Coach Prime is looking to bounce back in a big way at Folsom Field on Saturday, Sept. 30.
The Colorado Buffaloes are coming off their first loss of the season, a 42-6 thrashing by the Oregon Ducks, and will look to right the ship by hosting the No. 8 USC trojans.
Kickoff for this Week 4 battle is Noon ET.
Fans looking to attend this college football game in person have plenty of options and can shop around at StubHub and *VividSeats.
*New customers who purchase tickets through VividSeats can get $20 off a $200+ ticket order by using the promo code MassLive20 at checkout.*
If you need to travel outside your local area to get to this game, head over to TripAdvisor, VRBO or Booking.com for deals on everything from car rentals to airfare to hotels.
Who: Colorado-USC
When: Saturday, Sept. 30, noon ET
Where: Folsom Field, Boulder
Stream: fuboTV (free trial); or Sling; or DirecTV Stream
Tickets: StubHub and *VividSeats.
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Bo Nix, No. 10 Oregon slam brakes on Coach Prime’s ‘Cinderella story’ with a 42-6 rout of Colorado
By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer
EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Turns out Colorado wasn’t quite ready for Oregon’s version of prime time.
Bo Nix threw three touchdown passes and the No. 10 Ducks emphatically slammed the brakes on Deion Sanders’ “Cinderella story,” routing the 19th-ranked Buffaloes 42-6 on Saturday.
The Ducks (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) were up 35-0 half after coach Dan Lanning sent them into the matchup of unbeatens with a fiery pregame speech that took direct aim at the star-studded, hype machine that has followed Coach Prime’s team for the first three weeks of the season.
“The Cinderella story’s over, men. They’re fighting for clicks, we’re fighting for wins. There’s a difference,” Lanning told his team in front of ESPN’s cameras.
Troy Franklin caught eight passes for 126 yards and two scores for Oregon.
After the game, Lanning was more reserved.
“I think that team’s heading in the right direction. I think that coach is doing a phenomenal job,” Lanning said. “I get a little passionate at times. I need to humble myself a little bit. This is one game.”
Sanders turned around a Colorado program that won just one game last year, bringing aboard 67 new scholarship players and opening the season with wins over TCU, Nebraska and last weekend’s double-overtime thriller against Colorado State.
He got a nice welcome to Autzen Stadium before the game from Nike co-founder Phil Knight, the patriarch of Oregon sports. And former NFL star Terrell Owens made the trip to see his friend coach.
Oregon’s duck mascot came out on the field wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses, copying Sanders’ style.
It was a big-game atmosphere, but the Buffs (3-1, 0-1) were no match for the Ducks.
“Good old-fashioned butt-kicking,” Sanders said afterward. “No excuses, no nothing.”
Nix completed his first 11 passes and 28 of 33 before he was pulled to start the fourth quarter. He also ran for an 11-yard TD. One fan held a sign that said: “This is Nix Country.”
Coach Prime’s son Shedeur Sanders went into Saturday averaging 417.0 passing yards per game, with 10 touchdowns against one interception. He completed 23 of 33 passes for 159 yards and a late touchdown against the Ducks. He was sacked seven times.
Oregon fans chanted “Overrated!” in the final moments.
“I don’t think there’s a target on our back,” Coach Sanders said.
He also bristled at the notion that the Buffaloes needed a dose of reality amid all the hype.
“People around the country would say, ‘This is what they needed to humble themselves.’ We weren’t arrogant or whatever, we’re confident people,” he said. “If our confidence offends your insecurity, that’s a problem with you, it’s not us.”
Oregon scores touchdowns on its first three possessions, two on Nix’s passes.
Nix was intercepted for the first time this season in the second quarter. It was also Oregon’s first turnover of the year. But the Ducks’ defense sacked Shedeur Sanders on third down, pushing him back 16 years, and Colorado again was forced to punt.
Franklin was wide open running into the endzone for a 36-yard touchdown from Nix, and Nix ran for another TD to cap the first half onslaught.
It was Colorado’s first game without two-way standout Travis Hunter, who was sent to the hospital with a lacerated liver from a late hit in the game last weekend against Colorado State,
Hunter had nine tackles, two pass breakups and an interception and also had 16 catches for 213 yards on offense.
“Travis is always going to be missed. He’s the best darn football player in college football,” Sanders said. “It’s just like you writing an article and your pen is missing.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Colorado: Colorado’s offensive line remains suspect and it has allowed 23 sacks already.
Oregon: The Ducks have won 30 straight games when scoring 40 or more points. … The Ducks have 14 rushing touchdowns to lead the Pac-12.
RECEIPTS
“I don’t say stuff just to say it for clicks, contrary to what somebody says. Yeah, I keep receipts. But I’m serious. I analyze and I understand what we we’re up against and what we have and what we need,” Sanders said. “One thing I can say honestly and candidly, you better get me right now. This is the worst we’re going to be.”
POLL IMPLICATIONS
While one loss might not drop the Buffaloes out of the AP Top 25, some of their offensive stats should be cause for concern. Colorado had just 35 yards rushing. Oregon could climb.
UP NEXT
Colorado: The Buffs host No. 5 Southern California next Saturday.
