Deion Sanders' first year at Colorado "divinely designed” with history repeated

Halfway to the end of his first season in Boulder and Coach Prime is ramping up for the future

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Six games into this new era of Colorado football? The Buffs are trying to figure out the slow starts but one thing is readily apparent about Coach Prime’s squad. It will not quit. Comebacks against Arizona State, Colorado State and TCU are testaments to that truth. 

So too, the near-miraculous rally against USC. Deion Sanders has decried the lethargic beginnings and has vowed to fix the problem. Time will tell.

Two victories from bowl eligibility with a very winnable home game Friday evening against Stanford has this observer wondering, “Will the Buffs learn from these experiences?” It also makes me think of Coach Prime’s recurring statements about his young and talented herd of Buffaloes, “You better get us now.”

It takes my noggin’ back to 1988, the first season I covered the program as the “Buff Guy” for KCNC-TV, “Home of the Buffs” at the time. Colorado was loaded with young talent: Linebackers Alfred Williams and Kanavis McGhee, running back Eric Bieniemy, wide receiver Mike Pritchard, offensive lineman Joe Garten and cornerback Dave McCloughan were all sophomores. Future star quarterback Darian Hagan and Jim Thorpe-award winning defensive-back Deon Figures were freshmen as were future NFL standout linebackers Chad Brown and Greg Biekert. Each redshirted in 1988.

That season Colorado went 8-4 but signaled to the college football world that Bill McCartney’s seventh team was ready for prime time. Privately, McCartney would offer to his inner circle, but not as public as Sanders does, “You better get us now because we’re gonna be pretty darn good in the future.”

It was not false bravado. Starting the next season, from 1989 through 1994? The year McCartney surprised everyone with a sudden resignation following the regular-season finale against Iowa State? Those six seasons the Buffs were 56-11-4 and won the school’s only national championship. 

Coach Mac was not kidding about, “You better get us now.” 

Three of the four 1988 losses were to Nebraska, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State. The Cowboys had offensive standouts Barry Sanders, Mike Gundy and Hart Lee Dykes and smoked the Buffs in Boulder. Nebraska and Oklahoma? Even better teams than Okie State. Colorado should have

beaten each of those powerhouses. If... While running unscathed toward the Husker goal line on the wet turf inside seventh-ranked Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium, standout junior JJ Flannigan doesn’t suddenly lose the grip on the football, fumble and turn the ball over? The Buffs would have tied the score. If, on a tough day for kickers because of the chilly wind howling around the packed stadium, Kenny Culbertson doesn’t miss a chip-shot field goal attempt? Among the sea of red in Lincoln? The Buffs snatched defeat from the jaws of victory losing, 7-0.

It makes me think of McCartney’s successor, Rick Neuheisel. When the conversation got into the “If” stuff, the current CBS college football analyst would joke, “If it’s and butts were candies and nuts? We’d all have a Merry Christmas!” Amen, dude.

A few weeks earlier, on a beautiful evening beneath the Flatirons? Inside a rowdy and packed Folsom Field? The Buffs had eighth-ranked Oklahoma on the ropes before Barry Switzer’s crew slithered out of Boulder with a 17-14 triumph. Gut wrenching defeats.

However, as it says inside the Buffs locker room and is read by every player marching into battle, “The pride and tradition of the Colorado Buffaloes will not be entrusted to the timid and weak.” McCartney’s young but talented 1988 Buffaloes were loudly proclaiming with their actions, not words, “Better get us now.”

What’s the ol’ saying? History has a way of repeating itself? That can be bad and good, right? If you’re a Colorado Buffaloes football fan, it’s a very good thing. The business side of college football has changed dramatically between the glory years under McCartney and the insane interest in Coach Prime’s first CU team. 

The transfer portal, NIL money, social media and Sanders’ star power are ideal for today’s media-driven college football landscape. Beneath all that? On the field. 

Now and then? Programs with talented players and coaches who will not quit. Dynamic duos, as Coach Mac would say, “Divinely designed” for future greatness. Time will tell.