Changes coming for Buffs after Prime’s first year ends in a whimper

Down several starters and most of the momentum from earlier in the fall, the Colorado Buffaloes dropped their season finale 23-17 at Utah on Saturday. The loss completed CU’s collapse in Deion Sanders first year; the Buffs dropped eight of their final nine games after a heavily-hyped 3-0 start.

Your perspective and the coming years will heavily impact the judging of Coach Prime’s impact on the Buffs. Quadrupling last year’s win total and making CU matter again were big steps taken in 2023. If you think back to halftime of the Stanford game, it looked as though Colorado could soar to a very good bowl game. But everything fell apart and has not looked the same since. If this downward slide continues into an important winter and second season, Prime’s time in Boulder will not look much different than Karl Dorrell’s just with a lot more hype. If the arrow of year over year progress is sellable this winter to talent from across the country, look out—this is going to be a supped-up Bill McCartney. Whatever is next for the black and gold and is basically whatever you think the perspective of this 4-8 season is going to be more easily sold.

“We already know what’s going to come in the next few days to a week and a half,” Sanders said, vowing that a plethora of additions and a few changes were coming. “You are going to be pleased with what’s coming. I promise you that. Everything where we have a deficit, we’re going to fill that need.”

The biggest absence for the Buffs in battling the Utes was Shedeur Sanders, who missed the game with nagging injuries. The star quarterback came just shy of setting every major school passing record in the 2023 season while being hit more than any other player at his spot in the country.

“What we need for Shedeur, we know where to find it,” Coach Prime said. “It ain’t hard to find.”

True freshman Ryan Staub got his first start and stood in well. He threw for 195 yards and one touchdown and if he decides to stick around, he could make for a competent backup next year to the future high NFL Draft pick in Sanders.

“With the foundation that Coach Prime has built here, we are on an upward trajectory,” Staub said postgame. “We’re going to be great.”

Like most Colorado games this season, there were moments where the team’s talent shined. Travis Hunter made a few big plays, some of which were called back, and ended the day with 107 yards and a score, all the while pitching in on defense. Overshadowing that star power were mistakes made by both players and coaches. It’s why Sanders said after the game that everyone, including himself, will be evaluated on everything that happened on gamedays this season.

“I could not grow if I didn’t go through what we went through,” Sanders said of the year’s ups and downs. “I’m truly thankful. This isn’t the first challenge in my life but I know it’s gonna finish.”

But the cherry on top of the season-ending loss may be the three field goals hit in a six-point win by Colorado transfer turned Ute Cole Becker, repeating the same story of Montana Lemonious-Craig. The wideout who was ousted from Boulder by Prime, made the big play against the Buffs in the Arizona game.

This game was a microcosm of a season that was everything to some and saw everything to many.

“Understanding what we’re capable of and what it takes to get to that level of consistency in practice habits, study habits, holding each other accountable,” Sanders said of the next step. “We established some things that are foundational for the new young men that come in here. The guys that are here understand this is how it is and this is how it’s going to be.”

It was Colorado’s final game playing in the Pac-12 and one last time the Buffaloes got hosed by conference’s officials. The refs screwed Sanders’ group out of two touchdowns on the same drive that ended with a field goal. The game ended with a single score separating the teams and CU had an FBS-high eight of those contests. It’s both a huge step up from the beatings the Buffaloes took last season and a reminder of how close Colorado was to breaking through. Colorado won’t miss the Pac-12 though, ending a roam there with a 28-84 record all-time.

Sanders has the Buffaloes pointed in the right direction after a brutal 2022 season with a single win, which now feels like the final rock bottom for a school that has had a plethora in the last two decades. Prime’s goals of reaching the College Football Playoff in year two seemed a bit more doable halfway into the season than now at the finishing line. But with expansion to 12 teams, a change of conference and a second year to turn a big chunk of the roster over it’s still possible. Just like how 2022’s ending was nothing near the same team as 2023’s beginning, what could a similar change bring for 2024? Surely the nation will have its eyes on Boulder come August 31, when the Buffaloes play their next game, hosting North Dakota State. All the while Prime has eyes on the next six weeks when talent acquisition crescendos across the country.

Deion Sanders has opened a Pandora’s box of possibilities at Colorado, but season one leading the Buffaloes was a Schrödinger’s cat.