Colorado secures bowl berth in second year under Deion Sanders

Colorado is in its second year bowling under Deion Sanders.

The Buffaloes secured their sixth win and bowl eligibility late Saturday night with a 34-23 home win over Cincinnati that also sets them up to be a Big 12 contender next month.

Shedeur Sanders broke a school record by completing his first 15 passes of the game, throwing for 323 yards and scoring three total touchdowns to give the Buffaloes the lead. The win ensured that the star quarterback's second season in Boulder will end with the program's first bowl game since 2020.

“It's sweet, it really is. Because we really want that, but that’s not all we want,” Deion Sanders said. “That is one of the hurdles that we overcome and overcome.

“It's a huge hurdle that we're excited about, we're excited about, but that's not the end goal for us. This is the beginning, but we are grateful and grateful that the hard work is being noticed.”

Shedeur Sanders said he had been battling the flu during the week and was only able to practice once before the game against the Bearcats. He completed 25 of 30 passes on the night and connected with two-way star Travis Hunter nine times for 153 yards and two touchdowns. Afterward, his father asked why he “wasn’t even mentioned” in the Heisman Trophy race.

“I don’t care, I really don’t care. It’s just weird,” Sanders said. “For me it's just funny. I just think it's ignorant, but it's funny to us because Shedeur doesn't care at all. Shedeur wants to be drafted into a wonderful city. He wants to win. He thinks about that. He's not thinking about no damn Heisman, man.

“Travis is the best college football player in the country. We all know that. Why are we even thinking about this? What do we do? When will that change? So what are the criteria? Someone has to say what that is.” Criteria for this prestigious award. Because it's about the best high school football player that has never existed. And I sit here and say this.

For the second straight week, Colorado (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) balanced its offensive attack with a 100-yard rushing performance. Isaiah Augustave, a transfer from Arkansas, led the way with 93 of the Buffaloes' 123 yards rushing, which Deion Sanders called a “conscious effort” to run the ball more.

The Buffs scored on five of their first six offensive attempts to take a 31-14 lead and held off a fourth-quarter surge by Cincinnati (5-3, 3-2) in a battle of Big 12 contenders trailing Surprised by their defeat, they were ranked 11th and 14th respectively in the league's preseason media poll.

Colorado hadn't had six wins since 2016 and last reached a bowl game at the end of the pandemic-shortened 2020 Pac-12 season. One of only two teams in the conference to agree to play in a bowl game, the Buffaloes lost 55-23 to Texas in the Valero Alamo Bowl to finish the season 4-2.

“We don't go into the season thinking about looking at the schedule, 'Oh, we're only going to win six games,'” Shedeur Sanders said. “That didn't happen. The fact that we did it is just trusting the process that we use. We haven't even reached our peak yet. Not by a long shot.”

After a 4-8 debut season and another offseason spent rebuilding the roster through the transfer portal, Sanders has Colorado positioned to compete in the Big 12 championship race.

Undefeated BYU (8-0, 5-0) and Iowa State (7-0, 4-0) remain atop the Big 12 Conference standings, followed by Kansas State (7-1, 4-1) and Colorado. Kansas State defeated the Buffaloes 31-28 in Boulder on Oct. 12, but Colorado does not play BYU or Iowa State in the regular season.

A bye week is next for the Buffaloes, with Texas Tech, Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State still on the schedule. All four of Colorado's remaining opponents lost on Saturday.

Deion Sanders said his team is focused on one game at a time and isn't thinking about a College Football Playoff run. He then appealed to reporters and coaches who take part in the weekly polls. Five Associated Press Top 25 teams that lose on Saturday could potentially clear Colorado's path to the rankings.

“We don’t even want to be included in the rankings. Please don’t judge us,” he said. “We don’t like that. We prefer to stay at the back, in the dark and just chill in the edit. We are good, we are cool, we are sincere. So don’t feel pressured to classify us.”

After the win, Deion Sanders wanted to present the game ball to Peggy Coppom, Colorado's 99-year-old superfan who has been attending games since the 1940s. Sanders vowed he would take “Miss Peggy” to a bowling game as a present for her 100th birthday.

Coppom was unable to attend the Cincinnati game while battling COVID-19, Sanders said, but Colorado athletic director Rick George called her from the locker room after the win.

“We told her she was going bowling,” Sanders said. “Now we want to make sure she goes into the best possible bowl she can possibly go into. This means a lot to us, it really does. She was so thankful and thankful. She means so much to this program, so we're glad we were able to honor her with this.

“Now we just need to get a private plane to make sure she's comfortable on the way there. “Yeah, we won’t put Peggy on a regular plane, I promise you that.”