Tag: USC Colorado

Colorado hopes to have DB Shilo Sanders available vs USC

All eyes are on this injury situation before kickoff on Saturday.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders said Tuesday that he’s hoping his son, defensive back Shilo Sanders, can play in the upcoming matchup between the Buffaloes and USC this weekend after suffering an undisclosed injury in Saturday’s loss to Oregon.

However, Shilo’s status is up in the air regarding the matchup with USC according to Deion Sanders.

Buffaloes Wire has more on the story.

“He’s doing better,” Sanders said of his son. “We went to the hospital right after we landed. He’s doing much better. We’re praying that he heals and he’s playing this weekend. He’s a valuable part of our secondary and our team defensively.

In four games this season, safety Shilo Sanders has 26 total tackles, 21 solo tackles, one forced fumble, one interception, and one touchdown which he scored against Colorado State.

As a member of the Class of 2019, Shilo Sanders was a three-star recruit out of Cedar Hill (Texas) Trinity Christian School, according to the On3 Industry Ranking. He was the No. 69 overall prospect in the state of Texas, the No. 57 safety in the class, and the No. 584 overall prospect in the class.

Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado, as CU prepares to play USC on Fox Big Noon Saturday.

USC win over ASU felt like a loss in many ways.

Alex Grinch is not quieting his critics, and bigger tests await.

National commentator makes headlines with Caleb Williams-based NFL QB rankings

Caleb Williams is being discussed in extraordinary terms. He just needs to focus on one thing: Colorado.

USC’s Caleb Williams is regarded as the presumed No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. He could very well win a second Heisman Trophy and a first national championship, but commentator Nick Wright thinks his value is even higher than that.

Appearing on The Colin Cowherd Podcast, Fox Sports’ Nick Wright said he believes Williams is already one of the five most valuable quarterbacks in the sport, ahead of superstars Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson.

“If every NFL player and college player was available, Mahomes goes No. 1, there’s some debate over who goes No. 2, and Caleb goes before everyone other than maybe three people,” Wright said. “This is not disrespectful. He goes in a heartbeat before Hurts, before Lamar, before Tua [Tagovailoa], before Dak [Prescott]. He just does. And I would take him over [Justin] Herbert.”

Williams so far is 4-0 as the quarterback for the Trojans in 2023. Caleb has an 85.5 QBR, 1,200 pass yards, and 15 touchdowns through the air with zero picks and three rushing touchdowns.

Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado, as CU prepares to play USC on Fox Big Noon Saturday.

USC win over ASU felt like a loss in many ways.

Alex Grinch is not quieting his critics, and bigger tests await.

Fox Sports 1’s ‘Undisputed’ to air live from Boulder ahead of USC-Colorado

This is one part of the media circus enveloping Boulder before the Trojans face the Buffaloes.

Fox announced that its morning debate show Undisputed will hit the road this week. The show will air live from Boulder, Colorado, ahead of the Pac-12 matchup between Colorado and the USC Trojans.

“We’re taking the show on the road!” The show’s account on X, formerly Twitter, posted a few days ago.

This continues the recent and dramatic increase in national coverage of the Buffaloes. Deion Sanders, aka Coach Prime, is the coach everyone wants to talk to — and about. The Pat McAfee Show was in Boulder and was marked by an appearance from “The Rock,” Dwayne Johnson, who also appeared on ESPN’s “College GameDay” show. Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” will also be at USC-Colorado, after appearing on the Colorado campus in Boulder earlier this season for the Week 2 game (September 9) between the Buffaloes and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

“Undisputed” is hosted by Skip Bayless and staffed by two former players: former Seattle Seahawks star and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Richard Sherman and USC football legend Keyshawn Johnson.

Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado, as CU prepares to play USC on Fox Big Noon Saturday.

USC win over ASU felt like a loss in many ways.

Alex Grinch is not quieting his critics, and bigger tests await.

National pundit names No. 1 overall pick for 2024 NFL draft, and it’s not Caleb Williams

Do national talkers say things like this just to get a reaction, or do they really believe it? Either way, it’s a bad look.

On the most recent episode of The Skip Bayless Show, Bayless was asked who he would choose between Caleb Williams and Shedeur Sanders with the first overall pick. Bayless chose to go against conventional wisdom here and decided to go with Sanders if he had the first pick in the 2024 NFL draft.

“Caleb’s the ultimate backyard quarterback,” Bayless said. “He is an escape artist of the highest order. He does get beat up and knocked around because of it, because he’s going to hold the ball too long, and he’s going to take shots. He’s going to shrug [defenders] off almost like Ben Roethlisberger used to. He’s going to tear away from those pass rushers, and he’s going to make a play. He’s going to make a throw that’ll take your breath away because he’s got a Howitzer rocket launcher of an arm.”

