Coach Prime has the edge now, so here is where it gets really interesting.
Two weeks down, two victories in the pocket and an absolute juggernaut of attention as America jumps aboard the Colorado football train, transfixed by what’s coming next from the most fascinating coach we’ve seen in years, maybe ever.
Deion Sanders has masterminded wins over TCU and Nebraska and has the Buffaloes thundering across the plains, and that reckoning we all thought would come sooner or later?
Still waiting for it.
We may have to wait a while longer, too, for Colorado now has an advantage that should not be underestimated.
Sanders’ troop of talented incomers is not just good, but they are primed – excuse the pun – for all the noise that accompanies every single one of their games. There is a constant party going on and it has become their new normal. They are the supporting characters in a show, one witnessed in person by celebs and on television by millions, and they’ve gone full method actor.
Up until now, it seemed like Colorado and its unfailingly confident, unscripted and unapologetically in-your-face head coach were fighting against the odds.
Theirs was a program that was coming off a 1-11 season, had been ripped up to allow for the inclusion for a core of personnel that was overwhelming in its newness, with little time for settling in or testing out or getting to know you.
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Even Sanders’ own credentials were unproven at this level, with no guarantee that what worked so effectively at Jackson State would do so again against the likes of last year’s national championship finalist or an opponent steeped in blue-bloodedness like 36-14 victim Nebraska last weekend.
Those initial hurdles overcome, now things tilt in the Buffs’ favor. After the 23.5-point line holds and they blow by Colorado State this Saturday (10 p.m. ET), Sanders and Co. will be front and center with games against Oregon and USC the following two weekends. Ordinarily a team that hasn’t been in the national spotlight this century might be intimated suddenly being the biggest thing in college football.
But it hasn’t taken long for the key members of the Colorado squad to get used to this. This isn’t a novel burst of excitement anymore, it is just how things are.
It takes a certain group to embrace something like this and be comfortable. Take a look at these guys. Do you see a sense of anything that doesn’t look comfortable?
Perhaps they take their cue from the coach or perhaps they look first to his son, QB1 Shedeur Sanders, who has the rare combination of ice in his veins and fire in his heart. Sanders zips off clutch passes at will, unfazed by pressure, but also understands the optics and the power of motivation.
He got into a beef with a former NFL coach in Nebraska’s Matt Rhule, irked by Rhule’s summer skepticism about his father and about the Cornhuskers’ pre-game meeting on the Colorado logo.
After a big play was met with a helmet-removing flex and celebration, Deion Sanders tried to briefly rein him in, but was shrugged off. “He just said: ‘Dad, it’s personal,'” Coach Prime said, laughing, on an appearance on FS1’s “Undisputed” on Monday.
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Maybe Shedeur was born into this, maybe he just likes it. Actually, there’s no maybe about it, he truly loves being at this level, on this stage, and if you have any questions about that, just take a look at the dollar signs on his thigh pads. Some pretty big bucks have already arrived through NIL payments. As a Heisman candidate with the look of a future Sunday signal caller, plenty more are potentially on the way.
Of all the remarkable things Deion Sanders has done — taking the worst program in a conference that is crumbling at its foundations and turning it into an exhilarating adventure that blends smoke, mirrors, showbiz, the cult of personality and, oh, some really good football — perhaps the most impressive is how he has gotten his players on board with this.
When he promised that the baggage he was bringing with him was Louis (Vuitton), we all took it the wrong way. He didn’t mean it looked flashy, he meant that it came with reinforced stitching and would meet the most rigorous quality control scrutiny.
His approach, telling everyone he and his team are “comin'” is not typical. It is a Dallas Cowboys of the 1990s approach, so this is not an invention of a playbook, but it is a rare one. There is no talk of bunkering down, siege mentality, creating a protective bubble. If you feel like you can back up the expectation then the glare of the lens doesn’t have to be blinding, it can actually show you in your best light.
The Buffaloes are emboldened. For now, until some team has the inspiration, the talent, the game plan and the stomach to stop them, this is their world.
We’re just being entertained by it and the entertainment comes in various forms. Yes, Travis Hunter is an exceptional receiver, but so too, off minimal yet compelling evidence, are Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn.
Defensively, the coach’s elder son Shilo Sanders has been an early force, teaming with Trevor Woods as a devastating safety duo, while Marvin Ham has led a muscular and unforgiving line.
There are others too, and everything is happening at such a blurry pace it is hard to keep up with all that is going on, and everyone that’s shining.
It feels quick for us but know this, Sanders has his players in a state where they can handle the speed of progress. Just like they can handle the intensity of the spotlight, the sizzle of the hype, and the decibel level of all that noise.
