Prime Time Day: The Colorado Buffaloes are Victorious

September 2nd, 2023, 2:35 PM CST ? By Ryan J. Van Dever

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The hype train surrounding Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes during the offseason has been nothing short of out of control.? Changes were in order with a boatload of new players and a season last year when they finished with a record of 1-11. The Colorado Buffaloes for most roster turnover in one year in major college history after Deion Sanders took over the program at the turn of the new year.

Fast forward to the game versus #17-ranked TCU

The Colorado Buffaloes marched downfield in their first drive. The intensity of the hurry-up offense with Colorado caught TCU off guard, and that’s putting it lightly. You could see in the first drive that the two teams were feeling each other out schematically.

Shedeur Sanders was taking what the TCU defense gave him with the soft slot coverages—nickel and diming down the field. As the game progressed, he took deep shots of the likes of Travis Hunter, Xavier Weaver, and Dylan Edwards. Sanders’ ball placement and awareness were magnificent, and he will threaten Caleb Williams for the Heisman if he continues to play with the intensity he did today.

The Defensive front for the Buffaloes showed that they are the defense's weakness, giving up a run by Emani Bailey for 74 yards. The strength is in the secondary. Travis Hunter has excellent awareness, and his track-down speed is top-notch. As the game went on, you could tell that the secondary showed that they were the strength of that defense. They were slowing down the TCU offense, taking them out of the hurry-up offense. TCU had to become more methodical when it came to their offense.

The weakness in Special Teams for Colorado showed in the 4th quarter when they gave up an 86-yard return down to the Colorado 8-yard line, leading to a rushing touchdown by Trey Sanders and the lead for TCU.

The glaring issue with the offense is the offensive line. They had issues running the ball all game and protection problems in the passing game, as Shedeur Sanders was sacked multiple times. Not to mention back-to-back penalties by the offensive line in the 4th quarter.

Dylan Edwards, the highly recruited running back out of Derby, KS, was showing out this game. Edwards’ explosiveness and speed from the backfield made him an electric option in this game. You could see his breakaway speed on many of his routes in the passing game, as he had five catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns.

As 20-point underdogs, the Buffaloes came out with a massive victory against a team played in the National Championship game last year, 45-42. Shedeur Sanders was 38/47 for 510 yards and four touchdowns. Setting a single-game passing record, becoming the first Buffaloes quarterback to reach the 500-yard mark. The Buffaloes had four players with over 100+ receiving yards.

Travis Hunter became the first FBS player in at least 20 seasons to record more than 100 receiving yards and an interception in the same game.

The one area where they must improve is the rushing game/passing protection. The Buffaloes had a lost fumble and couldn’t get their running game going. The offensive line gave up four sacks. The Buffaloes will have to shore that up before they enter conference play.

Today, Deion Sanders is 1-0 with the Colorado Buffaloes, who featured 86 new players, including his sons Shedeur Shiloh and Hunter. TCU, which lost several stars to the NFL draft, had zero answers for Colorado’s productive passing game and received erratic play from Morris at quarterback and others.

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