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Colorado Daily – Delaware Week
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September 2nd
… CU in a few minutes …
*Coach Prime’s Weekly Press Conference*
From BuffsTV … Kicker Alejandro Mata and Punter Damon Greaves to start … Coach Prime starts at about the 35:10 mark … Coach Prime prickly when questioned about offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and CU’s play calling … Julian Lewis will play against Delaware (“You want to make sure the timing is right”) … Coach Prime has made up his mind that Lewis will play …
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September 1st
… CU in a few minutes …
ESPN: Colorado’s philosophical change will take time
From ESPN …
Colorado’s philosophical change will take time
I asked Deion Sanders how he felt about coaching his first game for Colorado after bladder replacement/reconstruction surgery this spring, and he didn’t spend much time on his health.
“Felt good,” he said. “I don’t feel good right now, but I felt darn good during the game.”
Sanders was more interested in discussing a season-opening loss that Colorado led early, should have led by more, missed chances to hit on big plays and ultimately couldn’t stop the type of offense in Georgia Tech that the Buffaloes are trying to become. Colorado talked all summer about winning the line of scrimmage and being more physical after the departures of Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders and several productive wide receivers.
The Buffs were better in certain areas, namely their run game, which had been the worst in the FBS during Sanders’ tenure. Colorado had 31 attempts for 146 yards and a touchdown, the third-highest total in the Sanders era and the most since having 148 yards last October in a dominant win against Arizona. Sanders is committed to the shift, saying Colorado should have run even more, beginning with new quarterback Kaidon Salter.
“He’s a dual threat, and we want him to be a dual threat,” Sanders said.
Sanders repelled the notion that Colorado’s offense will need time to settle in with its new approach, saying the group had all spring and summer. But it’s clear that without Shedeur Sanders at quarterback, Hunter, LaJohntay Wester and others at receiver, that the shift won’t happen overnight.
Still, it’s good to see Sanders committed to the approach. He also came down hard on a defense that kept Georgia Tech out of the end zone for more than 25 minutes but couldn’t stem long Georgia Tech drives or curtail Haynes King and other ball carriers.
“We got to clean up all that,” Sanders said. “We just got gashed. The quarterback’s looking like a Heisman candidate right now. We made that happen.”
Sanders is seemingly past his health issues. His focus now is figuring out how Colorado can win differently, which might take longer than he wants.
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August 31st
… CU in a few minutes …
Coach Prime happy with rushing results: “We ran well”
From the Daily Camera … Through Deion Sanders’ first two seasons at Colorado, the lack of a run game was a glaring issue on an otherwise talented and explosive offense.
During the opening game of Sanders’ third season with the Buffaloes, the run game was the bright spot.
Although CU came away from Friday’s opener with a 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech, it displayed a ground attack that often wasn’t there in 2023 and 2024. CU rushed for 146 yards on 31 carries, averaging 4.7 yards per attempt.
“We ran well,” CU head coach Deion Sanders said. “I thought we had a lot more yards than we had, but that’s quite wonderful considering years past. I think that’s probably the highest we’ve had in a couple years. God bless that.”
Only twice in the past two seasons did CU run for more than 146, gaining 148 at Arizona last year (on 39 carries) and 193 against USC in 2023 (on 45 attempts).
CU was last in the country in rushing in 2024 (65.2 yards per game) and 2023 (68.9), finishing with 70 yards or less 16 times in 25 games. But, with record-shattering passer Shedeur Sanders now in the NFL, CU has focused more on the run and it showed against Georgia Tech.
Sophomore Micah Welch led the way with 64 yards on 11 carries, averaging 5.8 per attempt. It was the fourth-best single-game total for a Buff under Coach Prime.
“Tremendous passion, tremendous physicality, tremendous toughness,” Sanders said of Welch. “A guy not pouting when we took him out, and the other guys had an opportunity. Because you look for that. You look for who’s not a team guy, who’s an I guy. You look for that on timeouts. You look for who’s standing up, who’s sitting down, who’s for the team. And that kid has made some unbelievable strides.”
… Continue reading story here …
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CU special teams error-free in opener
From CUBuffs.com … Colorado head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders emphasized all offseason that special teams would no longer be an afterthought. On Saturday, his kickers delivered in emphatic fashion.
