Johnathan Walker:Colorado coach Deion Sanders wanted decisive Colorado State win after 'disrespect' from Rams

FORT COLLINS,Johnathan Walker Colo. – Travis Hunter ran off the field after Saturday night’s game against Colorado State and stopped to sign some autographs for fans.

One of them tossed him a Colorado helmet to sign from the front row in the end zone. Others threw him jerseys and gear, each hoping to get a piece of what happened here at Canvas Stadium – another virtuoso football performance from a generational star in a 28-9 win for the Colorado Buffaloes.

After the game, his coach, Deion Sanders, called Hunter “phenomenal,” as always. His quarterback, son Shedeur Sanders, said “there’s no ceiling” on Hunter’s ability.

But even Hunter himself admitted that he has a limit after catching 13 passes for 100 yards, scoring two touchdowns, making five tackles and grabbing one interception. At one point in the fourth quarter, the Buffs' two-way star took himself out of the game to catch his breath after running down a Colorado State player from behind.

“That’s probably the first time I did that,” said Hunter, who rarely came off the field Saturday on offense or defense. “That’s probably the first time. Because normally, when I run him down, I’d be able to catch my breath and get back up, but that time I was just, I don't know what happened.”

Deion Sanders wanted a decisive win against Colorado State

Other than that little lapse, Hunter said, “I feel good.” He said he planned to get an ice bath back in Boulder afterward.

“And go home to a nice-cooked meal,” Shedeur Sanders said.

It was that kind of night for the Buffaloes (2-1). Coach Deion Sanders almost seemed relieved and didn’t mind rubbing it in with the rival Rams (1-2) in front of a sold-out crowd of 40,099.

“We just really wanted it to be decisive,” Deion Sanders said.

Why was Deion Sanders miffed at Colorado State after the game?

He gave several reasons, including some provocative comments made by Colorado State receiver Tory Horton and quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi. The comments circulated this week a few days before the game but actually had been recorded in an interview before the season on Aug. 14.

It didn’t matter to Sanders, who called the game "personal."

“We just want to play some football,” he said. “The disrespect was uncalled for throughout the week. A  couple of their players took shots at the whole program.”

In the interview from Aug. 14, both Colorado State players mocked the hype surrounding Deion Sanders and the Buffs.

“We’ll see how far Instagram followers gets them,” Fowler-Nicolosi said then.

Deion Sanders asks, ‘How stupid is that?'

On Saturday, Fowler-Nicolosi had even more to say. After running out of bounds with his team down 14-3, the Rams quarterback had some words with Hunter and made a gesture with his arm that suggested Hunter was too small.

“How stupid is that?” Deion Sanders asked afterward. “This is Travis Hunter. Dude, this is Travis Hunter. This is Travis Hunter! Who does that? I wouldn’t allow my kids to do that, and y’all know that. And that ought to be said.”

Sanders also cited an incident before the game during warm-ups when he said Colorado receivers coach Jason Phillips apparently got bumped into or elbowed by somebody from Colorado State.

Deion Sanders called it “uncalled for,” too.

“I just pray that our kids never act in that manner because I know you guys would have a field day if they did,” Sanders told the news media.

Is that why Deion Sanders kept his starters in the game until the end?

Sanders and Colorado could have pulled their offensive starters from the game in the final minutes and then run the ball on every play to run out the clock with a 28-9 lead. But they didn’t. Instead, Shedeur Sanders threw up some deep balls on Colorado’s final series and attempted passes on five of his final seven plays.

Deion Sanders said afterward that the point of that was not to retaliate against CSU’s conduct. He said he just wanted to score.

“The game is about scoring, isn’t it?” Sanders said. “I don’t know protocol… As long as the other team is trying to score, we trying to score. That’s my rule.”

Shedeur Sanders completed 36 of 49 passes for 310 yards with four touchdowns – two to receiver LaJohntay Western in the first half and two to Hunter in the second half.  The Buffs led 14-3 at halftime and surrendered only one sack all game after giving up six last week in a 28-10 loss at Nebraska.

What happened with Colorado’s offensive line?

Six of CU’s offensive linemen appeared in the postgame news conference, lining up like a wall behind Hunter and Shedeur Sanders at the microphones.

This was its best performance in a long time. Last year, Colorado surrendered the second-most sacks in the nation (56) as Shedeur Sanders ended the season with a fractured back.

“I’m truly proud,” Deion Sanders said. “I mean coming down the street from the time we walked out the locker room (last week), I heard how much we sucked. And I hate using that word and that terminology, but that was said…. These guys stood up. C’mon man, we could hear it. We have ears. We have two of them as a matter of fact, and we heard all of the foolishness, and (how) we might as well abandon the season with one darn loss. Do you know many people have lost one game in college football?”

Colorado changed its lineup on the line Saturday, inserting a new starting right tackle: Phillip Houston, a transfer from Florida International. He replaced Tyler Brown, who moved to left guard.

“Our front dominated on both sides of the ball and that’s how we came out with the (win),” Hunter said.

Why this win was critical for Deion Sanders

A loss against Colorado State could have been a disaster for him after getting dominated last week at Nebraska. It would have raised questions about the progress under Sanders in his second year as a coach, especially after the Buffs beat both Nebraska and Colorado State in 2023.

“That was the whole theme of the week – how do you respond?” Deion Sanders said of the Nebraska loss.

The Buffs now enter Big 12 Conference play with momentum and return home next Saturday to play Baylor (2-1). It will be their fourth straight prime-time game on national television, this time on Fox after their previous three games were on ESPN, NBC and CBS.

`First time in the modern era of college football history'

It helps that their defense is finding a groove, too. Colorado has only surrendered nine points in its last six quarters. The Buffs also had two interceptions and two recovered fumbles on Saturday in their seventh straight win against the Rams.

“You see this arrow is headed in the right direction, especially defensively,” Deion Sanders said. “And you know, everybody knows the formula: You protect 2 (Shedeur), you go. It’s simple.”

Then there's Hunter. He set a school record with his fourth straight 100-yard receiving game. He also did something else that can't really be tracked in the history books with 13 receptions for 100 yards, five tackles, an interception with a 38-yard return and a pass breakup while playing 123 of 138 snaps from scrimmage, according to Colorado.

"It's believed to be the first time in the modern era of college football history a stat line like that has happened," Colorado's communications staff said in an email after the game.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]