EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon Duck pranced onto the field wearing sunglasses, a cowboy hat and a clock necklace with “Time’s Up” printed across it. You couldn’t be sure whether the mascot was making fun of Deion Sanders or Flavor Flav. But the message was clear: The national obsession with Colorado was not welcome here.
Reality thumped the Coach Prime hysteria Saturday afternoon. All the haters, naysayers and nonbelievers Sanders and his Buffaloes mocked during three weeks of incomparable delirium can come out of timeout now. This isn’t the end of their college football takeover, but the inevitable hardships of rebuilding have begun.
Fairy tales can stop being jealous. Sanders isn’t writing a perfect story. Colorado went 1-11 last season for a reason, and there is no magic makeover thorough enough to transform such a needy program into a powerhouse overnight.
Advertisement
The Buffaloes brought their swagger, cultural resonance and No. 19 ranking to Autzen Stadium and tumbled off the grand stage. No. 10 Oregon barely had to acknowledge Colorado’s presence during a 42-6 victory that could have been much worse. The Ducks led 21-0 by the middle of the second quarter and trotted into halftime with a 35-0 advantage. Fifth-year senior quarterback Bo Nix, who has legitimate Heisman Trophy dreams, completed his first 12 passes and finished with an impressive stat line for basically three quarters of work: 28 for 33 for 276 yards and three touchdowns.
This was neither the season opener against a TCU team in transition after playing in the national title game last season nor the matchups against Nebraska and Colorado State. For the first time, Colorado played a top-10 team with annual College Football Playoff expectations. And the Ducks could use their opponent’s meteoric rise in popularity for motivation. It is a predicament that the Buffaloes will encounter multiple times in Pac-12 Conference play: With the iridescent Sanders leading them, they’re a stylish squad despite being overmatched, but the established teams on their schedule — No. 5 USC next week and future dates with No. 22 UCLA, No. 14 Oregon State, No. 21 Washington State and No. 11 Utah — can play with an underdog’s edge because they lack the charisma to garner Prime Time-caliber attention.
Oregon Coach Dan Lanning, who is 19 years younger than the 56-year-old Sanders but infinitely more uptight, perfected the approach. During an animated pregame speech posted on Oregon’s social media, he used every ounce of that motivation.
Advertisement
“The Cinderella story is over, men,” he declared to his team. “They’re fighting for clicks; we’re fighting for wins. There’s a difference, right? This game ain’t going to be played in Hollywood; it’s going to be played on the grass.”
Sanders, as cool in defeat as he has been spirited in victory, didn’t snap back. He couldn’t. That’s the misinterpreted aspect of Sanders’s flamboyance. He doesn’t express himself to show people up. He’s just living. And he’s fine with Lanning being Lanning. Because Prime is gonna Prime.
“God bless him, man,” Sanders said. “He’s a great coach. He’s done a great job. God bless him. [Let them] take their shots. They won.”
Colorado will never be overlooked. From the moment Sanders arrived in Boulder, Colo., and introduced his “We coming!” mantra, he became more than a coach who wants all the smoke. He opened every door and taunted the smoke to find him. As they won three straight games and turned into a rebuilding phenomenon, the Buffaloes adopted a new “We here!” mentality. Now it’s clear the smoke is here, too — and it can be suffocating. And with the Pac-12 so loaded during its grand farewell season, the smoke will be relentless.
Advertisement
You saw the way Colorado handled success. It was ridiculous and polarizing, but most of all, it was fun and addictive. During the opening month of the season, you couldn’t ignore Sanders. Whenever he or his team received criticism, he converted it into a viral moment. Then he monetized the publicity as no other coach could. September has been a glimpse of what the Buffaloes will become if Sanders has the stamina. He is setting up the program to dominate the early years of a revamped Big 12 when Colorado returns to the conference next season.
“One thing I can say, honestly and candidly, you better get me right now,” Sanders said after the worst defeat in his 37 games as a college coach. “This is the worst we’re going to be. You better get me right now.”
He seems ready to persist through failure. He had a good time admonishing the critics, who didn’t show Colorado disrespect as much as they appreciated the difficulty of reigniting a program that went 48-94 in its dozen years as a Pac-12 member before Sanders arrived. He signed up to fix a program that had two winning campaigns in the previous 17 seasons, and one of those was a 4-2 mark during a pandemic-shortened 2020 run.
Advertisement
This is a hard job that presents banana peels just when it seems safe to saunter. In 2018, Colorado won five straight games to start the season and climbed to the same No. 19 ranking that Sanders’s crew earned before Saturday’s beatdown. Then the Buffaloes lost their final seven games, and Coach Mike MacIntyre lost his job.
No matter how compelling it was, a 3-0 start didn’t allow Colorado to rebuild with historic speed. The initial effort was remarkable nonetheless and put the Buffaloes well ahead of where they should be. It was a testament to Sanders’s leadership, his ability to attract one of the nation’s finest coaching staffs and his knack for finding talent and instilling confidence in players.
The blowout Saturday didn’t expose Colorado. Underneath all the hype, the flaws have been easy to see, and Sanders has alluded to many of the problems. But watching the balloon burst so violently should reframe the challenge. Colorado didn’t skip all the steps and bluster its way to sustainable success. The potential of the Sanders era remains enormous, but so is the challenge.
Advertisement
He has gotten the program off the ground quickly. Staying up is a different task.
“This is the kind of opportunity you have as a coach, as a man, as a father to lift them up,” Sanders said.
His players will need a hand this week. Oregon outgained Colorado 522-199. The Buffaloes committed 12 penalties. Shedeur Sanders, the coach’s son and star quarterback, was sacked seven times and threw for just 159 yards. Colorado is highly competitive when it protects the quarterback and the offense is flowing. But right now, the Buffaloes have a suspect run game, and they are a horrible defensive team. They have yet to show they can win a low-scoring game.
And they next have to face USC, which is more explosive than Oregon. The mission must be to stay positive. If they can do that, the two games after USC are winnable: at Arizona State and a home game against Stanford, both rebuilding programs.
Advertisement
“Get your butt up and let’s go,” Sanders said. “We ain’t got time for no pity party.”
After the game, Sanders and his team ambled toward the locker room quietly. Nix tapped the coach on the shoulder, and Sanders hugged the quarterback, slapped him on the helmet and offered warm congratulations.
As he walked through the tunnel, the crowd offered predictable “Overrated!” chants, and a fan lifted a sign that read, “You Got Autzened.”
“It was a good ol’ fashioned butt kicking,” Sanders said after his first Pac-12 game. “No excuses. No nothing.”
You see, he can do humble.
“I know I have shades on,” he added before leaving for the day, “but I can see the future. And it looks really good.”
You see, he’s not easily discouraged.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZMCxu9GtqmhqYGeAcHyYaGlsZ5OkubC%2BwJ2mZqeimrSwuoydnKKnnmLAorrDnqmsZZykwKa%2Fjg%3D%3D