ORLANDO, Fla. – When coach Deion Sanders took over the Colorado football program, building depth was a top goal. It was going to be a major challenge. This doesn’t happen overnight, in a week, over a month or in a full year.
In 2021, which was the season before Sanders arrived in Boulder, CU suffered with a 1-11 record where the Buffaloes were outgained, 510-283 on average yards per game. On defense, they recorded only six interceptions and forced five fumbles in those 12 games.
Saturday evening, Sanders’ hard work, continuing to build the Colorado culture, became the focus as the Buffaloes dominated the UCF Knights, 48-21, at the “Bounce House” on the UCF campus in Orlando.
Colorado’s defensive effort was stellar against a tough UCF quarterback/running back combination in K.J. Jefferson and R.J. Harvey, who had frolicked in the rushing game in the Knight’s 3-0 start.
“We knew we had to take away something, so that was stifling the run a little bit, as well as throwing the football,” said coach Sanders. “We knew we could score as well, so to keep up with our type of scoring, it takes them out of their comfort zone. It makes them throw the ball a little more than they would like too.”
After Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders and Jefferson traded interceptions on each team’s first possession, Sanders capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive when he hit the versatile Travis Hunter on a 23-yard post-pattern to give the Buffaloes a 7-0 lead.
This game featured a rise in all three phases for the Buffs as quarterback Shedeur Sanders led them to scores on seven of the first ten drives as he completed 28 of 35 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns.
“After that pick, it was ‘OK, Cool’,” commented Shedeur Sanders. “They’re taking stuff that Baylor did. They’re taking stuff that other teams we have played implemented into their own approach.”
He followed Jefferson’s connection with Harvey on a 75-yard touchdown pass with a 47-yard scoring strike to Will Sheppard and Dallan Hayden used a 14-yard run with 12:31 to play before halftime as the Buffs opened a 21-7 lead.
Hayden, Sheppard and Micah Welch each resonated with their first touchdowns of the season. Hayden came into CU after two solid seasons in Ohio State’s backfield and Sheppard amassed 2,067 yards in his four years with Vandy.
Shedeur Sanders had stayed in contact with Sheppard after his slow start and his four catches for 99 yards complemented Hunter’s 8-for-99 outing.
“I know the type of player he is,” explained Shedeur Sanders. “When he is actually feeling himself and in his groove and when he is comfortable there, nobody can stop him. He is going against the best corner in practice every day — Travis Hunter.”
Colorado used a 10-yard TD pass from Sanders to LaJohntay Wester and a 1-yard run by freshman Micah Welch to up the lead to 41-21 after three quarters.
“I challenged a multitude of young men in different ways,” explained Deion Sanders. “I think ways that they were capable of handling the challenge. They stepped up; they stepped out and they did the doggone thing and I am proud of each and every one of them.”
Returning to the Scene of the End Zone: Defensively, Colorado put up a monumental game as they held Harvey and Jefferson to 77 and 76 rushing yards, respectively.
It was a UCF rushing attack that had averaged around 380 yards per game in the first three.
The resounding defensive monologue of the evening came when Buffaloes leading tackler safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig scored on a 95-yard fumble return with 5:05 remaining in the game.
“Really, we were playing a lot of two and I eventually knew I was going to get me one,” said Shilmon-Craig of his fumble-recovery for the TD. “Then it popped out and all I could think about was running these five gassers and come back Monday.”
Shilmon-Craig’s return came when Jaylen Wester hit Jefferson after his keep on the right side. It was the second-longest return in Colorado football history and was the fourth forced turnover for the Buffs in the game.
Hunter’s Spectacular Interception: With a 34-14 lead and UCF starting a drive, Travis Hunter picked off Jefferson. It was a tough interception in that Hunter looked like he had dived off of the side of a pool to lay himself flat as it was CU’s second interception of Jefferson.
Hunter then added a Heisman pose inside of the playmaking equation. Deion Sanders said that he didn’t see the pose.
“He works his butt off in practice,” Sanders said with a laugh. “That’s why nobody trips when he gets Sunday, Monday and Tuesday off.”
Deion Developing Players, but also People: Deion Sanders digests practice, the game and then players off the field in how involved he is with positive communication with his players off the field for positive growth.
Sanders has two sons in Shedeur and Shilo Sanders on his team, but the other 83 players on the roster also seem like his children. He is always willing to accentuate the positive, but not ignore the negative.
He preaches humbleness, but then wants his players to be happy that they play for him at Colorado and then take correction on and off the field and move forward.
“We know who we are,” Deion Sanders explained. “It’s not like we come out talking that talk. We don’t do that. Our kids are very humble. I don’t say what’s going to happen – never. I say what I would like to have happen. I’m so darn proud of where we are. We could be in a whole different place right now.”
Coaching Expression: The matchup between Sanders and his counterpart Gus Malzahn introduced two of the game’s top minds in the jump circle for the first time.
“The way he started is phenomenal,” Sanders commented on Malzahn. “The things he has gone through. He just inspires me tremendously to be with him on the field. He took my son to one of his camps and offered him. He has been straight up 100 percent his entire career. I got love for him.”
Malzahn acknowledged the Buffaloes as well.
“Congratulations to Colorado,” he said. “They outplayed us. They outreached us. They’re a good team.”
Next week’s matchup at Florida will introduce a rivalry as the Gators and Knights will meet for only the fourth time. UCF won the 2021 matchup in the Gasparilla Bowl, 29-17, but the Gators have a 2-1 series lead.
“The missed opportunities in the red zone gave us a chance to score two or three more times,” said Malzahn. “You have to find a way to grow and you have to find a way to get better.”
