Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes have had a frustrating season to this point, but everything is pointing up following the October 11 upset of nationally ranked Iowa State. Now, following a bye week, the road gets tougher as CU travels over the Rocky Mountains to meet conference foe Utah on October 25.
Sanders, in his third season at Colorado but his first without his son Shedeur playing quarterback, told the media that his team is going to Salt Lake City with plans to be “dominant.”
“You gotta understand, you believe. We played this team a year ago, and we were successful,” Sanders said October 21 at his weekly media briefing. A season ago, the 18th-ranked Buffs hosted the struggling Utes in Boulder, and led by current Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders’ three touchdown passes, thumped Utah 49-24. “So let’s start right there. We believe. It’s not like we’re going into that game not believing we can win, because we’ve done it. So we’re gonna try our best to do it again, with a greater margin.
“They’re a good team,” the third-year coach continued. “A well-coached team, but we’re going in there with one thing in mind, and that’s to come out dominant.”
Still in the Big 12 Title Race, Utah Presents a Stiff Challenge for Sanders’ Buffaloes
The Utes (5-2, 2-2) fell out of the national rankings this week after an emotional 24-21 loss to unbeaten BYU in the annual “Holy War.” Utah is among a group of six Big 12 teams with two conference losses, making every game the rest of the way a must-win if there’s any hope of reaching the conference title game. BYU and Cincinnati are both unbeaten in conference play, and three teams, Arizona State, Houston and Texas Tech all have one loss in the league.
For Colorado (3-4, 1-3) the goal is reaching bowl eligibility for the second consecutive season. Aside from the conference opener at Houston, they’ve been in four-quarter games against nationally ranked Georgia Tech and BYU, and were competitive in a loss at TCU. Inconsistent quarterback play has been an issue, and will be front and center the rest of the season.
Colorado Will Try to Establish the Run Against Utah
The power running game that Sanders promoted before the start of the season is finally emerging, and as a result, transfer senior Kaidon Salter’s passing as gotten better, too. He threw three costly interceptions against TCU, but was sharp and error free in the upset of Iowa State.
All signs point the Colorado trying to continue to play bully ball with the Utes, which is a risky proposition given Utah’s stout run defense. Under Sanders, CU has typically been woeful at running the football, but they’ve stuck with it, and the improvements are apparent. Colorado rushed for 126 yards against TCU and 140 against Iowa State, continuing a trend of improvement in the running attack. It’s fair to expect a heavy dose of running backs Dallan Hayden, Micah Welch and Dre’Lon Miller, who was recently moved to running back from his wide receiver spot. Miller has shown flashes and will likely continue to get touches at both positions.
If CU can run the ball on Utah, the passing game could click as well.
For the Buffaloes, winning three of their final five against a tough slate is the only way they can go bowling for a second consecutive season.
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