Former NFL star Deion Sanders, Sr. had his debut as head coach for the University of Colorado Boulder last Saturday against Texas Christian University, with the Buffaloes beating the Horned Frogs 45-42.
Sanders previously coached at Jackson State where he pulled off a 27-6 record. After leaving the team and heading to Colorado, 86 new players also joined the team, changing its whole dynamic.
Last season, the Buffaloes went 1-11. Fans and reporters had doubts about Sanders but were pleased with Colorado’s performance at their first game. Last Saturday, they beat TCU, who were ranked 17 in the preseason and dropped out of the rankings this week following the loss, setting a high precedent for the rest of the season.
A major star on Sanders’ lineup is his own son, Shedeur Sanders, who came with him from his previous team. The quarterback had a record-setting performance against the Horned Frogs. Shedeur completed 38 of 47 passes, totaling 510 yards, the most yards by any player in his FBS debut in the past 25 years. He also set the record for the first quarterback in Colorado history to go beyond 500 yards. Shedeur threw four touchdowns against TCU, which is more than the number of touchdowns the team had in six away games last season—three.
Another player that helped lead the team to their impressive victory was cornerback Travis Hunter. Hunter also left Jackson State to play for Colorado.
Hunter played 129 snaps and became the first D1 player to have 100 receiving yards and an interception in the same game. Against TCU, he also had three tackles and caused an incomplete pass on the defense side. Offensively, Hunter tallied 11 receptions for 119 yards.
“We’re going to continuously be questioned because we do things that have never been done,” Coach Sanders told ESPN. “We do things that have never been done, and that makes people uncomfortable.”
Although the game was not perfect overall, TCU managed 541 yards and an 86-yard kick-off return.
Sanders looks to build off the momentum gained in the season opener. “These young men in there right now, they believe,” Sanders told ESPN. “Not all of them believed before. But right now, they came up one by one, two by two, and said, ‘Coach, we believe.’ Now they believe. Now Boulder believes, people in the front office, people in the building, the fans, the students, now everybody wants to believe. I’m good with that. We got room.”
