Ralphie runs down the field at the beginning of the game against California State on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Folsom Field. (Io Hartman/CU Independent)
The day is almost here, after months of buildup and anticipation, Colorado and Coach Prime will finally play some real snaps of football on Saturday, April 22. Ever since Deion Sanders took the head coaching job at Boulder in December, CU has been in the spotlight 24/7, receiving historic amounts of publicity.
Saturday’s game will be aired on ESPN and will feature a stadium packed to the brim with 45,000 Buff fans. This is a monumental moment for the University of Colorado as it has been on the back burner of college football for nearly two decades now. Bringing in Deion Sanders has so far provided life to a dormant program that once had great success.
“Coach Prime’s effect is beyond words when it comes to this institution, where I’ve had so much success. He’s really come in and re-energized how we think about football here at CU,” said former CU quarterback Kordell Stewart.
Selling out a spring game in mid-April, having it be the only spring game ESPN will air this year, and having hundreds of recruits there all at the same time is insanely impressive. What’s even more remarkable is that this Colorado team won only one game last season and Sanders has come in just months later and turned the program completely around with his philosophy.
Former CU Quarterback Kordell Stewart addresses the media Wednesday. April 19, 2023. (Griffin Dreifeldt/CU Independent)
As for Saturday’s game itself, there’s much anticipation around both sides of the ball. The offense — with Sheduer Sanders at quarterback, a newly revamped offensive line and wide receivers acquired from the transfer portal — has all the hallmarks of something special.
“We’re ready to go, we’re gonna have a vanilla call sheet and we’re gonna go play fast and allow the guys to go make plays, excited to see them compete,” said Offensive Coordinator Sean Lewis.
The fans will be expecting fireworks from this offense on Saturday and throughout the season and should expect OC Lewis to give the fans what they want. Fans should look out for Sheduer Sanders to try to air the ball out and give these new wide receivers chances to try and make big plays. Fans will also see a nice dose of the run game with running backs Deion Smith and Dylan Edwards getting a fair amount of carries.
In regards to the defense, Colorado hopes to impress with its unique new system focused heavily on the secondary. Unlike many college football programs in the country, CU’s strength will come from the cornerback position with elite talents Travis Hunter Jr. and Cormani McClain locking down the perimeter, which in turn should make it easier for the front seven to do their job.
“We want to see the same improvement that we have seen throughout spring when it comes to fundamentals and it’s about how we play, not exactly what we do,” said Defensive Coordinator Charles Kelly. “We want to make sure we’re playing fast, we’re playing physical, we’ve made a lot of improvements in tackling, so I want to be able to see those things.”
The lights will be bright and the pressure will be on, but Colorado hopes to kickstart their 2023-2024 season Saturday with a bang.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Griffin Dreifaldt at grdr7484@colorado.edu.
