The mindset isn’t changing in November for coach Deion Sanders and Colorado, even after the Buffaloes moved up in the Big 12 standings and The Associated Press poll without playing a game.
Coming off an open date and into Saturday’s game at Texas Tech, No. 21 Colorado is up two spots in the AP Top 25 and tied for second place in its first season back in the league where it played in back-to-back championship games two decades ago. Still in front of these Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1 Big 12) is the possibility of making the Big 12 title game, and maybe the expanded 12-team College Football Playoff.
“Every game is a playoff game to us,” Sanders said. ” It’s been that way all season. I think Shedeur [Sanders] made a comment early … that every game we play is like a darn Super Bowl to people, not only to them, but to us, and it is. That’s the way we’re going into it.
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“Every game is a playoff, a single-elimination tournament. We’re planning on approaching all of them with passion, with purpose, with consistency, with focus and a dog-like attitude.”
The Red Raiders (6-3, 4-2) are coming off a 23-22 win at then-No. 11 Iowa State that made them bowl eligible, left No. 9 BYU as the league’s only undefeated team and dropped the Cyclones into a tie for second. Iowa State is the highest-ranked team Tech has beaten in Joey McGuire’s three seasons, and the coach had a visible cut on his right ear for something that happened before that game.
“One of our strength coaches got a little too excited and threw a trash can, a big trash can,” McGuire said. “I thought I ducked enough, but I did not.”
Deep respect
Deion Sanders doesn’t usually seek out other coaches on the field for pregame chats. With McGuire, he will make the exception.
Sanders counts him as a true friend, dating back to when Sanders’ son, Deion Jr., played for McGuire at Cedar Hill High School near Dallas during the Texas High School Football Hall of Fame coach’s 14-year run there.
“He was like the ‘Grand Poobah,’ the magna cum laude of the district of coaches,” the Colorado coach said. “I’m definitely going to look him up to try to embrace with him. I’m just happy that I’m getting the opportunity to be on that stage with a man that I’ve respected for quite some time.”
McGuire said he’s excited to see his good friend.
“The one thing that I was always so impressed with Deion is what kind of dad that he is. Being a high school coach, I dealt with a lot of helicopter parents and he is the farthest thing,” McGuire said. “I think the world of him.”
Heisman hopeful Hunter
Colorado’s two-way standout Travis Hunter is excelling on both sides of the ball. He is second in the Big 12 with eight touchdown catches and third with 757 yards receiving. At cornerback, he is tied for the conference lead with seven pass breakups, and also has two interceptions.
The Heisman Trophy hopeful has logged more than 350 snaps on each side of the ball this season. No other FBS player has more than 50 snaps on both offense and defense, according to league research.
“There’s nobody else in the country doing what he’s doing,” Buffs cornerback DJ McKinney said. “The Heisman is for the best player in the country, right? That’s Travis Hunter.”
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Running Brooks
Tahj Brooks had to game-winning 5-yard TD run for Tech with 19 seconds left at Iowa State, and is the Big 12’s second-leading rusher with 130.9 yards rushing per game. It was his eighth rushing score the past five games.
Brooks is 121 yards shy of breaking Byron Hanspard’s career school record of 4 428 yards, which has stood since 1996. Brooks has rushed for at least 95 yards in 19 consecutive games, 16 of those with more than 100, to match the longest FBS streak since 1996. Minnesota‘s Mohamed Ibrahim also had 19 in a row from 2020-22.
Winning in November
Texas Tech’s win at Iowa State made the Red Raiders 7-2 in November games under McGuire. Both losses were to eventual CFP teams: TCU in 2022 and Texas last year.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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