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Colorado Daily – Kansas Week
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November 20th
… CU in a few minutes …
CU sending six to the East/West Shrine Bowl for the first time in school history
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November 19th
… CU in a few minutes …
*Coach Prime Weekly Press Conference (with Miss Peggy)*
… Today is Miss Peggy’s 100th birthday … Discusses what it meant to have 54,000 signing Happy Birthday to her … Favorite games: Beating Nebraska; games during 1989-90 national championship runs .. “Coach Prime an honorable man” … Which bowl does she want? “Anyone they’ll give us” …
… Appreciates that Kansas coach Lance Leipold reached out to him as a new coach in the Big 12 … Kansas has not given up … Drelon Miller had 100-yard game replacing Jimmy Horn. Miller is “phenomenal” – we have another weapon … Going to try and shut down the Kansas rushing attack, and make the Jayhawks one-dimensional … Defensive lineman Keaten Wade will not redshirt; he will play the rest of the season … If Jimmy Horn shows he can run, he’ll play … Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig – when you put the tape on, he shows out. He’s the backbone of the defense … Travis Hunter is the best offensive and best defensive player in the country … He should win the Heisman, the Thorpe, the Biletnikoff, the Bednarik – every award there is to give … Amari McNeill – what you are seeing now is what we expected. He’s not just a pass rusher; he’s a complete defensive player … I don’t understand what a let down is. I just plan for success. The word for this morning’s practice was “Finish” … We don’t subscribe to pressure; we apply pressure … I’m happy where I am. I’m good. I’ve got a kickstand down … I’m good. I’m happy. I’m excited. I’m enthusiastic about where I am. I love it here. I truly do … When talking about freshman contributors: It says a lot about our stability. We ain’t goin’ nowhere. We’re about to get comfortable …
… Plus … Safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and wide receiver Drelon Miller …
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November 18th
… CU in a few minutes …
CU’s final games with Shedeur and Travis: Savor the Moment
From Pat Rooney at the Daily Camera … Often during February and March I felt appreciative for being able to watch the special season being put together by now-former Colorado guard KJ Simpson. No offense to the other key players that helped lead a late run that included a Pac-12 title game berth and a pair of wins in the NCAA Tournament (First Four and first round), but it was Simpson who provided the ‘Wow!’ factor.
Buffs fans surely should feel the same way about Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders. The clock is ticking on their time in black and gold.
Hunter’s ability to electrify the packed houses of Folsom Field has been rivaled by only a select few in program history. The numbers on both sides of the ball speak for themselves. To me, though, some of his most impressive traits are less quantifiable. The way he’s always coming back to the football after coming out of his breaks. The way he isn’t in a hurry after making a catch, often using patience and even hesitation to gain extra yards. His blocking ability downfield. And all that’s just on offense.
To some, Sanders’ long toss that led to Hunter’s acrobatic catch against Utah might be dismissed as a desperation heave bailed out by his receiver’s superior athleticism. Yet Sanders’ ability to put just the right mix of touch and arc on passes that drop right on the heads of his tall, athletic receivers will serve him well at the next level. That skill was on display just after Hunter’s high-flying catch when Sanders dropped a pass on Will Sheppard for a touchdown.
Their CU careers aren’t guaranteed beyond the two remaining games in the regular season. If things go sideways and the Buffs fall short of the Big 12 title game, Sanders and Hunter, both likely high first-round draft picks, might not risk playing in a second-tier bowl game if that becomes the Buffs’ fate.
Like Simpson, the Hunter and Sanders highlights will be gone before we know it.
… Continue reading story here …
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Amari McNeill and LaJohntay Wester earn Big 12 Player-of-the-Week honors
Press release from the Big 12 … The Arizona State tandem of Jordyn Tyson (a former Buff) (offensive) and Sam Leavitt (newcomer), the CU duo of Amari McNeill (co-defensive) and LaJohntay Wester (special teams), Arizona’s Genesis Smith (co-defensive) and WVU’s Reid Carrico (co-defensive) were selected as the Big 12’s football weekly award winners.
McNeill was an instrumental part of Colorado’s defensive unit that held the Utes to 31 rushing yards, which marked Utah’s fewest yards on the ground since the 2011 season. The Buffaloes also forced four turnovers and four sacks as McNeill tallied three tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble in the 49-24 win. The Suwanee, Georgia native has been key to CU’s pass rushing prowess that has tallied 33 total sacks that ranks sixth nationally.
