EUGENE, Ore —\u00a0Coach Click got the buttocks of his CU Buffs kicked.<\/p>\n
They comin\u2019, Deion Sanders.<\/p>\n
And the powers that be in college football are coming for you.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a really good, old-fashioned butt-kicking,\u201d Sanders said Saturday, after Oregon coach Dan Lanning turned this game into a personal vendetta and pounded the Buffs until there was no fight left in them during a 42-6 beatdown.<\/p>\n
The Ducks played with a passion fueled by their coach. Prior to kickoff, Lanning promised his team the Buffs were headed for a hard fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Cinderella story is over, men,\u201d Lanning told his players. \u201cThey\u2019re fighting for clicks, we\u2019re fighting for wins. There\u2019s a difference. This game ain\u2019t going to be played in Hollywood, it\u2019s going to be played on the grass.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the synthetic grass of Autzen Stadium, Oregon kicked the Buffs\u2019\u00a0 \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cTeams are trying to beat me. They\u2019re not trying to beat our team. They keep forgetting I\u2019m not playing any more. I had a great career. I\u2019m serious, I\u2019ve got a gold jacket,\u201d said Sanders, reminding us of his Hall of Fame credentials after CU got rocked hard enough to be knocked out of the top 25.<\/p>\n
When you steal the spotlight the way Coach Prime has, transforming Boulder into the hottest spot on the college football map, there\u2019s going to be jealousy. And when you step into that spotlight, you better not blink.<\/p>\n
So I asked Sanders if his brash words make it tougher for his team to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it doesn\u2019t make it tougher on our team. These are grown men,\u201d he replied. \u201cI\u2019m not out there. If I was out there playing against every coach we played, we would be totally dominant.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I tried to suggest what we saw on this gray September afternoon was evidence of a massive talent gap between his Buffs and Oregon, Coach Prime was having none of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely not,\u201d he said. \u201cIf there was a talent gap, we wouldn\u2019t be 3-1 right now. It\u2019s not a talent gap. You just got your butt kicked … Happens sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, truth be known, maybe there was a little too much loose talk of greatness by Sanders and sons — whether it was Deion bragging to \u201c60 Minutes\u201d about being bigger than the CU program or Shedeur grinning from behind the wheel of a $200,000 car \u2014 before the rest of these Buffs were ready to walk that walk.<\/p>\n
Maybe Colorado should crank up some Kendrick Lamar at practice and be humble.<\/p>\n
Could this beatdown do the Buffs good?<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople around the country will say, \u2018This is what they needed to humble themselves.\u2019 We wasn\u2019t arrogant or whatever. We\u2019re just confident people. If our confidence offends your insecurity, that\u2019s the problem with you, it\u2019s not us,\u201d Sanders said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not something that was needed. It\u2019s like getting in a car wreck and you saying, \u2018Oh, he needed that.\u2019 You don\u2019t need that. That\u2019s just stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coach Prime might well be revolutionizing the business of building a college football program before our eyes. The importance of blocking and tackling, however, hasn\u2019t changed since the days of Knute Rockne.<\/p>\n
While Sanders brought back plenty of speed and flash in his Louis Vuitton luggage after a trip to the transfer portal, these Buffs need to go back to school, crack the books and get better at the basics.<\/p>\n
Driving a Maybach is sweet, but style points don\u2019t count for much on the scoreboard, as CU\u2019s quarterback was rudely reminded by these angry Ducks, who sacked Sanders seven times.<\/p>\n
While he is certain to drop in the Heisman Trophy polls after completing only 23 of 33 passes for 159 yards against Oregon, I would argue this defeat actually proved Sanders is the most valuable player in college football.<\/p>\n
The Buffs are a 3-9 football team with Shedeur attached. \u201cGot to be perfect,\u201d he said. Ain\u2019t that the truth? CU can\u2019t win without him.<\/p>\n
If Michael Strahan, The Rock or any of Coach Prime\u2019s celebrity buddies from the Big Apple to Hollywood have any football eligibility remaining, he might want to suit them up to play defense before quarterback Caleb Williams and the USC Trojans show up in Boulder.<\/p>\n
Oregon quarterback Bo Nix ginsued the CU defense with 276 yards and three touchdown passes. Bo knows football. But he\u2019s no Williams, projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.<\/p>\n
True to his nature, Coach Prime isn\u2019t worried about a 3-0 start becoming a two-game losing streak.<\/p>\n
He wears those shades, because Sanders sees a future so bright Lanning better enjoy beating the Buffs while Oregon still can.<\/p>\n
\u201cI keep receipts,\u201d said Sanders, who got word Lanning made it his personal mission to humble CU.<\/p>\n
“One thing I can say honestly and candidly: You better get me right now. This is the worst we’re going to be. So you better get me right now.”<\/p>\n
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