FORT WORTH, Texas — After working over the Horned Frogs like Joe Louis, Coach Prime worked the scribes like Muhammad Ali.
Deion Sanders, 1-0, leaned into the microphone, his best friend for decades, and read the receipts he’d been keeping for months. Loud and proud.
“You said this. You said that,” Sanders chuckled after his Buffs stunned No. 17 TCU, and the free world, with a 45-42 win at Amon G. Carter Stadium. “Now what? Everybody’s quiet now. Now what? Now what?”
Another face. Another receipt.
“What’s up boss? Do you believe now?”
“Believe in what?”
“Oh, no, no. I read through that bull junk you wrote. I read through that. I sifted through it. No, no. Come on. Do you believe? Do you believe? Didn’t answer me. You don’t believe. Next question.”
Beat Nebraska, Prime.
They’ll believe.
Small sample size, granted. But what a sample. CU, 20.5-point underdogs, hit 2023 in white jerseys with gold numerals, looking like carbon copies of the New Orleans Saints circa 1968. Then quarterback Shedeur Sanders went out played like he was Drew Brees circa 2011.
“People fear names,” the younger Sanders said after throwing for a school-record 510 yards, completing a PlayStation-like 38 of 47 passes, and tossing four touchdowns. “I don’t really fear names, because I don’t care.”
Shedeur? Coming. Tailback Dylan Edwards, who only piled up 159 yards from scrimmage as the first freshman to start at tailback for CU since 1991? Coming. Xavier Weaver (118 receiving yards)? Coming. Jimmy Horn Jr. (117 receiving yards)? Coming. Shilo Sanders (10 tackles)? Coming.
Travis Hunter? Ohhhhh, baby. Coming. Humming.
“I really think we’ve got a couple guys that could be front-runner for the Heisman (Trophy),” Coach Prime continued. “That’s how I feel. We got a couple of them.”
It’s one thing for social media and NIL money to create the hype. It’s another to go out and exceed that bar from the jump.
Hunter, the No. 1 prep recruit in the country three years ago, planted his flag in Game 1 for the title of best cornerback in Buffs history with a Heismanesque FBS debut: More than 100 snaps, 119 receiving yards, a pass break-up, and an interception on a wheel route that neither TCU QB Chandler Morris or Major Everhart saw coming until it was too late.
Of the two-way star’s 11 receptions, six went for first downs. Sanders the younger and Hunter were telepathic the way Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are telepathic, the way Cale Makar and Devon Toews are telepathic.
“It was like practice,” Shedeur shrugged. “A lot of y’all (didn’t) believe in us. You just gotta understand our coach. Everywhere he (has gone), he’s a winner.”
He’s got some things to clean up, too, mind you. CU had one 49-yard field goal try blocked, and nearly got another swatted back in Ralphie’s face. The tackling was all over the yard. TCU averaged seven yards per play and scored three touchdowns from 19 yards out or more.
The defending national runners-up aren’t the Froggies of a year ago. But TCU coach Sonny Dykes and his system are going to make a lot of other defenses look bad in the weeks to come.
On the flip side, the superlatives were so superlative, given the context, that there aren’t enough game balls to go around. But here’s the takeaway that should garner the most hope in Buffs Country, and represents one of the biggest differences from September 2022: The second half. The adjustments.
With so many new faces from so many places, CU was always likely to surprise early on. Sure enough, these Buffs took a 17-14 lead into halftime. Old CU would’ve fallen to pieces after that. Old CU would’ve withered and gone away.
First play of the third quarter: Delay of game.
Second play: Illegal touch by Weaver.
Third play: a 75-yard touchdown by Edwards.
New CU scored 28 in the second half alone. The Buffs averaged nine points following halftime a year ago.
The most unwatchable team in college football in 2022 started 2023 by committing only six penalties, throwing for 510 yards, and averaging a first down every two minutes. Prime was 2-for-2 on fourth down conversions. The second one, from the TCU 46 with 4:25 left in the game, turned into Edwards’ fourth touchdown of the tilt.
Take a bathroom break on these Buffs, you’re likely to miss something insane. Something special.
“How good was that?” Buffs athletic director Rick George asked as he joined the cramped, standing-room-only throng outside the visitors’ locker room at Amon G. Carter.
A few minutes later, his wrist buzzed. A celebratory text from golfer David Duval.
What’s it like to be king of the world?
“I’m not king of the world,” the athletic director countered with a grin. “I’m happy to be 1-0.”
Pat Shurmur, offensive analyst and ex-Broncos whipping post, sat on metal trunk in the hallway and grinned into the phone.
“How about that?” he laughed.
Deion 1, Doubters 0.
How about it.
“Guess what? I’m here. I ain’t going nowhere,” Prime said, leaning forward again, savoring the stage and the throne. “I’m about to get more comfortable in a minute.”
TCU now isn’t TCU then. CU now isn’t CU then, either.
They ain’t coming.
They here.
Biggest upsets in CU history
The Buffs entered Saturday’s game at TCU as three-touchdown underdogs, but came out victorious. Here’s a look at CU’s biggest upsets, listed by the final game day spreads:
| Date | Opponent | Line | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sept. 29, 2007 | Oklahoma | 22 | W, 27-24 |
| Nov. 25, 2011 | at Utah | 22 | W, 17-14 |
| Sept. 22, 2012 | at Washington St. | 21 | W, 35-34 |
| Sept. 2, 2023 | at TCU | 20½ | W, 45-42 |
| Oct. 25, 1986 | Nebraska | 17½ | W, 20-10 |
| Oct. 21, 1972 | Oklahoma | 16 | W, 20-14 |
| Oct. 15, 2022 | Cal | 15½ | W, 20-13 (OT) |
| Nov. 16, 1974 | at Oklahoma State | 14 | W, 37-20 |
| Nov. 1, 1980 | Iowa State | 14 | W, 17-9 |
| Sept. 28, 1985 | at Arizona | 14 | W, 14-13 |
| Nov. 23, 2019 | Washington | 14 | W, 20-14 |
Source: CU athletics
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