Colorado rode the season out, but what's next for Deion Sanders in 2024?

Coach Prime's second year in Boulder might be more interesting than the first

CU Buffs

Is it really over? Wow. Sizzling start, staggering finish and a rollercoaster ride unseen in Colorado football history. The media hype, celebrities on the sidelines and fans flocking in record numbers to Folsom Field. Whew, what a trip. No doubt, it will probably continue as long as Deion Sanders directs the Buffalo stampede and its quest for a return to college football relevance.

Three straight wins to kick things off, a national ranking and then a dismal finish. 12 games and not one victory over an opponent ending the season with a winning record. Serious questions about game management and a need for more discipline for a team flagged as one of the most penalized in college football. Buff fans, there’s little time to catch your breathe. The transfer portal roars to life next week. Nobody does it better than Coach Prime. Expect a whirlwind of movement with Colorado’s roster of players and assistant coaches. Never a dull moment.

The highs and lows? Just one observer’s opinion but the incredible season-opening victory at TCU was the highlight. The, still, unfathomable collapse at home against Stanford the low point. How do you blow a 29-point in 30 after halftime? Sanders’ first season? Holy smokes, one for the ages.

This ol’ journalist’s mind wanders back to the first season of covering CU football. It was 1988. Denver’s KCNC-TV was the “Home of the Buffs.” A young reporter was assigned, “Get in the back pocket of the CU football program.” You bet. Looking back on that 8-4 campaign and how it transposes this season’s 4-8? Let’s take a trip down memory lane.

The best moment? I’d say it was the first road trip of the season. The Buffs and head coach Bill McCartney ventured east for a mid-September battle with the talented Iowa Hawkeyes under their mentor, Hayden Fry. The first thing that comes to mind was the heat. Suffocating. At that time Kinnick Stadium had artificial turf. I can vividly recall seeing a sideline temperature gauge revealing the players had to endure a heat index of more than 100 degrees. Humidity was sky high as well.

Nonetheless, the Buffs rallied in the fourth quarter behind great efforts from everyone including standout plays from quarterback Sal Aunese, running back Eric Bieniemy, wide receiver Jeff Campbell, safety Bruce Young, cornerback Dave McCloughan and linebacker Alfred Williams. Colorado shocked Big Ten power and No. 19 Iowa 24-21. It was the Buffs first road win over a ranked opponent in a decade.

What will forever remain etched in thy memory? The locker room afterward. The infamous pink visitor’s team locker room Fry initiated at Iowa that continues to this day. After such an inspirational effort, your scribe entered the cramped space expecting to find utter joy on the faces of the triumphant players. Wrong. It was utter exhaustion. McCartney’s seventh team had literally left it on the field on that hot and muggy late summer day. Emotionally and physically spent, prostate on the floor or leaning against those pink walls? The Buffs had little to say. Unforgettable.

The low point was the last game of the year. The Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, California. The Buffs came into the game 8-3 and were expected to beat BYU and its young quarterback Ty Detmer, future Heisman Trophy winner and brother of future CU signal-caller Koy Detmer. It was a sloppy game. Colorado was a three-point favorite but seemed out of sorts. Aunese did not play well. Puzzling at the time, quite understandable later.

We learned the southpaw quarterback and unquestioned leader of the Buffs was ailing with what was discovered to be terminal stomach cancer. It tragically ended his life in the early stages of the 1989 season. Losing their leader inspired the memorable “One Heart Beat” campaign and the emergence of Colorado football as a national power and champion in the coming years.

Football, sports in general, microcosms of life. Highs and lows. Sweat and sacrifice. The ’88 squad suffered unimaginable lows with Aunese’s death and responded in dramatic fashion with a season to remember the following year. Coach Prime’s team? We shall see.