Deion Sanders and Co. might already be pretty charged up walking into Jones AT&T Stadium on Saturday -- but after hearing what ESPN analyst Greg McElroy has to say about them, their confidence will multiply as it almost ensures their seat to the Big 12 championship, which means a seat in the College Football Playoff.
"Texas Tech secondary they're very human," McElroy said on ESPN's "Always College Football." "And this is one of the best passing attacks in college football we're talking about. Texas Tech's secondary is on120th in EPA on pass defense. That's not a good number whatsoever.
"I think Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter, and these wide receivers are going to wear this defense out and if they get put on Islands, I expect Colorado to win those one-on-one matches pretty much almost all the time. I really feel that strongly about some of the matchups that they can create," McElroy said about Colorado vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders' defense. His thoughts on their offense weren't much pleasant either.
Greg McElroy on Texas Tech's offense
The analyst did not see the Raiders' offense much favorably as he predicted that the offense might slow the Buffs down but will hardly be a game threatening problem. McElroy firmly believed that "Colorado is going to get theirs."
"Texas Tech and their opponents have combined to score like 650 points this year in games involving Texas Tech. They've been high-scoring. That's been a huge part of the conversation surrounding the Red Raiders. So I think Colorado is going to get theirs because I don't think Texas Tech's defense is going to be good enough in the back end to contain this volatile passing attack but Texas Tech maybe can slow the game down a little bit," McElroy said.
Colorado already had high odds walking into the game, with several analysts predicting the Buffs to win over the Raiders, the list that now includes McElroy.
If CU passes the Big 12 championship test they will have a sure shot seat in the College Football Playoff. Even if they don't, another Big 12 title contender is highly likely to have a shot at the college football playoffs, given they win all their remaining games.
And for Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, it is nothing less than a career defining, and Heisman campaign defining moment.