Oregon: The Ducks visit Stanford on Saturday.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
Column: Coach Prime dominates the college football world. What might come next?
By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Columnist
Deion Sanders hobbles to get around these days, but his ability to command an audience is even more potent than it was during his speedier playing days.
Just three games into his first head coaching job in college football’s top division, the guy who went from Prime Time to Coach Prime has been the non-stop talk of the sporting world.
Given how quickly the 56-year-old Sanders moves — metaphorically speaking, as he struggles with blood-clot issues in his legs and feet — it’s certainly not too soon to ponder where this phenomenon might lead.
Can the Colorado Buffaloes keep winning even with a brutal schedule ahead of them? If they do, will a more prominent school come calling for Coach Prime in the not-too-distant future? Has Sanders’ nearly complete overhaul of a downtrodden team through the transfer portal established a new template for building a program? Should every coach start wearing sunglasses?
The Buffaloes, who won a single game in 2022 and have just one winning season in the past 17 years, are off to a captivating 3-0 start that includes a road victory over a TCU team that played in the most recent national championship game and an improbable double-overtime triumph over rival Colorado State.
But before we start penciling in No. 19 Colorado for the College Football Playoff, it’s worth taking a look at their upcoming schedule.
Six of their last nine regular-season games are against teams currently ranked in The Associated Press Top 25.
Yikes.
The Pac-12 gauntlet begins Saturday with a road game at No. 10 Oregon, followed by a home contest the following weekend against fifth-ranked Southern Cal. Down the road are No. 22 UCLA, No. 14 Oregon State, No. 21 Washington State and No. 11 Utah.
Making these games all the more daunting: Colorado will be without its two-way star, Travis Hunter, for several weeks after he took a brutal cheap shot from Colorado State.
If the Buffaloes start losing, the nation’s attention will surely turn to more conventional storylines such as Georgia’s quest for a third straight national title.
Then again, never bet against Coach Prime. If his team can pull off another upset or two — they’re a whopping 21-point underdog against Oregon, according to FanDuel Sportsbook — his star will shine brighter than it already is, if that’s even possible.
“We have not played a complete game,” Sanders said. “When the offense is playing well, the defense is hot garbage. If the defense if playing well, the offense is horrible. The special teams aren’t special. We’ve got to put it all together to be able to defeat a team like Oregon.”
But let’s say the Buffaloes win at least eight or nine games and earn a prominent bowl bid ahead of their move next season to the Big 12. That would be a remarkable accomplishment, one that might tempt another school — or maybe even an NFL team — to send out feelers to Coach Prime.
He would surely listen.
“I’m aggressive by nature,” Sanders said, responding to an unrelated question but giving a clear glimpse into his psyche on most any issue. “I’m a go-getter, I’m a doer, I’m an attacker. I don’t sit back and wait on nothing to happen. I’m gonna go make it happen.”
Michigan State, which is in the process of firing Mel Tucker, might look for a splashy hire to rejuvenate a program that faces stiff competition in the ever-expanding Big Ten. Oklahoma is getting ready to move to the mighty Southeastern Conference and could decide that Brent Venables isn’t the right guy to lead that transition. And let’s not forget Texas A&M, which already plays in the SEC and hasn’t come close to meeting expectations under Jimbo Fisher.
All of those schools have far more storied programs than Colorado, but that could be a double-edged sword for any team that went after Sanders as its next coach.
With nothing to lose, Colorado has largely ceded the identity of its athletic program to the Coach Prime brand. While you can’t really blame the suits in Boulder for allowing this to happen, a more prominent program might be reluctant to let one man’s dynamic personality overshadow the entire athletic department.
Then again, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Georgia’s Kirby Smart, just to name two, certainly wield that kind of influence on their campuses.
The more pertinent question might be: Would any big-time school where the power base is largely made up of white men be willing to allow a Black coach to be such an overwhelming force?
Sanders has caught some well-deserved grief for the ruthless way he overhauled the Colorado roster, leaving just nine scholarship players returning to the team from a year ago.
Yet no one worked the transfer portal with greater effectiveness than Coach Prime, who lured in skilled players from all over the country. It’s likely that many schools will try to mimic his methods going forward, but it’s doubtful anyone can match the shear force of his personality when it comes to persuading someone they should come play for him.
Even though he last suited up in the NFL nearly two decades ago, Sanders can relate better than most coaches to today’s generation. For instance, having rapper Lil Wayne lead the team onto the field before a game. Or getting the Rock to watch from the sidelines. Or sending his team out in different uniform combinations for every game.
“Shoot, you all want options,” Sanders told reporters at his weekly news conference. “That’s why you’re working, right? So you can have options to go buy what you wanna buy, get what you wanna get, do what you wanna do. Just giving the kids those types of options is phenomenal for those young men.”
Sanders is certainly willing to toot his own horn. He began his latest press briefing by reciting some of the impressive numbers his team has wracked up already, from stellar television ratings to selling out of every home game for the first time in school history.
“It’s incredible,” Sanders said. “Our kids are getting eyeballs, they’re getting viewers, they’re getting scouts out every day to watch what they’re gifted to do.”
Rest assured, no one is getting more eyeballs than Coach Prime.
Now, let’s see where it leads.
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Paul Newberry is the national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry@ap.org
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
