What was once a promising season for the Colorado Buffaloes football team, has quickly turned into one where they now must win two road games in order to become bowl eligible. With Saturday’s senior day heartbreaking 34-31 loss to the surprising Arizona Wildcats at scenic Folsom Field amidst the pristine Rocky Mountains, the Buffaloes have now lost four in a row.
Once 4-2, the Buffs have slipped to 4-6 and must now win road games at Washington State and Utah.
While winning in Pullman is definitely plausible, but not likely, winning in Salt Lake City at raucous Rice-Eccles Stadium is extremely unlikely for a Buffs squad that just doesn’t have the guys to go into those places and get two wins. So, what once looked like a surprising bowl-eligible season barring some major upsets, looks like it won’t end that way. Following Saturday’s tough loss, first-year head coach and Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders apologized to the masses, especially his outgoing seniors.
An Apologetic Sanders
“I apologize … that we didn’t send them out right, in which we wanted to because they deserve it,” Sanders told reporters in his postgame interview.
Sanders wasn’t done apologizing, as the very outspoken and always opinionated coach then told the fans this after his team went 2-4 during their home schedule.
“They’ve been supporting the heck out of us and they’ve been showing up and showing out — another sellout crowd ended in disappointment,” Sanders said. “We’re so close. It’s what I told them. But yet so far. We just simply, truly don’t know how to win yet.”
“We just can’t get over the hump,” Sanders said.
Sanders is speaking truth. In each home they lost they could’ve won. Losses to USC, Stanford, Oregon State and Arizona by a combined 20 points. They led Stanford 29-0 before losing 46-43 in double overtime, and that loss looks more and more like the one that hurt the most.
Shedeur Sanders Shines In Loss
All season the offense has been on the arm of star QB Shedeur Sanders, and he’s responded despite taking a beating behind a below average offensive line. On Saturday the strong-armed signal caller went a very respectable 22-for-35 for 262 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also touched paydirt once using his legs.
For the season Sanders has passed for 2,882 yards, 24 touchdowns and just three interceptions. The junior also reached 10,000 career passing yards in the loss, to go along with 94 touchdowns passes and just 17 interceptions.
A projected top-3 to top-5 QB prospect in the upcoming 2024 NFL draft, Sanders is expected to return to Boulder for one more season.
