A year ago, Colorado’s football program was a complete mess. They finished the season with just one win in 11 tries and relieved Karl Dorrell of his duties just five games into the Buffaloes’ 2022 campaign. It’s safe to say that the future didn’t look promising for Colorado after finding themselves at the bottom of the Pac 12 for the second straight year (4-8 record in 2021), but they made a surprising move in the offseason that changed the trajectory of their program.
On December 3rd, 2022, the school announced that Deion Sanders would be running the show in Boulder after enjoying plenty of success at Jackson State from 2020-22 (27-6 record in three seasons). In addition to bringing over his two sons from Jackson State (Shilo and Shedeur) and former Florida State commit, Travis Hunter, Sanders also felt compelled to grab over 40 players from the transfer portal. That’s right, Sanders was serious about forming a competitive roster going into the new season, and it’s paying dividends for him so far.
The Buffaloes currently sit at 4-2 after securing a tough road win over Arizona State on Saturday, but despite already surpassing their win total from a season ago, there are still glaring weaknesses on both sides of the ball. For starters, Colorado’s offensive line has struggled to keep Shedeur Sanders upright all season long, as the Buffaloes rank 129th in sacks allowed through six weeks (31). Still, Sanders has managed to have an impressive season throwing the football, as he is enjoying an 8:1 Touchdown-Interception ratio and a 70.1 QBR. With that said, however, having a clean pocket would undoubtedly make it easier for him to go through all of his progressions and effortlessly hit guys like Jimmy Horn Jr. and Xavier Weaver in stride.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Buffaloes have been putrid all season long, which will be evident to you after reviewing the numbers, of course. They’re allowing 34 points (119th), 163 rushing yards (94th), 8.7 penalties (126th) and 302 passing yards per game this season (127th). Look, I understand that Colorado has been without two-way stud, Travis Hunter (CB AND WR) for the last three games, but it’s apparent that Deion doesn’t have all the pieces required to be a force defensively. Sure, Shilo’s been solid with 32 tackles and one interception on the year, but as a unit, they are undisciplined, untrustworthy and out of position in most contests. It may be asking a lot, but if the Buffaloes’ defense can just be somewhat competent from now until the end of November, they could find themselves playing in a decent bowl game come December.
Will it be easy for Colorado to finish the season 2-4 or better? Well, not exactly, considering they still have four ranked opponents and a competitive Arizona team on their remaining schedule, but they’ll always have a chance as long as Shedeur is lined up behind center. The 6-foot-2 accurate pocket passer came up big for Colorado against TCU, Colorado State and Arizona State in crunch time, and he’ll have to continue to do so if the Buffaloes wish to reach the postseason. Heck, even if Colorado only wins one more regular season game, I would still consider this a successful start to the Deion Sanders era in Boulder.
Courtside With Caleb 
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