Even after Week 1 Colorado football victory, Deion Sanders' haters rage on
Even after Colorado football knocked off their Week 1 opponent, North Dakota State, by a 31-26 final score, saw Shedeur Sanders throw for 445 yards and four touchdowns, three of them caught by Travis Hunter, and averaged 8.8 yards per play, Deion Sanders' haters kept knocking the Buffs.
Colorado had such a significant athletic advantage with their receivers that the Bison secondary never stood a chance against Hunter (132 yards, 3 TDs), Jimmy Horn Jr. (198 yards, 1 TD), and the rest of Colorado's receiving corps. But the Buffs defense was repeatedly burnt in man-coverage, particularly in the first half, and the defensive front ceded a bit too many openings to an FCS offensive line.
CU's triumphs were undone a bit by their lack of discipline in many areas, and Twitter didn't let them off the hook despite squeaking by with a one-score victory that came down to the final play.
Twitter rips Deion Sanders' Colorado football program despite Week 1 win
FS1's Nick Wright had a particularly poignant reaction to Colorado's Week 1 win; believing that the Buffs won't even reach their modest six-win goal Sanders set at the Black and Gold spring game in April.
"I’ll take all the unders you want to sell me on Colorado football this year," Wright prefaced before saying, "This is not football team that will compete for anything more than barely becoming Bowl Eligible, and I’ll take the under on that, too."
The Salt Lake Tribune's Steve Luhm joked that Colorado looked the part of a national championship contender...in the FCS.
"Colorado showed tonight — without question — it is good enough to contend for an FCS national championship this season," Luhm deadpanned.
Sanders himself ripped the win. He felt like his Buffs didn't win despite them being up on the scoreboard after 60 minutes.
"You ever feel like you won but you didn't win? I'm thankful, one step closer to the dream. Let's move on, I'll try my best to hold back anger but we got the dub," Sanders said postgame (h/t Denver Sports' Jake Shapiro).
Even though the Buffs won, the good times aren't rolling in Boulder. This city has seen 1-0 before in the "Prime Time" era, and the last time they did that, Colorado was coming off a win against the defending College Football Playoff Championship runner-up, TCU.
No one is impressed right now. In some ways, that's a good thing, but Sanders needs a better showing from his Buffs in Lincoln, Nebraska on September 7 to get any recognition from a hive mind that's still skeptical about his coaching abilities.