Wester’s impact on special teams for Colorado was highlighted by his 76-yard punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter of the Buffaloes’ 49-24 victory over Utah. The speedy wide out caught the punt before slicing through the middle of the field untouched and breaking away down the left side of the field for the score. Wester also tacked on 10 catches for 77 yards to end his day with 153 all-purpose yards.
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Coach Prime: “Our expectations ain’t your expectations”
From the Daily Camera … With two weeks to play, the race for the two spots in the Big 12 title game – to be played Dec. 7 in Arlington, Texas – is tight. CU and BYU are tied for first with 6-1 league marks, while Arizona State and Iowa State are lurking at 5-2. Five other teams are still alive at 4-3.
(Note: CU can clinch a spot in the Big 12 title game with a win over Kansas … and … a win by BYU over Arizona State … and … a win by Utah over Iowa State)
Lose one of the next two and CU could fall short of the title game, but that, of course, isn’t the mindset of these Buffs. Beat Kansas and they’ll be in great shape.
“Our expectations ain’t your expectations,” Coach Prime said. “Our expectations are our expectations, and we expect a lot out of ourselves. We practice with the type of intensity and passion and love and effort that you can’t help but be successful in what we do.
“When we don’t do things properly, it shows. We’re beating ourselves at times. Nobody’s beating us; we’re beating ourselves. And we just gotta focus on those little things and correct them so we could be flawless. That’s the goal, to come out here and be dominant offensively, defensively, as well as special teams.”
Coach Prime was happy with the dominance of the defense and special teams on Saturday. He was more critical of the offense, led by his son Shedeur Sanders, but then glanced at the stats at the end of the game. Shedeur went 30-of-41 for 340 yards and three touchdowns and the offense scored 42 of the Buffs’ 49 points.
“It’s hard to critique them,” Coach Prime said. “I was on Shedeur’s butt all day today and I look up he’s 30-for-41. I think any coach in the country would accept that willingly.
“I guess I’m just a hard dad to please at times, as well as a hard coach.”
… Continue reading story here …
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Shedeur Sanders continues to set CU season and career passing records
From the Daily Camera … Shedeur Sanders wasn’t completely thrilled with his game on Saturday, considering he threw an interception and lost a fumble. However, he managed to hit some milestones.
He has now thrown at least one touchdown pass in 46 consecutive games, which ties an NCAA record for all divisions. He’s the fourth player to reach 46, along with Central Washington’s Mike Reilly (2005-08), Marshall’s Rakeem Cato (2011-14) and Grand Valley State’s Bart Williams (2016-18).
Sanders has thrown a TD pass in all 21 of his games at CU. He broke the record of 20 consecutive games with a touchdown, previously held by Sefo Liufau (2013-14).
In throwing for 340 yards on Saturday, Sanders now has the most 300-yard games in one season (six) at CU. And, he’s the first QB in program history with two 3,000-yard seasons, as he now has 3,222 this season.
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Neill Woelk: The scary part? The Buffs still have room to improve
From CUBuffs.com … Saturday afternoon, Colorado’s Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders said publicly what every coach remaining on the Buffaloes’ schedule is privately thinking.
“You guys understand the progress and you understand that we haven’t even put it all together yet,” Sanders told the media after his team demolished Utah, 49-24. “We haven’t even played our best game. That should be, in itself, scary. When I said we coming, we still coming. We are coming, and we ain’t nearly there yet.”
Scary indeed. While the Buffs were far from their best, they were still dominant against a very good defensive team.
The Buffs scored six offensive touchdowns, finishing with 405 yards total offense. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw for 340 yards and three scores, Will Sheppard caught a pair of touchdown passes, freshman Drelon Miller had his first 100-yard receiving game and two-way star Travis Hunter recorded the first rushing touchdown of his career.
Colorado’s special teams also delivered. LaJohntay Wester notched CU’s first punt return for a touchdown since 2022, a 76-yard scoring jaunt in the first quarter and punter Mark Vassett averaged more than 48 yards per kick on five attempts.
Then there was Colorado’s defense, which is orchestrating one of the more impressive turnarounds in the nation.
CU finished the day with four sacks, four takeaways and two huge red zone stops early in the game — after Colorado turnovers — that limited the Utes to just a pair of field goals. Meanwhile, two of those takeaways paved the way for Buffs touchdowns, pushing CU’s point total from turnovers this year to 55.
And the scary part?
The Buffs still have room to improve. They did turn the ball over three times (two lost fumbles and an interception), they did give up three quarterback sacks and they once again had some costly penalties.
