By Ron Johnson
There are those that don’t believe in the Gospel of Prime. There were those who questioned Deion Sanders’ decision to leave Jackson State for Colorado. There were those who chose not to follow his philosophy and opted to transfer out of Boulder upon his arrival. There were those who said that this move back to the Big XII would be disastrous for the Buffs. ‘Same song and dance’ was the theme in a LOT of critics’ eyes.
After yesterday, those same critics and naysayers are trying hard to remove their foot from their mouths.
The Gospel of Prime
In a game where everyone expected former CFP runner-up TCU to dominate the Buffs from pillar to post, they got themselves an explosive shootout. In CU’s first game back in the conference, as well as Deion’s debut with them, the Buffs showed that the times of being a pushover have ended after they took the fight to the Horned Frogs. One thing to keep in mind before we break down this game: The Buffs were three-touchdown underdogs going into this game with its 51 commitments from the transfer portal. But it was one of those transfers that stole the show for Colorado yesterday.
Two=way superstar Travis Hunter snagged 11 catches for 119 yards to go with a huge interception on the way to a 45-42 victory for Colorado. But Sanders was not the only one to show up and show out on Saturday.
Primetime’s genes ran wild on offense as well as Deion’s son, Shedeur Sanders, had a career day as well. The younger Sanders finished up with 510 yards on 38-47 passing and four touchdowns. He also engineered several huge moments for the Buffs by producing four (yes, four!) 100-yard receivers and producing the first 500-yard passing game in the program’s history. – that’s The Gospel of Prime.
Tell me again how the Buffaloes were supposed to just shrink into oblivion.
Dylan Edwards, yet another member of the transfer cycle, went Beast Mode himself as blew up for 159 yards on 11 touches…did we forget to mention that this was his collegiate debut? He was also Colorado’s leading receiver with five catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns. – again, The Gospel of Prime.
Let’s take a look at what the offseason looked like for Colorado. They were three-touchdown underdogs, even with Deion Sanders as their head coach. Sanders resurrected a Jackson State program and made it reputable for all the right reasons. He then took over a team that finished 1-11 last year and initiated a HUGE roster shakeup that only saw 10 of its scholarship players remain with the program at the start of the season. They had 84 before the season started.
Let’s also bear this in mind: TCU was just playing for the National Championship in January.
Yes, I understand that it is Week Zero of the College Football Season. And I understand that there will be those that will continue to doubt the shine that Colorado displayed against the College Football Playoff Runner-up from a season ago. And yes, I get that we should not put too much stock in this win.
But you cannot tell this to either Colorado OR Texas State. Yes, the Bobcats of Texas State University did some shining over their own as they shocked Baylor 42-31. So while there will be those who are thinking, ‘Oh, it’s just the first game. This will be as good as it gets for that program,’ understand that Sanders had to make this entire program up from the 10 scholarship players he had left (out of 84) and the ones from the transfer portal that chose to follow The Gospel of Prime.
It does seem fitting that CU started a trend. When they chose to leave the Pac-12 for the Big XII, it led to a mass exodus that saw the death of a conference at age 108. When they hit that field, they looked like a team and played like one. They didn’t panic. They didn’t sweat trailing. They kept fighting. The now infamous Gospel of Prime paid dividends for the Buffaloes yesterday and considering the massive amounts of shocked faces in the crowd when the game ended, they knew it too.
What happened in the offseason was indeed a shot heard round the CFB world. But what happened on Saturday will be felt throughout the entire season. Unranked laughingstock Colorado shocked the college football world and beat 17-ranked TCU on their home turf in a packed house with players that were given kudos and criticism. – The Gospel of Prime.
Prime knows what it is like to be dominant. He was this was during his playing days in Dallas and San Francisco on the way to winning Super Bowls with both. Sanders knows what it takes to win, but he also knows how to be humble in victory and defeat. He felt a lot of defeat during the offseason with the departure of 74 scholarship players…but he was quick to send a message to the Big XII and the CFB as a whole.
While teams like Oregon and Oklahoma were digging graves for FCS teams, this win by the Buffs will be talked about for many days, months, even years. It is said that the greats will find ways to win when it matters most. On Saturday, the Buffs found out that they can be just as great as anyone on the field. If this is how things are going to go with the Buffs program this season, do not be surprised if you see them in the CFP conversation.
There will be those who will call this a fluke. There will be those who will call this shenanigans. There will even be those who will call the Buffs a one trick pony. Yeah, all those may seem justified in some critics’ eyes. But not to mine. The shifts of the conferences, the teams and the athletes has to have some bearing on those critics and naysayers. Common sense will tell you to get hyped for a wild season in Boulder.
But for today, even if just for today, the Deion Formula worked. The Gospel of Prime succeeded.
So for today, you can just call the Colorado Buffaloes winners.
That my friends is The Gospel of Prime!
