The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Coach Prime’ Silences Critics as Colorado Upsets TCU in Season-Opening Shocker

Posted on | September 3, 2023 | Comments Off on ‘Coach Prime’ Silences Critics as Colorado Upsets TCU in Season-Opening Shocker

The Colorado Buffaloes were three-touchdown underdogs Saturday, playing on the road against a team ranked in the Top 20.

Last year, Texas Christian University went 13-2, winning the Big 12 championship, then defeated Michigan in the semifinals of the national championship playoffs before losing the title game to Georgia. Meanwhile, Colorado was 1-11 in the 2022 season. It was a sign of desperation in Colorado when they hired Deion Sanders — the former NFL star defensive back known as “Prime Time” — away from an HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) school, Jackson State in Mississippi. After getting hired, Sanders proceeded to clean house in Boulder, chasing off most of the team’s scholarship players, and bringing in several of his former Jackson State players, including two of his sons, one of whom was installed as the Buffaloes’ starting quarterback.

Well, guess what? Colorado won, 45-42, in a nationally televised thriller in which Shedeur Sanders threw for a school-record 510 yards. It wasn’t just the yardage, either — Shedeur completed 81% of his passes (38-for-47) for four touchdowns, and didn’t throw a single interception. Meanwhile, another Jackson State transfer, Travis Hunter, caught 11 passes for 119 yards as a wide receiver and — AND! — also played cornerback on defense, making three tackles, intercepting one pass and breaking up two others. Hunter played 129 snaps, an iron man performance unheard of in modern college football.

Also, Colorado freshman running back Dylan Edwards rushed for 24 yards on six carries, and caught six passes for 135 yards, including a stunning 75-yard touchdown reception.

The Colorado hype train is now rolling downhill with a full head of steam, with people talking about Travis Hunter and/or Shedeur Sanders for the Heisman Trophy and, wondering if the Buffaloes might actually make it to the national championship — a worst-to-first Cinderella story that the sports media can’t resist. Is this hype warranted? I don’t know, but when you throw for 500+ yards in your season-opener against a Top 20 team — on the road! — it’s hard to see any ceiling to how high the hopes should be in Colorado this season. As for all those doubters, Deion sure enough shut their mouths and, like he says, he’s got receipts.

 



 

Category: Football

Comments

Comments are closed.