Believe the hype.
Deion Sanders’ debut as Colorado coach was considered a big deal, but there was a lot of doubt about how good the Buffaloes would be after a hasn’t had a roster makeover in Boulder.
“We told you we were coming. You think we are joking. We keep receipts,†Sanders said afterward Colorado beat No. 17 TCU on Saturday in a performance that exceeded even the highest expectations.
The team with nearly 90 new players defeated the team that played for the national championship last season.
Where to start?
Sanders’ son, Shedeur, set a school record with 510 yards passing in his first major college football game after transferring with his father from Jackson State.
Receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter played 129 snaps and had 11 catches for 119 yards, but his best and biggest play was an interception against TCU in the red zone.
“No, I’m not tired, I’m ready to come back,” said Hunter, who wore a T-shirt with a picture of his Hall of Fame coach on it during the postgame.
Freshman Dylan Edwards, who Coach Prime lured away from Notre Dame, had 159 yards from scrimmage on 11 touches and scored four touchdowns, including the winner late in the fourth quarter.
Colorado snapped a 27-game losing streak against ranked teams on the road.
And when it was over, Sanders called out the doubters.
He asked a reporter: “Do you believe now? I read the bull junk you wrote. Do you believe?â€
It’s just a game, but it’s hard not to believe that Colorado can be fun and relevant and that Sanders is doing a heck of a job not only rebuilding a roster almost from scratch but getting it ready to play in Power Five football.
Offensive coordinator Sean Lewis, who left a head coaching job at Kent State to join Sanders’ staff, seems like a good hire.
Next week Colorado will play its first home game against Nebraska, another team with a new coach, but one coming off a very different debut.
The Cornhuskers lost under Matt Rhule in Minnesota on a walk-off field goal Thursday.
Folsom Field should be buzzing for the old Big Eight battle being renewed.
So what is the ceiling for the Buffs?
The defense left a lot to be desired against TCU and the offense probably needs to run the ball better to take some pressure off of Shedeur Sanders. But that makes Colorado look like a lot of teams in the Pac-12 this season.
And Hunter playing 120 plays per game seems unsustainable.
But adding an explosive CU team to a league that also includes No. 6 USC and Heisman winner Caleb Williams; 10 Washington and Michael Penix Jr.; and No. 15 Oregon and Bo Nix – with No. 14 Utah and No. 18 Oregon State – and the Pac-12 just got more exciting.
If you’re tired of Coach Prime, get ready: You’re going to see a lot of CU this September.
Fox is again giving next week’s home opener the Big Noon treatment. That’s a 10 am local kickoff.
After facing rival Colorado State the following week, the Buffaloes close out September with back-to-back games against Oregon and USC.
You have our attention, Coach Prime.
PAC-12 SWAN SONG
The demise of the Pac-12 that’s the story of the offseason.
Only two schools remain committed to the conference beyond this school year, Oregon State and Washington State.
The rest will be spread among the other Power Five conferences, including Colorado as one of four Pac-12 teams headed to the Big 12 next year.
Leadership failures and poor decision-making by those in charge put the Conference of Champions on life support. Although it will survive in some form of patchwork, it will never be the same.
It’s sad and even sadder for how good and fun the conference had the chance to be.
The opening weekend provided a taste.
It started Thursday night when Utah beat Florida of the SEC in Salt Lake City.
On Friday, Stanford won in Hawaii in its first game under coach Troy Taylor.
Saturday brings CU upset at TCU in the Big 12; Washington beat a Boise State team which is considered a Mountain West class; California roams the road in North Texas, a new addition to the American Athletic Conference; and Oregon dropped 80 on an FCS opponent.
Meanwhile, Washington State went to Colorado State of the Mountain West – which will be an upcoming conference trip for the Cougars – and dropped 50 to the Rams.
NEW QBs
The quarterback competition at No. 3 Ohio State might not finish. The No. 4 Alabama seems to be getting clarity on the position.
Kyle McCord and the Buckeyes offense are not inspiring a like the workmanlike win over Indiana that was also CBS’s Big Ten debut.
McCord was 20 for 32 for 239 yards and an interception. Backup Devin Brown, who Ohio State coach Ryan Day insisted was neck and neck with McCord most of the offseason, just got a taste of action.
Brown was 1 for 3 and ran once for a total of minus-5 yards. Day said he didn’t play with Brown the way he wanted.
“I don’t want to risk putting ourselves in a bad spot by continuing to move guys in and out,” Day told reporters. “But coming in, really wanting to play more with Devin, wanting to do that going forward.”
The Buckeyes have home games against Youngstown State and Western Kentucky to wrap things up before a trip to No. 13 Notre Dame on Sept. 23.
Alabama has no such luxury No. 11 Texas comes to Tuscaloosa next week, but Jalen Milroe might ease some worries for Nick Saban.
The third-year quarterback, who replaced Bryce Young last season, had three touchdown passes and two TD runs in a loss against Middle Tennessee State.
The No. 1 Georgia has the easiest opener of the top-five teams against Tennessee Martin. Carson Beck, Stetson Bennett’s replacement, was 21 for 31 for 294 yards and a touchdown.
The most impressive performance among the new starting quarterbacks for the top-ranked teams came in Happy Valley.
Drew Allar looked a lot like a former five-star recruit, passing for 325 yards and three touchdowns. No. 7 Penn State rode West Virginia.
NATIONWIDE: Fresno State and Northern Illinois pulled off the sweetest upsets against Power Five opponents. One with a big check. Fresno State beat Purdue in the debut of coach Ryan Walters, a trip the Bulldogs were paid $1.35 million to make. Northern Illinois defeated Boston College in overtime and received $1.1 million for his time. Texas State defeated Baylor for its first win against a Power Five team and earned $375,000 for making the 2-hour drive to Waco. A debut for Bobcats coach GJ Kinne. … Iowa offensive coordinator Brian Ferentz needs the 25th-ranked Hawkeyes to average 25 points per game this season to keep his job. So far, he is a little behind. Iowa jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter against Utah State before settling for a looks like a very Hawkeye performance. … No. 19 Wisconsin’s first game with a new Air-Raid-ish offense: 312 yards rushing and four touchdowns in a victory over Buffalo.
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Follow Ralph D. Russo at https://twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP and listen at http://www.apppodcasts.com
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll