US LBM Coaches Poll: Georgia Remains Firm Leader in Nation
Paul Myerberg discusses the latest LBM USA Coaches Poll and how Georgia continues to be the best in college football.
BOULDER, Colo. – Coach Deion Sanders hates late kickoff times and doesn’t particularly like cold weather.
But here he is on Friday the 13th, leading his Colorado football team to a kickoff at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN, this time in cool temperatures against Stanford (1-4).
It will be a different kind of test for the Buffaloes (4-2), whose first five games have come against opponents that were either nationally ranked or had a long-time “personal” rival.
Stanford is neither, but the hype surrounding Coach Prime and the Buffs at Folsom Field will continue. They will play to their seventh consecutive sellout crowd and another large audience on national television.
Will they start slow again, like they did in the last three games when they were outscored 34-7 overall in the first quarter? And can they protect star quarterback Shedeur Sanders? Colorado ranks second nationally in most quarterback sacks allowed with 31.
Coach Prime has been waiting all day to find out.
BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado started the game with four touchdowns on four possessions, but its offense finally fell flat at the end of the first half. Deion Sanders went for a 46-yard field goal, but it fell short as Alejandro Mata’s shot fell short.
Still, the Buffaloes went into halftime with a 29-0 lead over Stanford after scoring three touchdowns from Xavier Weaver and one from Travis Hunter.
The Buffs defeated Stanford 324-115 and are averaging 9.5 yards per play. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders has completed 14 of 18 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.
— Brent Schrotenboer
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Colorado scored four touchdowns in four possessions against Stanford, opening a cold, late game at Folsom Field. Receiver Xavier Weaver scored three of the touchdowns, the last on a reverse flip handoff to the left side where he jogged into the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown with 2:57 left in the first half.
Colorado leads 29-0. The Buffaloes have 298 total yards, compared to 109 for Stanford.
— Brent Schrotenboer
BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders found receiver Xavier Weaver wide open on the right side of the field for a 39-yard touchdown passand helped the Buffaloes take a 22-0 lead over Stanford with 8:42 left in the first half.
Colorado faked an extra point kick and threw the ball to tight end Caleb Fauria, who made it a two-point tie.
Sanders is 11 of 14 passing for 159 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Weaver. The Buffaloes have scored on all three possessions so far after being outscored 34-7 in the first quarters of each of their last three games.
— Brent Schrotenboer
Boulder has been a party since Deion Sanders took the job in Colorado. Apparently CU rocked a little too much on Friday night.
The referees stopped the game early in the second quarter to make an announcement:
“Could the public address announcer please stop playing while Stanford is in formation and ready to hit the ball? Continued playing of music or sound effects will result in an unsportsmanlike conduct foul against Colorado.” said the head referee.
Fans greeted the announcement with hearty boos.
“As the offense approaches the line and begins to give their signals, at that point all public speaking and music must stop,” explained ESPN acting pundit Matt Austin.
BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado is off to a hot start, and so is Travis Hunter. He scored a 24-yard touchdown on a beautiful catch-and-run — highlighted by an ankle-breaking spin move — with 3:36 left in the first quarter. The TD and extra point gave the Buffaloes a 14-0 lead with their second touchdown in two possessions against Stanford.
Hunter started on offense and defense after missing the last three games with an injured liver, but already has two catches for 36 yards and a touchdown, as well as a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on the ensuing kickoff.
— Brent Schrotenboer
BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado struck first against Stanford, taking a 7-0 lead after rushing 77 yards in eight plays, capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Shedeur Sanders to receiver Xavier Weaver. The drive included a 12-yard catch by Travis Hunter on third-and-11, followed by a 38-yard sprint by Sanders to bring the Buffaloes to the Stanford 28-yard line.
— Brent Schrotenboer
Travis Hunter’s warmup wasn’t just a pregame show – he started on both defense and offense for the Buffaloes and got involved early. He caught a pass from Shedeur Sanders on Colorado’s first series.
Deion Sanders wasn’t happy with Colorado’s late start…so he’s probably not happy about kickoff being even later now. Since the Tulane-Memphis game lasts as long as a college football game always takes, ESPN announced that Stanford-Colorado would kick off at 10:20 p.m. ET, 20 minutes later than scheduled.
The start of the game was shown on ESPNEWS.
BOULDER, Colo. – Star cornerback receiver Travis Hunter will return to Colorado Friday night after missing the last three games with a liver injury. He drew cheers when he came onto the field in shorts and a sleeveless top and made several one-handed catches in the end zone during pregame warmups.
Deion Sanders said on his weekly coaching show this week that Hunter would not have a playing limit if he was given the green light to play. Hunter doesn’t behave like that. He’s an all-or-nothing guy, meaning he could play more than 120 games combined for Colorado on offense and defense against Stanford, as he did in his first two games this season against TCU and Nebraska has.
Hunter, a sophomore, suffered the injury Sept. 16 in a double-overtime win against Colorado State when he was felled by a late hit from Colorado State defenseman Henry Blackburn in the first quarter.
Colorado is 3-0 in games Hunter has started and 1-2 in games he has missed.
— Brent Schrotenboer
BOULDER, Colo. – The atmosphere at Friday night’s game in Boulder could get pretty rowdy, even if Stanford isn’t a heavyweight opponent or bitter enemy. There are mutliple reasons for this:
1. It’s Family Weekend at CU, which means parents crowded the campus bookstore on Thursday and Friday to stock up on Buffs gear. After watching “Coach Prime” and the school’s football team become a national sensation last month, many of them are eager to attend the party with their CU students. Because of this, this game was one of the first two announced sellouts for Colorado this season, along with the Nebraska game on September 9th. This sale was announced on July 20th.
2. It’s a sold-out game tonight on ESPN. Colorado has played in front of sellout crowds in every game this season. This will be the seventh consecutive time, which is believed to be a school record. Night games at Folsom Field have historically resulted in raucous atmospheres after a long day of waiting (and in some cases drinking).
3. It will be cold. Temperatures could dip to nearly 30 degrees, just six days after the Buffs posted a 27-24 win over Arizona State in 39-degree heat. That’s why sweatshirts in particular suddenly became a popular item on campus this week. Even cold weather doesn’t exactly reduce alcohol consumption before and during football games.
— Brent Schrotenboer
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders disregarded the 8 p.m. local time kickoff set by ESPN for Friday night’s game against Stanford at Folsom Field, saying “thank God” that his team will soon make the Pac-12 Conference and its many later seasons in the West.
Sanders said the 8 p.m. kickoff was the “stupidest thing ever” and “the dumbest thing ever invented in life.”
“Who wants to stay up until 8 p.m. for a great game?” he asked.
He made the comments Wednesday at his weekly Colorado Football Coaches Show in Boulder. He then asked how many spectators on the East Coast, where the game starts at 10 p.m., would stay up to watch the game
“Do they even care about the ratings or anyone watching it?” he asked.
ESPN has done this, and it hit the jackpot on a previous late game with Colorado on September 16th. Colorado defeated Colorado State in double overtime in that game, drawing 9.3 million viewers even though it ended after 2 a.m. on the East Coast. It was the most-watched late game of all time on ESPN.
— Brent Schrotenboer
Even though it’s a home game in Boulder, his team stays in a hotel before the game, as do other teams before home games.
“What should you do in the hotel?” he asked. “What are you supposed to do all day?”
“Watching football,” said the show’s host, Mark Johnson.
“Who’s playing on Friday?” Sanders replied.
Sanders then noted that his team would be leaving the Pac-12 after this season.
“Thank God we will not be attending this conference,” he said.
By leaving the Pac-12 next year and moving to the Big 12, Colorado will play more games against conference rivals in the Central and Eastern time zones, where it expects fewer kickoffs at 10 p.m. ET.
— Brent Schrotenboer
What is a watch flex you ask? Brent Schrotenboer of ICYMI, USA TODAY Sports explained the gesture, which has sparked controversy since Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders began flashing his $70,000 watch to the crowd during emotionally charged moments. So is it cool, classless or a genius marketing move? It depends on who you ask.
Colorado star football player Travis Hunter has been medically cleared to play and has a “tremendous chance” of returning to action Friday night against Stanford, Deion Sanders said Tuesday.
Whether he plays depends on “how he looks, how he does in practice, what his wind is like,” Sanders said. “He has to be in shape. I don’t want him to be a burden. I want him to always be a great athlete.”
That likely means he will play, as Hunter has been practically begging to return to the field since his injury.
— Brent Schrotenboer
Colorado had a 3-0 record in games started by Hunter and is now 1-2 in games without him. Since his injury, the Buffaloes struggled the rest of the game against Colorado State before winning in double overtime, losing 42-6 at Oregon, losing 48-41 to Southern California and then a close 27-24 loss at Arizona State last weekend won.
— Brent Schrotenboer
Stanford at Colorado is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. ET ESPN.
Colorado game live stream
The Stanford at Colorado game can be streamed via Watch ESPN.