Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and Deion Sanders offered high praise for the offensive line after Colorado dominated Colorado State on Saturday. It was a complete 180º swing from their attitude just seven days prior.
The Buffaloes’ biggest stars made sure to establish praise for a group they publicly trashed in the past.
Colorado totaled 419 yards in a 19-point win over its in-state rival, including 310 through the air and 109 on the ground. Its quarterback had plenty of time in the pocket all night and completed 36 of his 49 pass attempts. He was sacked just once compared to six times against Nebraska.
As a result, the entire offensive line received a lot of praise.
Coach Prime showed them love on the broadcast at halftime and doubled down during postgame. The Pro Football Hall of Famer specifically said that his son’s decision to throw the Hog Mollies under the bus after a loss to the Cornhuskers fueled their motivation to play better against the Rams.
They just didn’t like what they heard. It’s not kind for young men to hear how bad they are, consistently. As coaches, we can get on them as well to confirm some things, to challenge them in some manners. They came to play. I’m so darn proud of them.
It’s important for our line to compete like they competed.
— Deion Sanders
To his credit, the coaching staff in Boulder spent a lot of time working with the offensive line last week. They put an extra emphasis on protection. They worked hard to motivate through constructive criticism and encouragement instead of piling on with even more negativity.
The Buffaloes’ offensive line played really well on Saturday (against a lesser opponent) so it worked!
Hunter insulted his front five while playing ‘College Football 25’ with Shedeur over the summer and said “they can’t block for nothing.” He is going to buy them dinner after their performance in Week 3.
Shedeur Sanders also made a grandiose gesture after the road win.
The highly-scrutinized signal-caller insulted his offensive line during his postgame press conference in Lincoln. They joined him for the press conference in Fort Collins. He offered high praise for their mindset throughout the week after “everybody” tried to “push each other against each other” and “flip words.”
Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and the entire offensive line.
— Jake Schwanitz (@JakeDNVR) September 15, 2024
Leadership. pic.twitter.com/pSPlgAKs9i
There is a lot to unpack here.
For Shedeur and Hunter to make sure that the offensive line got its well-deserved flowers was a cool move. It is also a testament to strong relationships in the locker room that the offensive line stayed together and bounced back in such a big way instead of falling apart or failing to care because they were repeatedly put on blast.
On the flip side of things, Shedeur showed great leadership in a win over a bad team. He was quick to point fingers at the guys who protect him in defeat. There is inconsistency in the highs and lows.
How will this go when Colorado runs the Big-12 gauntlet of Baylor, UCF, Kansas State, Arizona, Cincinnati, Texas Tech, Utah, Kansas and Oklahoma State to finish out the regular season? Stay tuned!