Big 12 team preview: After more help from transfer portal, is Colorado ready for ‘prime time’?

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders directs safety Ben Finneseth during spring college football game, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. | David Zalubowski, Associated Press

Editor’s note: Seventh in a series previewing each team in the Big 12 in 2024.

One of the biggest stories in all of college football was set in Boulder, Colorado, last season.

From the moment Colorado hired NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, his program was the talk of the college football world, starting with his complete roster overhaul. In all, 71 players transferred out of Boulder prior to the 2023 season, including kicker Cole Becker, who transferred to Utah and started for the Utes.

For a stretch at the start of the season, it seemed like the mass influx of transfers was going to work.

Colorado started 3-0, including thrilling wins against TCU and Colorado State, and ESPN’s “College GameDay” and Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” set up shop in Boulder.

“Do you believe now?” coach Sanders asked the media after the season-opening win over TCU.

After a 3-0 start, people were believing.

Then came a 42-6 drubbing at the hands of Oregon, followed by a seven-point loss to USC that came down to the wire and a 27-24 win over Arizona State.

At 4-2, the Buffaloes were vastly improved from the prior season’s 1-11 record, but the victory over the Sun Devils was the last game they’d win all year.

Colorado lost the next four — three of those were within a score and one a 12-point defeat — and then star quarterback Shedeur Sanders was injured in the second-to-last game of the year against Washington State. With Ryan Stuab at quarterback ,Colorado ended the season with a 6-point loss at Utah — the Utes had Luke Bottari under center — finishing the year at 4-8.

It’s been the same MO for Sanders heading into this season — though he added…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/big-12-team-preview-more-194524526.html

Author : Deseret News

Publish date : 2024-07-19 19:45:24

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