BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Don't expect Deion Sanders to sit around and scoreboard watch all weekend. Too much stress and anxiety.
What unfolds, unfolds, the coach of the 23rd-ranked Colorado Buffaloes maintained. His team remains on the outside looking in for a spot in the Big 12 title game. The Buffaloes (8-3, 6-2, No. 25 CFP ) need to knock off Oklahoma State (3-8, 0-8) on Friday and then hope for chaos to ensue around the conference the following day.
One scenario to get in requires two losses out of No. 14 Arizona State (at Arizona), No. 19 BYU (hosting Houston) or No. 17 Iowa State (hosting Kansas State). The other scenario would be a loss by BYU and a win from Texas Tech (hosting West Virginia). All, of course, are predicated on a Colorado victory.
“I’m not the type of guy to sit down and wish everyone loses so we could reach our goal,” said Sanders, whose team had the inside track to the conference championship before a 37-21 loss to Kansas last weekend. "I’m not built like that. We had an opportunity. We squandered it.
“I'm not sitting over there and watching football, getting mad and upset because someone’s not playing like you've got a remote control, a PlayStation. You can’t turn the team on and off. It don’t work like that.”
The Buffaloes host a Cowboys team that has dropped eight straight since a 3-0 start. But they have offensive weapons in 2023 Doak Walker Award winner Ollie Gordon II and receiver Brennan Presley, who's just the fourth player at Oklahoma State to eclipse 5,000 career all-purpose yards. Oklahoma State is coming off a 56-48 loss to Texas Tech.
For the Cowboys, it boils down to containing QB Shedeur Sanders and knowing where Travis Hunter is at all times. It's not hard to find Hunter, though — he's all over the field. The Heisman hopeful is averaging around 120 plays a game as an elite cornerback and receiver.
“He’s arguably the best player in the country at what he does,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said. “He has a skillset that is through the roof.”
A well-protected Shedeur Sanders is an accurate Shedeur Sanders as he's completed 73.4% of his passes. His 3,488 yards passing are second-most for a season in Colorado history and just 40 yards away from surpassing the mark of 3,527 set by Koy Detmer in 1996. Sanders’ 30 TD passes are already the most in program history for a season.
“You’ve got to somehow get your hands on (Sanders) and make him move his feet and not let him get comfortable, because he’s a really good player,” Gundy said.
Deion Sanders said the emotions won't be welling up over the fact this could be the final time he's coaching his QB son and his like-a-son, Hunter. Both are forecasted as high NFL draft picks and may skip a bowl game. Although, Sanders said that won't be the case. The career of safety Shilo Sanders is winding down, too.
“I’m not going to go crazy because I know we've got one more left. So maybe that last one, I mean, that last walk may be something to behold,” Deion Sanders said. “But I’m not focused on my last hurrah with my kids. I’m focused on winning this last game with my team.”
Kansas running back Devin Neal gouged Colorado for 207 yards and three touchdowns last Saturday, along with catching four passes for 80 yards and another score. The Cowboys have a talented tailback in Gordon, who needs 90 yards to become the 11th Oklahoma State player to reach the 3,000-yard rushing mark for a career.
The future is bright for the Buffaloes, who saw highly touted high school quarterback Julian Lewis recently announce his decision to join Deion Sanders in Boulder. Not that Sanders is thinking about anything other than Friday.
Not even Thanksgiving.
“I’m not thinking about no Turkey, no dressing, no black-eyed peas and rice, and yellow rice and sweet potatoes and yams," Sanders said. “I’m not thinking about all that. I'm thinking about this game. That’s our Thanksgiving.”
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