BOULDER, Colo. – Coach Deion Sanders hates late kickoff times and especially dislikes cold weather.
But here he is on Friday the 13th, leading his Colorado football team to kickoff at 10pm ET on ESPN, this time amid frigid temperatures against Stanford (1-4).
It will be a different test for Buffalo (4-2), whose first five games have come against either nationally ranked or longtime “individual” rivals.
Stanford is neither, but there will still be hype for Coach Prime and the Buffs at Folsom Field. They will play in front of their seventh straight sellout crowd and another large audience on national television.
When they get outscored 34-7 in the first quarter, will they start slowly again, as they have done in the previous three games? Can they protect star quarterback Shediur Sanders? Colorado is second nationally in most quarterback sacks allowed with 31.
Coach Prime waited all day to find out.
Colorado went up 14-0 when he returned to Travis Hunter to score
BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado is off to a hot start, as is Travis Hunter. He scored a 24-yard touchdown on a nice catch-and-run — highlighted by an ankle-breaking spin move — with 3:36 left in the first quarter. A TD and extra point put the Buffaloes up 14-0 with a second touchdown on two possessions against Stanford.
Hunter started on offense and defense after missing the past three games with a lacerated liver, but already had two catches for 36 yards and a touchdown, with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty enforced on the ensuing kickoff.
— Brent Schroedenbauer
Colorado jumped out to a 7-0 lead over Stanford early on
BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado scored first against Stanford, going 77 yards in eight plays to take a 7-0 lead, capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Shadiur Sanders to receiver Xavier Weaver. The drive included a 12-yard catch by Travis Hunter on third-and-11, followed by a 38-yard run by Sanders to bring the Buffaloes to the Stanford 28-yard line.
— Brent Schroedenbauer
Travis Hunter returns to the field for Colorado
Travis Hunter’s warmup wasn’t just a pregame show — he started on both defense and offense for the Buffaloes and was involved early. He caught a pass from Shediur Sanders on Colorado’s first series.
Colorado vs. The Stanford game now kicks off at 10:20 pm ET
The start of the game was shown on ESPNEWS.
Is Travis Hunter playing today?
BOULDER, Colo. – Star cornerback-receiver Travis Hunter returns to Colorado on Friday night After missing the last three games with a lacerated liver. He drew cheers when he took the field in shorts and a sleeveless top, then pulled down a few one-handed catches in the end zone during pregame warmups.
Deion Sanders said on his weekly coaches show this week that Hunter will not have a game limit if he gets the green light to play. Not so with Hunter Rolls. He’s an “all-out” or nothing guy, meaning he could run more than 120 plays against Stanford vs. Colorado.
Hunter suffered the injury in a double-overtime win over Colorado State on Sept. 16 when he was crushed by a late hit by Colorado State defender Henry Blackburn in the first quarter.
Colorado is 3-0 in games Hunter has started and 1-2 in games he has missed.
— Brent Schroedenbauer
Although Deion Sanders hates the late start, the atmosphere should be good for the Colorado game
BOULDER, Colo. – While Stanford isn’t a heavyweight opponent or a bitter opponent, the atmosphere for Friday night’s game in Boulder will be much tougher. There are a few reasons for this:
1. It’s Family Weekend at CU, which means Thursday and Friday parents flock to the campus bookstore to stock up on Buffs gear. After watching “Coach Prime” and the school’s football team become a national sensation last month, many of them are eager to partake in the party with their CU student kids. That’s why this game existed One of the first two sales reported for Colorado This season, with the Nebraska game on Sept. 9. The sale was announced on July 20.
2. It was the sold-out game of the night on ESPN. Colorado has played in front of sellout crowds in all of its games this season. It would be the seventh in a row, believed to be a school record. Night games at Folsom Field have historically led to a raucous atmosphere after a long day of waiting (and sometimes drinking).
3. It will be cold. Six days after the Buffs lost 27-24 at Arizona State in 99-degree heat, temperatures could drop to 30 degrees. That’s why sweatshirts in particular have suddenly become a popular item on campus this week. Cold weather doesn’t reduce drinking before and after football games.
— Brent Schroedenbauer
Deion Sanders hates Colorado vs. Stanford’s late start time
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders The 8 p.m. local time kickoff set by ESPN for Friday night’s game against Stanford at Folsom Field was ripped off, “thank God” as his team quickly moves out of the Pac-12 Conference and out of the West for many of its game times.
Sanders called the 8pm kickoff “the dumbest thing ever” and “the dumbest thing ever invented in life.”
“Who wants to stay up until 8 o’clock for a Tern game?” he asked.
He made the comments Wednesday at the weekly Colorado Football Coaches event in Boulder. He questioned how many viewers would watch the game on the East Coast, where the game kicks off at 10 p.m.
“Do they care about the ratings or is anyone looking at it?” he asked.
ESPN does, and it won the previous late game on Sept. 16, involving Colorado. Colorado beat Colorado State in double-overtime in that game and drew 9.3 million viewers despite finishing after 2 a.m. on the East Coast. It was the most-watched late game ever on ESPN.
— Brent Schroedenbauer
Deion Sanders can’t wait for Colorado to leave the Pac-12
Even though it’s a home game in Boulder, his team stays at a hotel before the game, as other teams do before home games.
“What do you want to do at the hotel?” he asked. “What do you have to do all day?”
“Watching football,” said the show’s host, Mark Johnson.
“Who’s playing on Friday?” Sanders replied.
Sanders later noted that his team Leaving the Pac-12 after this season.
“Thank God we won’t be at this convention,” he said.
By leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12 next year, Colorado will play more games against conference rivals in the Central and Eastern time zones, where it expects fewer kickoffs at 10 p.m. ET.
— Brent Schroedenbauer
Will Shadiur Sanders flex his watch tonight?
What is Watch Flex, you ask? ICYMI, USA TODAY Sports’ Brent Schrotenbauer Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders explained the gesture that has sparked controversy since his $70,000 watch began flashing in the crowd during emotional moments. So is it cool, classless or a genius marketing move? It depends on who you ask.
Colorado allowed two-way star Travis Hunter to return
Whether he plays will depend on “how he looks, how he performs in practice, how his wind is,” Sanders said. “He should be in the Hall of Fame. I don’t want him to be a liability. I want him to be the greatest athlete ever.”
That means Hunter will play as he’s practically begging to get back on the field after his injury.
— Brent Schroedenbauer
How much did Colorado miss Travis Hunter?
Colorado was 3-0 in games Hunter started and is now 1-2 in his absence. Because of his injury, the Buffaloes struggled the rest of the game against Colorado State earlier Won in double overtime, lost 42-6 at Oregon, lost 48-41 against Southern California, then won 27-24 last weekend at Arizona State.
— Brent Schroedenbauer
What channel is the Colorado game on?
Stanford in Colorado kicks off at 10 p.m. ET ESPN.
Colorado Game Live Stream
You can stream the Stanford at Colorado game Watch ESPN.
