Deion Sanders and Colorado must 'seize the moment' in first NFL stadium game

Coach Prime and Buffs face two key games in control of Big 12 race

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The prognosticators got one thing correct about the initial Big 12 conference season with four newcomers, including the Buffs. Most so-called experts believed the season would be a dogfight between four or five schools. That was spot on.

What’s really surprising is the four or five schools fighting for a chance to play for the championship in Dallas on December 7th? None were in the preseason conversation. The current frontrunners? The Buffs were picked 11th in preseason polls, BYU was 13th out of 16 teams and Arizona State? Dead last.

With two games remaining, the trio of schools have what all desire this late in the season, control of their destiny. The Sun Devils host the Cougars this weekend. An Arizona State victory would give coach Kenny Dillingham’s team, with two conference losses, the tie-breaker against BYU.

Meanwhile, the surging Colorado Buffaloes take matters on the road to Kansas City. What? Playing KU in KC? Yep. The Jayhawks are remodeling their home stadium in Lawrence and have played all conference games at Arrowhead, home of the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

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The Jayhawks are on a nice roll themselves. Back-to-back victories over ranked teams - Kansas State and BYU - for the first time in school history. Why not make it a trifecta? It’s a blessing for the Buffs that the game will be played almost an hour from the Lawrence campus. Why? In all likelihood, it will not be a hostile environment.

Kansas has played TCU, Houston and Iowa State at Arrowhead this season. Average attendance? About 46,000. In a 76,000-seat stadium. Who knows, with the “Prime Effect" and a chance for Midwesterners to see up close and personal Travis Hunter, this season’s clear Heisman Trophy favorite, it might draw a crowd of 50,000 or more. Still, there will be plenty of seats available and the famed stadium, and those in attendance, will not come close to creating the noise normally associated with Chiefs’ home games.

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On the other hand, the 8-2 Buffs are making plenty of noise. Four straight wins. Outstanding play in all three phases of the game. Barring injury, Hunter’s the overwhelming favorite to win the Heisman and join the late and great Rashaan Salaam as Colorado’s lone winners of the trophy awarded to college football’s most outstanding player. 30 years apart.

Don’t look now, but if the Buffs continue this impressive stretch of winning football you could see a major sweep on top awards come postseason: Hunter for the Heisman, Shedeur Sanders for the Davy O’Brien award as the nation’s top quarterback and Deion Sanders as National Coach of the Year. That impressive hat trick has never happened in the history of college football.

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However, there is an asterisk. The 1938 national champion TCU Horned Frogs. Coach Dutch Meyer won Coach of the Year honors and quarterback Davy O’Brien won the Heisman. It wasn’t until after O’Brien’s death in the late 70’s that an award for best quarterback was established in honor of a 5’7” signal caller who went on to play in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The words of former Colorado head coach Rick Neuheisel ring in my ears: “If ‘if’s’ and ‘buts’ were candies and nuts? We’d all have a Merry Christmas!” Amen, buddy.

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All the accolades will take care of themselves if Colorado keeps winning. CU’s defense has emerged as a real strength of the team. First-year defensive coordinator Robert Livingston and staff have taken a ton of transfers and transformed them into a formidable force which surrendered only 31 rushing yards to Utah. The Utes' most woeful performance on the ground in more than a decade. The suddenly stout defense leads the Big 12 in sacks. In the last six games? The Buffs have 28 sacks and have forced 15 turnovers.

An opportunistic defense, high-powered offense and solid special teams play? There is no, “If’s and but’s” about it, this is the recipe for winning football. Championship football.

Kansas in Missouri is the next step. Forever forlorn fans of Colorado football have seen a glimpse of the promised land. Come on Buffs, go claim it. Seize the moment.