The Colorado Buffaloes came to Pullman, Washington, needing a win to keep its bowl eligibility alive. What they gave was arguably the most disinterested and lackluster performance of the season. In the team’s 56-14 loss to the Washington State Cougars, the Buffs quit on Deion Sanders and their season.
From the onset they looked overmatched and ready to pack it in. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders, who prior to being forced from the game because of injury, broke the single-season passing yards mark for the Buffaloes. As he’s been all season, Sanders met what every other Pac-12 opponent has done to the Buffs’ offensive line; he was battered and bruised by a Cougars defense. At the time of his exit due to injury, Sanders had become the most-sacked and hit QB in all of college football this season, not exactly the stats in which you wanna have the lead.
Sanders Calls Out Team For Quitting
In his postgame interview, a pretty upset Coach Prime took his team to task for their effort.
“Very sad at how we played. We practiced hard all week, we prepared like no other. To display a performance like that is not is who we are or how we are,” a sick Coach Prime said in a brief postgame interview. “I have been boasting since the beginning of the season that I had not seen us quit or turn it down. There were some plays in the first half I didn’t see the passion I wanted to see. We got on them at halftime, and they went back out there and balled. I applaud them for fighting in the second half.”
Trailing 42-7 at halftime, there wasn’t much the Buffaloes could do in the second half after not trying for much of the first half. But Sanders did say he saw more of an effort and want to win after halftime. That still doesn’t change the fact that Washington State hadn’t won a game since Sept. 23 thoroughly dominated them from start to finish.
Buffaloes Lack An Identity
After 11 games (4-7), the Buffs still have no identity. Outside of Shedeur slinging the football and running for his life, there just isn’t much there. Sanders told reporters this about that.
“That’s not who we are,” Prime said of how the team played in the game. “Still trying to figure out who we are and our identity — but I still don’t know after all these weeks.”
With one game left in their season, a road trip to Utah, the Buffs now have to hope a wacky scenario where teams won’t have the minimum six wins required to become bowl eligible to hope to land an invite to a postseason bowl game. That scenario is highly unlikely, meaning next Saturday’s road game at Utah, win or lose, will cap an eventful first season for the Buffs.
