Colorado Buffs Ready for the Prime Time

Your Colorado college football preview

By Christopher C. Wuensch

After years of toiling toward the bottom of the Pac-12, the Colorado Buffaloes are officially ready for the prime time.

The newfound swagger and confidence felt around The Hill these days can be attributed to the arrival of new Buffs head coach Deion “Prime Time” Sanders.

The only direction is up for a program that finished 1-11 in 2022 and needed overtime to defeat California for their lone triumph. Losing all but three games by at least 25 points made for a season in Boulder that many wouldlike to forget.

Enter the hall-of-famer Sanders and his emblematic brand of energy, positivity and discipline. It’s inspired a wave of interest among fans and has a merchandise boon for the program. All of which culminated with a record-setting 45,000 fans attending the Buffs’ Black & Gold Day Spring Game. 

Sanders’ arrival in Boulder wasn’t without a sense of controversy as Colorado witnessed 73 scholarship players either retire or enter the NCAA Transfer Portal—the process in which players with remaining eligibility can switch schools without penalty.

All told, there are only 12 scholarship players remaining on the Buffs from last year.

Sanders artfully used the Transfer Portal to his own advantage by historically overhauling the entire roster. That includes seven players from Jackson State, where Sanders was 27-6 (12-1 in 2022) as head coach during the past three years.

New offensive coordinator Sean Lewis, who joins the Buffs after five years as head coach at Kent State, must be champing at the bit to work with the one-two combo of wide receiver Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

The son of Deion, Shedeur enters his junior year with 6,963 career passing yards and 70 touchdowns (3,732 yards and 40 TDs in 2022) in two seasons with Jackson State.

Following him to Boulder is wide receiver Travis Hunter, the former No. 1 recruit in the nation, who shocked the NCAA when he chose the Sanders family and Jackson State. More on him to come.

The sophomore will be flanked on the outside by the talented Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn Jr. from South Florida.

Four-star freshman Dylan Edwards has the dynamic speed to contend for carries out of the backfield. He’ll join a tandem of transfers that include Kavosiey Smoke (Kentucky) and Alton McCaskill IV (Houston), both of whom experienced success at previous schools.

They’ll be protected by an offensive line that boasts nine players with starting experience, three of which are returning Buffs starters.

The influx of talent should be more than enough to give opposing defenses fits and lift the Buffs offense, which finished ranked No. 127 out of 131 FBS teams in total offense in 2022.

Things weren’t much better on the defensive side of the ball for Colorado last season.

The Buffs coughed up 38 points or more in 10 of their 12 contests, producing an FBS-worst 44.5 points per game.

But the slate is essentially clean. New defensive coordinator Charles Kelly inherits just one returning starter in safety Trevor Woods.

Despite the high turnover, it’s possible that not many teams will be successful against the Buffs via the air.

Remember the aforementioned Travis Hunter? Hunter’s natural position is cornerback, so teaming up with Coach Sanders, the greatest cornerback of all-time, simply made sense. Toss in Cormani McClain into the fold and CU has the No. 1 cornerback from the 2021 and 2022 recruiting classes, respectively.

All Ivy League defensive tackle Shane Cokes (Dartmouth) helps solidify the Buffs up front, while Florida State’s Derrick McClendon should wreak havoc coming off the edge. They’ll get help from Fresno State nose tackle Leonard Payne Jr. and linebacker LaVonta Bentley from Clemson.

How persuasive is Coach Sanders? He even convinced place-kicker Alejandro Mata to relocate to Boulder. An All-SWAC member, Mata split the uprights on 12 of his 13 kicks last year for Jackson State.

Does it all add up to wins for Colorado? Time will tell if they can win their first bowl game since 2004. One thing is for sure, the Buffs have the talent to take on the same ebullient energy as their new head coach.

