Cormani McClain made his first-ever start for the Buffaloes on Saturday night, but Deion Sanders did not keep him in the game very long. The freshman defensive back was a liability in the first quarter against Arizona State and was sent to the bench.
Cormani McClain, the top prospect at his position in the college football recruiting Class of 2023, flipped from Miami to Colorado at the buzzer. He is extremely talented.
However, McClain saw very minimal playing time during the first month of the season. When asked why, Coach Prime proceeded to call him out publicly for not putting in the work.
Sanders’ message must have lit a fire under McClain because he played possessed in a close loss to USC just a few days later. It was the best game of his young career by a large margin and his head coach gave him his flowers in the locker room after the strong performance.
As a result of the impressive outing — and multiple injuries to Colorado’s secondary — McClain earned the start, his first, against Arizona State. Things did not go well.
The Sun Devils went after McClain early and often on their first offensive drive. The five-star freshman immediately gave up multiple big plays, including the first points of the game.
Sanders sent him to the bench. Here’s a great breakdown of what happened:
Coach Prime did not give up on McClain entirely. But his outing did not improve.
McClain gave up a big first down with some very loose coverage during the second half and he did not even show up on the box score. There was nothing inspiring to take away from his performance.
Now, McClain is a freshman. He always needed time to develop. The constant scrutiny of his every move might not be entirely fair to him, especially as he continues to work things out on his own — both in terms of his play and his mental health.
Unfortunately, Sanders’ decision to call him out during a press conference did not grant McClain the luxury of patience. Every move he makes is under a spotlight. Saturday was rough.