Meanwhile, for all the big numbers the Buffs put on the board offensively, they still finished with just 65 yards rushing, with more than half of those coming on one attempt, a 37-yard Isaiah Augustave touchdown run. CU was also just 3-for-11 on third-down conversion tries (but 2-for-2 on fourth down).
“We showed flashes of having a running game,” Coach Prime said “Isaiah did a phenomenal job today, breaking one, but we got to be more consistent with that. The sky would be the limit if we can really have consistency … We need to really want and desire and just have passion to run the football at times. Prayerfully, we get it going because we could do some remarkable things if we have a more balanced offense.”
Indeed, the Buffs each week seem to move closer and closer to becoming exactly the type of team that causes opponents nightmares in playoff situations. A potent offense, an opportunistic, attacking defense and special teams capable of breaking momentum-shifting plays.
… Continue reading story here …
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11 Replies to “Colorado Daily”
What’d Deion say a while back? He was sitting in his office, thinking to himself, they’ve got like nine guys on the defense who are likely NFL guys?
I don’t know if he meant all this year, but still. That’s a good chunk.
Six in the East-West Shrine Game?
It sure is nice to have a bunch of NFL dudes around again. They still comin’.
Go Buffs
Here is an article from CBS who is leaning towards Sanders staying in Boulder. Aside from that RG should start searching for some more money for Livingston.
https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/deion-sanders-defied-the-odds-in-2024-can-he-surprise-us-again-this-offseason/
Fret not. If Deion moves on, the place is way better than he found it. But? I believe he wants to bring a national championship to Boulder. I believe he is loyal to those that brung him. I believe he cannot let Peggy down, now or hereafter. He may well be better than McCartney for CU with a better transition, whenever that comes.
And, he will get paid.
Go Buffs
This is epic: https://andscape.com/features/the-haters-guide-to-deion-sanders/
Go Buffs
Cool article.
“after his team demolished Utah, 49-24. “We haven’t even played our best game. That should be, in itself, scary. When I said we coming, we still coming. We are coming, and we ain’t nearly there yet.””
This is crazy true, for a team to turn the ball over three times and still score 49 points is almost unheard of; against a team that averages 17 points scored against per game and a high of 22 points scored against them. One of the top defenses in the country and the Buffs turned over the ball three times and still scored 49!
A game that had moments of bad play and they still doubled Utah’s points! What can the Buffs accomplish if they just played a whole game without beating themselves?
Can you imagine how far this team could go with even an average run game? We would be talking NC
Of course, I want a better/more consistent running game, however I am sort of starting to devalue it somewhat. Our OC/SS are effectively using the short passing game (that shovel pass a few weeks back) as run substitutes. You combine the decent runs, short passes, and minimize sacks/hits on SS; it is not always pretty but seems to be working with an emerging diverse offense. The time of possession is not getting as skewed as before–UU was more skewed b/c we scored so many points. @TT would have been skewed to CU, if they salted the clock rather than going for the dagger in the 4Q. For the O, I think some of that is SS and the depth of all their play-makers.
Over the past 4-6 games, I feel at critical junctures the CU O has actually played some ball control at times (getting a needed defensive rest) without a consistent running game. IMO, SS has bought into the value of running clock at some junctures. The O is not nearly as rushed, as they were last year. The running game is a threat, but maybe not something this team needs rely on. However, it will be needed in certain games going forward.
It would be nice for that road-grater running game to emerge. I would have more concerns about this if CU did not have the team depth. Here, I give the players and coaches serious props for playing a bunch of guys throughout the season. This team has a very different feel than 2016. I think CU has some depth on offensive line, however they appear to have extremely great depth/talent on the defensive line, and even the defense as a whole.
In closing the season and before the playoffs, I pray that they team gets/stays healthy with a few key guys coming back off injury. Welsh is one of those guys.
The list of high school linemen they’re recruiting looks pretty solid. And, at least one or two more IMG guys, who played with Cash and Jordan. As Deion says, they don’t bring in freshmen to sit. Plus the dudes who were in the rotation this year, and of course however many new transfers they get. I’m not at all worried about the ground game going forward. Everyone knows it’s important. Deion seems to be the guy who can finally go get those elite, athletic, dudes who are 300lbs but still run a 4.8-4.9 40 and bring them to Boulder vs. their just going to the same handful of programs.
A handful of games to go, which is awesome, along with the early signing period and opening of the transfer portal. And coaches being fired left and right. Going to be pretty wild to watch it all shake down.
Go Buffs
one “decent run” in the last game
And yet, amazingly, was CU’s longest touchdown run in six years. And four head coaches.
Go Buffs