They’ll certainly be put to the test early. Up first is a road game against TCU, who finished 13-2 in 2022 and lost to Georgia in the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Sanders can endear himself instantly to the CU fans with a Week 2 win over hated rival Nebraska in the coach’s Folsom Field debut. Then, before the Buffs can blink, they’ll return home to face in-state rival Colorado State.

Add a road game versus Oregon and a home match against Southern California, and September has all the makings of a potentially challenging month for Sanders and company right out of the gate.

Win or lose, the spotlight will be bright in Boulder this season and focused squarely on the potentially dynamic Buffs squad looking to undo the ills of season’s past.

Around Boulder, they’re calling it Prime Time.

CSU Not Ready to Play Second Fiddle to CU

While Sanders garners much of the football world’s attention in the Centennial State, some 40 miles north in Fort Collins, head coach Jay Norvell seeks a resurgence of his own with the Rams.

And, just like Sanders, he’s aggressively relied on the Transfer Portal to overhaul the Colorado State roster.

Norvell posted a 3-9 (3-5 MWC) mark in his debut season with the Rams, matching the record from predecessor Steve Addazio a year prior.

Despite the program’s recent struggles, Norvell firmly believes this year’s squad has the talent to earn Colorado State its fourth ever Mountain West Conference title and first since 2002.

But plenty remains to be done for the Rams to simply return to bowl eligibility for the first time since the 2017 season. Or even muster more than 20 points per game, something they failed to do in 2022.

The initial order of business is finding some much-needed protection for quarterback Clay Millen.

Millen led the nation in completion percentage (72 percent, 169 of 234 for 1,131 yards and 10 TDs) in 2022. That’s a remarkable feat considering the Rams offensive line yielded an NCAA-high 4.95 sacks per game.

Whether or not the junior quarterback—who followed Norvell to CSU from Nevada after his freshman campaign—will again need to scramble for his life every Saturday remains to be seen as the coach attempts to restock an offensive line that returns only starting center Jacob Gardner.

BYU transfer Dallin Holker should be an upgrade at tight end and provide additional pass-catching and run-blocking protection for Millen. They’ll need him. In total, Rams’ signal callers were sacked 59 times last year.

All eyes on the offensive side of the ball, however, will be fixated on standout wide receiver Tory Horton. The junior, who also followed Norvell out of Nevada, hauled in 1,131 yards through the air to go along with 8 touchdowns last season. Horton even added a punt return touchdown for good measure.

He’ll be complemented by sophomore wide receiver Justus Ross-Simmons (424 yards, 3 TDs in ‘22).

North Dakota State transfer Kobe Johnson and K.J. Edwards from Victor Valley Community College will be tasked with filling the void left by incumbent leading rusher Avery Morrow (834 yards, 3 TDs), who is suspended indefinitely pending the completion of an assault arrest in January.

As impressive as the offense could be, the Rams defense has the potential to be even better. Perhaps, even the best in the conference.

The unit returns seven starters, led by NFL-hopeful Mohamed Kamara. Back for his fifth season (Covid exemption), the defensive end dropped 8.5 quarterbacks for sacks in 2022 and is in line for another big year.

He’ll once again team with run-disruptor Grady Kelly (43 tackles, fumble recovery) to batten down the front line. 

The Rams will rely on a pair of experienced transfers at cornerback to lock up opposing passing games with Chigozie Anusiem (California) and Ron Hardge (Oregon State) leading the way.

Safety Jack Howell, however, remains the unit’s anchor after posting a team-high 108 tackles in 2022.

As for the kicking game? That competition won’t be settled until the training camp.

With the greatly improved roster, Norvell is hoping history can repeat itself.

The new Rams coach also went 3-9 during his first of five years at Nevada. The Wolfpack then cruised to an 8-3 record and a win over Arkansas State in the 2018 Arizona Bowl during his second season in Reno.

With a season in Norvell’s program under their belts and “his” players in place, the Rams more than have the talent to make the same sizable leap.

And with that, perhaps Colorado State can reclaim some of that swagger back from their rivals to the south.