after Shadeur goes.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:52 AM ^
With each passing day.. the clarity of amateur hour in Boulder becomes more apparent.
I wish every young adult well. It’s really becoming a spectacle - everyone who doesn’t follow and adore everything about them is dissing the Buffs - constructive criticism or a different view is acknowledged as unacceptable.
Will the Big Noon Kickoff and / or Game Day follow the Buffs every week?
September 17th, 2023 at 8:56 AM ^
Doesn’t Colorado have a sports fan blog? I find the repeated attempts to turn this into a Sanders fan club tiresome.
September 17th, 2023 at 8:59 AM ^
https://cubuffs.com is where you meant to go, OP.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:00 AM ^
Was easily the most entertaining game of the day. Colorado will get some good tests of ceiling over the next three weeks. Be interesting to watch, but they still seem to have too many holes, esp on defense, to make a serious run. That said, USC succeeds without defense, so I guess it's possible.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:17 AM ^
They're RichRod-era Michigan. Exciting to watch but good teams, starting with Oregon, will have no trouble with them.
September 17th, 2023 at 11:42 AM ^
Yeah, I remember when RichRod came in, immediately improved the team, and started 3-0...
September 17th, 2023 at 12:32 PM ^
His first year would've been muuuuch different if Richrod also could've imported dozens of transfers. How would this Colorado team look with Nick Sheridan at QB? (no offense Nick...)
Apples and oranges comparison
September 17th, 2023 at 4:38 PM ^
Pretty sure the comparison was about September Heismans etc. etc. Not about what happened in the first year. It's still not a perfect comparison but I think we can accept the point for what it is.
September 17th, 2023 at 4:54 PM ^
The Michigan vs Illinois and the Michigan vs Indiana games in 2010 are probably what he is referring to. You know the games and you know what happened after. Primetime with Steven Threat wouldve lost by 30 last night.
Indiana 42-35
Illinois 67 - 65
September 17th, 2023 at 9:19 AM ^
Does talent matter?
The reason I raise this point is.. Colorado vs CSU’s talent levels. Colorado, according to 247 sports team talent composite is far more talented than CSU. Colorado’s ranked 35th, and CSU’s is ranked 108th. Nothing against the MAC, but - CSU’s talent is pretty close to Miami (OH) or Georgia Southern.
CSU’s record last season was 3-9. And, they barely lost to Michigan: 51-7.
FWIW - Utah’s talent level is pretty close to Colorado’s.
September 17th, 2023 at 9:27 AM ^
Sticking your hand inside someone's helmet is bush league and even more so when the favor can't even be returned because you have a face shield.
September 17th, 2023 at 1:02 PM ^
It wouldn’t surprise me if the defender made a comment about an incomplete pass, and it was interpreted as “dissing”…