Colorado coach Deion Sanders and his Buffaloes team are struggling to start the season, dropping to 1-2. A master motivator, "Coach Prime" gave an inspirational speech to his team on turning the season around.
Sanders' message is simple yet powerful - He is framing this week as the moment the Buffaloes could find a turning point and win the rest of their games. This rallying cry to the team might also resonate with Buffaloes fans, who might need some belief to buy-in for this season.
Could the Buffaloes turn their 1-2 record into a 10-2 record?
"Why not us? Why not us? Because there's simplistic things that's going on that we can fix," Sanders said to his team.
Sanders positive mindset is set to inspire his team, while he draws on history. Last season in 2024, Colorado started its season 1-2, losing to Nebraska and BYU. In Coach Prime's second season, the Buffaloes turned that 1-2 record into a 9-4 record (7-2 in Big 12 play), reaching their first non-COVID winning season since 2016.
The 2024 team was led be Deion's son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. Both Colorado stars rewrote the Buffaloes history books and had their jerseys retired in Boulder.
Colorado is certainly missing those two massive playmakers but Sanders' message is clear - who will step up in their absence? Why not "you"?
Colorado desperately needs a quarterback to step up into a consistent commander - Ryan Staub, Julian "JuJu" Lewis and Kaidon Salter have shown glimpses but who can rise to the occasion?
The old adage comes to mind - if you have three quarterbacks do you really have one? Sanders did not mince words about Staub's performance in the 36-20 loss to the Houston Cougars.
"Staub didn't play well. I saw what you saw. He did not play well today. That wasn't his best, to say the least," Sanders said after the game.
Perhaps, Coach Prime will start the veteran Salter or give the 5-star freshman Lewis another chance vs. Wyoming.
Wyoming coach Jay Sawvel is faced with the challenge of preparing for all three quarterbacks before Saturday's game.
"I don't know that they alter their offense dramatically between each one," Sawvel said. "It may, obviously, be a little different focus, but we got to get ready for multiple different things... "With Kaidon Salter, there's an added element of athleticism to it. We've got to prepare for all of it."
The Colorado Buffaloes are 13.5-point favorites against the Wyoming Cowboys on FanDuel Sportsbook. The moneyline for Colorado is -550, and the total points are 45.5.
Wyoming is 2-1 and poses a big threat to the Buffaloes if they can't find the end zone.
Kickoff between the Buffaloes and Cowboys is set for Saturday, Sept. 20 at 8:15 p.m. MT on ESPN. The game will be at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colorado.
... It's a chance for the Buffaloes to get their second win of the season and right the ship after a rough start.
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