Not even some of Deion Sanders’ biggest critics could have imagine a Colorado loss like that.
Two weeks after taking down then-No. 22 Iowa State, with a bye week to rest, Colorado visited Utah on Saturday and proceeded to get steamrolled in statistically gratuitous fashion. The final score: 53-7, and we can honestly say the game was less close than the score indicates.
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Colorado’s record sits at 3-5, with a 1-4 record in Big 12 play.
The Utes outgained the Buffaloes 587-140, with 422 of their offensive yards coming on the ground. Of those rushing yards, 151 came from Utah true freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin, who was also 10-of-22 passing for 140 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
“So all three phases, we got our butts kicked. Kicked,” Sanders said in his postgame news conference.
The first half was a bloodbath in particular. In total, Utah outgained 398 to negative-18. Utah’s punter had more passing yards than Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter, who was sacked five times for a loss of 50 yards. Colorado’s running backs rushed for negative-2 yards on six carries.
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“Yeah they blitzed us to death,: Sanders said. “They’re still blitzing us right now. And we’re inside. They’re still blitzing us. Right now. And guess what? I just told them ‘be ready for the next week.’ Cat’s out the bag. Be ready for it.”
Utah was set to enter halftime with a commanding 40-0 lead, one of the most dominant halves in all of college football this season. Perhaps in recent history. And then a Colorado punt got blocked, setting up a field goal from Utah to make it 43-0.
Colorado’s first drive of the second half was a bit more encouraging, with a 14-yard pass and 24-yard run from Salter to at least put them into positive-yardage territory, but then the Buffaloes got stuffed on fourth-and-1.
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It didn’t get much better from there.
“The way we practiced the way we prepared, there’s no way that should have happened,” Sanders said. “There’s no way the physical-ness that we exuded all week long, it’s no way. The consistency, the only thing we were consistent in I guess were penalties. We didn’t have penalties, right? What we were two penalties? Something like that? That was great.”
That’s certainly one way to follow up one of the biggest wins of Sanders’ coaching career, with the worst loss of his coaching career. Salter, the Liberty transfer who needed a few games to win a three-headed QB battle, had arguably the best day of his Colorado career in that Iowa State game, throwing for 255 yards and two touchdowns and running for 57 yards.
Against Utah, after a bye week, he was 9-for-22 for 37 yards and an interception, plus negative-4 rushing yards (sacks dragged down a positive rushing day). He was pulled in the fourth quarter for backup Ryan Staub, who led Colorado to its only touchdown of the night on his first drive.
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Despite the upset of Iowa State, Colorado has struggled this year. Figuring out a life in a post-Travis Hunter, post-Shedeur Sanders world has proven to be a challenge for Deion Sanders. The initial wave of talent that hit Boulder when Coach Prime came to town masked major structural issues on the roster, most notably at the line of scrimmage where it was shallow at best. Those issues are now starting to become program-defining.
In an always-competitive Big 12, Colorado’s offense ranked fifth-worst in yards per play entering Saturday. Its defense was second-worst in yards allowed per game. This game won’t help those numbers, to say the least.
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They will get a chance to bounce back at home against Arizona next weekend, but this season has made it abundantly clear that Sanders’ system — or whatever you want to call an approach to running a power program that has rubbed so many the wrong way — doesn’t work quite as well without a two-way Heisman Trophy winner or all-conference quarterback.
It will be up to Sanders to show he can adjust, either now or next season.
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