QB Shedeur Sanders leads Colorado to victory over Colorado State

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Colorado coach Deion Sanders said after a 28-6 win over Colorado State on Saturday night that the Rams made the game more personal after alluding to his players and program.

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders put it more clearly: “They just asked for it.”

Comments made by quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and receiver Tory Horton during an interview with a local television station for a media day surfaced on social media this week. Horton lamented a 43-35 loss to Colorado last year, saying, “We should have killed them, but they came out with the mindset that they were on top of the world, and this is not a Cinderella fairytale. We want revenge.”

Fowler-Nicolosi said: “I think it shows that at the end of the day, the hype and the media hype only takes you so far. You have to put 11 guys against our 11 guys and we'll find out who wants it more. We'll see how far they can get with Instagram followers.”

In response, Colorado played its best game of the season: Sanders threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns, Travis Hunter caught 13 passes for 100 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and the offensive line opened up gaps for the running game and allowed only one sack.

“Personal game, emotional game,” Deion Sanders said. “That's what they do. We just want to play football. The disrespect was uncalled for all week. We knew it was going to get a little personal leading up to the game and it was.”

Sanders said that during pregame warmups, a Colorado State player jostled and elbowed receivers coach Jason Phillips. Then, during the game, with Colorado State trailing 14-3, Fowler-Nicolosi made a gesture toward Hunter that signaled he was too small after a run out of bounds.

“How stupid is that? That's Travis Hunter. Who does that?” said Deion Sanders. “I wouldn't let my kids do that. But if you let kids sit in an interview and talk against us? Come on, dog.”

With less than a minute to go, Sanders was also asked about the passing calls, and thus the victory was secured.

“We wanted to score. The game is about scoring goals, right?” Deion Sanders said. “I don't know the protocol. As long as the other team is trying to score, we're trying to score. That's my rule.”

Sanders said he wanted his team to step up and get a clean sweep, and the Buffaloes did that from the start, a vast difference from a 28-10 loss to Nebraska in which Shedeur Sanders was sacked five times and Colorado managed 16 rushing yards.

On Saturday, Colorado rushed for 109 yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry, and allowed just one run on 49 attempts. In recognition of their teammates' performance, Sanders and Hunter had the offensive line stand behind them in postgame interviews.

“You buried them last week after the game. There was a lot of hate and contempt and 'Here we go again.' That's what they got,” Deion Sanders said. “These are young men. They're still full of feelings and emotions. They get those text messages. They get the direct messages. That's not good for them.”

As for his game, Hunter said he had no extra motivation after being knocked out of this game a year ago and hospitalized. During pregame warmups, he could be seen staring at the crowd chanting anti-Colorado epithets and nodding silently.

In addition to his receiving yards, touchdowns and interceptions, Hunter had five tackles and a pass breakup on 123 of 138 snaps from scrimmage. Colorado said it was probably the first time in the modern era of college football history that a player had Hunter's complete stat line.

Perhaps the only surprising thing about his performance is that he left the game after chasing down Avery Morrow on a 62-yard run in the fourth quarter. Colorado State scored its only touchdown two plays later with Hunter on the bench.

“I was mad at him too because he left the game. I said, 'Never do that again. Check back next time,'” Shedeur Sanders said.

“This is probably the first time I've ever done that,” Hunter said of his time out. “Because usually when I pass them I can catch my breath and get back up. This time I don't know what happened.”

When asked if Hunter couldn't be better, Deion Sanders said, “No. Travis is phenomenal week in and week out. We have a phenomenal quarterback, too. We just have to protect him. I think the whole country knows that. We did a great job of that today. If you see us do that, you'll see 36 of 49 hits, no turnovers.”

Sanders said his players are aware of what was said and written about them after the loss to Nebraska, but he also pointed to the improvements he saw on defense in the second half of that loss and the progress the offensive line made.

“We've heard all the nonsense. You might as well end the season with a loss,” Sanders said. “Do you know how many people in college football have lost a game? There are some really good teams that have lost a game. We'd like to think we're one of them. Yes, we're developing some things. Yes, we're working on some things. But you see, that arrow is going in the right direction.”