Newcomer Buck Buchanan set the tone immediately, drilling the opening kickoff into the end zone for a touchback. He went a perfect five for five on touchbacks, the first Buff in the Coach Prime era to do so in a single game.
“Our special teams, as I told you, would be special,” Sanders said. “They didn’t get a kickoff return.”
On the scoring side, Alejandro Mata was as steady as ever. The senior went 2 for 2 on field goals (42, 29) and knocked through both of his extra points. Last season, Mata earned All-Big 12 honorable mention after hitting 12 of 15 field goals and a career high 55 PATs, finishing with 96 points. Dating back to last season, he has now made two or more PATs in 12 straight games and has connected on 79 consecutive PATs since the 2023 campaign.
“Mata was Mata,” Sanders added with a smile. “So special teams were special.”
Not to be overlooked, punter Damon Greaves, whom Sanders affectionately calls Mate, also turned in a career day. The junior averaged 45 yards on five punts, a personal best, with three pinning opponents inside the 20. He added two punts of 50 plus yards and forced two fair catches, helping flip the field multiple times.
Together, the trio gave Colorado a true third phase spark, showing that Sanders’ preseason message is becoming reality: special teams are no longer just a box to check, they are a weapon.
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CU secondary lineup a work in progress: “It’s still a competition”
From the Daily Camera … The three leaders of CU’s secondary are cornerbacks DJ McKinney and Preston Hodge and safety Carter Stoutmire. It was no surprise that trio was on the field all night. Between them, they played 212 of a possible 213 snaps.
The rest of the secondary is a work in progress, though. RJ Johnson got the start at the second corner spot, but Teon Parks played almost as many snaps, while Tyrecus Davis saw the field, as well.
Ben Finneseth started at safety, but saw just 26 snaps before giving way to Tawfiq Byard. Terrance Love got on the field, too.
“It’s still competition everywhere on the other corner,” Sanders said. “A couple things cost us a little bit with penalties, as well. … I know going into next week it’s more definitive for what it’s going to be, and it’s going to take a good week of practice, too.”
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Mixed grades on Kaidon Salter: “There’s always room to improve”
From the Daily Camera … It wasn’t the debut that Kaidon Salter wanted, but the new Colorado quarterback hopes to use it as a springboard for the rest of the season.
On Friday night, Salter made his first appearance at CU in a 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech at Folsom Field.
A dual threat quarterback who transferred from Liberty, Salter completed 17-of-28 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 43 yards and a touchdown.
In his first start at the Power Four conference level, Salter had some good and bad throughout the night.
“There’s always room to improve on throughout the game,” he said. “Really my first P4, big-time game out here in Folsom Field, but I feel like I went out there and I tried to do the best that I could do. I went out there and I executed the plays that coach wanted me to execute, but it’s still room for improvement out there.”
Salter threw a touchdown pass to DeKalon Taylor on CU’s opening possession. Then, after the offense sputtered much of the night, he scored on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 20-20.
CU head coach Deion Sanders was overall pleased with Salter’s night, but agreed there is room for improvement.
“Kaidon played well,” Sanders said. “A couple times, I think he should have ran and he threw. I don’t want him to prove to us that he can throw the ball. We know he can throw the ball. We wanted him because he’s a dual threat, and we want him to be a dual threat. But I don’t think we lost the game because of Kaidon Salter, by any means. He put us in a situation to win.”
… Continue reading story here …
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One Reply to “Colorado Daily – Delaware Week”
Using Salter as a scapegoat.
What Prime said about Salter may be true but that is hardly the main problem. Hopefully the coaches feel guilty enough this time? to actually make an honest effort to improve the running game.
My fear is just like Babe Ruth pointing to the stands the coaches will think we can tell Delaware what the next play is ahead of the snap and they wont be able to stop it anyway. While that might be true its also an excellent opportunity introduce a few wrinkles with lesser risk. “Don’t want to confuse those poor kids” with to much rocket science.
Anyone watch Belichick get blown up last night? It looked like his gold digging girlfriend was the one doing the coaching. TCU used a great blocking scheme to run the tar heels right out of their own stadium. It didn’t help NC that they had some of the worst tackling I have seen in a very long time.
Even if Shurmur us unable to figure out by himself how to save his moribund run game the rest of the college football world has a veritable smorgasbord of things to choose from. The trick will be to choose the tactics that may fit his player’s skill sets the best. That could change some of the starters on the O line.