Shedeur is a little bit more of a pure passer than Caleb is,” Bayless said. “He’s taller than Caleb is. I think he’s a little more accurate than Caleb is. He doesn’t have quite the canon that Caleb has, but it’s enough of an arm because it’s a Brady-esque arm, clutch gene and Brady had plenty of velocity.

Caleb Williams is phenomenal but Sanders, Bayless said, showed more of an ability to be clutch in the biggest moments, such as his game-tying, 98-yard drive against Colorado State on Saturday that eventually set up a 43-35 Colorado win in double overtime.

Caleb Williams and Shedeur Sanders will get a chance to settle this on the field when USC takes on Colorado.

Follow Buffaloes Wire for complete coverage of Deion Sanders and Colorado, as CU prepares to play USC on Fox Big Noon Saturday.

USC win over ASU felt like a loss in many ways.

Alex Grinch is not quieting his critics, and bigger tests await.

Will USC-Colorado be the shootout many casual fans think it will be?

The public thinks tons of points will be scored. It’s a chance for the USC defense to change narratives and assumptions.

Just about everyone thinks USC’s offense will light up Colorado’s defense like a Christmas tree on Saturday. Lots of people think Colorado’s offense will score plenty against USC’s defense. To be clear, though, there is total trust that USC’s offense will do what it needs to do. There is less than total trust in both Colorado’s offense and USC’s defense.

Some people think Colorado’s offensive line can’t match up with USC’s defensive front. Others think USC’s defense is just not ready for Shedeur Sanders, and that Colorado’s brutal game at Oregon will sharpen up the Buffaloes for this game versus the Trojans. The view of the matchup between the Colorado offense and USC defense isn’t unanimous, but we can say this much before kickoff: USC’s defense isn’t totally trusted. Alex Grinch has to earn trust, something Trojans Wire has been saying, and something a lot of USC fans would agree with.

Will this game be a total shootout, or just a USC romp? Let’s look at what people are saying:

USC and Colorado both face skepticism — but on different levels — heading into Big Noon Saturday

Skepticism of USC relates to the Trojans’ pursuit of a playoff berth. Skepticism of Colorado relates to the Buffaloes being viewed as an average team.

In Week 4 of the college football season, USC and Colorado both gave pundits and commentators plenty of reason to doubt them. USC was sloppy and unprepared in an ugly and at times nervous 42-28 win over Arizona State. Colorado got its doors blown off by Oregon, 42-6, in a game which was never remotely competitive.

How much did the Arizona State game change perceptions of USC, and how much did the Oregon game change perceptions of Colorado? How do commentators size up the matchup on Fox Big Noon Saturday in Boulder? Let’s give you a sampling of what various people are saying about this showcase game in Week 5 of the Pac-12 football season:

USC-Colorado media frenzy roars into overdrive heading into the weekend

USC-Colorado has become a media playground, with the big talkers talking a big game before Big Noon Saturday on Fox.

Caleb Williams versus Shedeur Sanders. Lincoln Riley versus Deion Sanders. USC versus Colorado. Fox Big Noon Saturday. This is a media-magnet game with the big personalities saying all sorts of outrageous things before the Trojans take on the Buffaloes in an episode of “Breakfast in Boulder,” a serving of morning football in the Rocky Mountains. The game starts on Fox Sports just after 10 a.m. in Boulder, 9 a.m. in Los Angeles. The hype is soaring for this game for all the obvious reasons, one of them being that there won’t be too much time to hype the game on Saturday. It’s the first one on the docket.

Here’s just a small taste of what the big media personalities — especially those within the Fox family (since that’s the network which will broadcast the game) — are saying about USC-Colorado and the many storylines which are part of the drama in Boulder.

Trojans Wire staff writer Don James contributed significantly to this report:

Will Colorado’s offense get healthy and thrive against Alex Grinch’s USC defense?

This is the most important question heading into kickoff on Saturday morning in Boulder.

Maybe you think we’re being too harsh on Alex Grinch. After all, the USC defense did make the key plays of Saturday night’s win against Arizona State. The offense struggled for a few possessions midway through the second half. USC failed to score and gave the ball back to ASU leading by only six points, at 27-21. Arizona State had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter with a touchdown and a PAT.

USC’s defense got stops. It got turnovers. It stabilized the game when the Trojans stood on shaky ground.

The pass rush got home in the final 20 minutes of this game, collecting a lot of sacks. The defense made important, even central, contributions to this win.

So why the disapproval of Grinch’s unit?

Simple: Where was this in the first half? ASU was badly undermanned, and yet the Sun Devils moved the ball against USC’s defense. ASU was shut out by Fresno State the week before. Yes, ASU pulled out all the gadget plays against USC, but still: The Trojans weren’t especially disciplined if you look at film.

When Notre Dame and Utah arrive on the schedule, will this defense be prepared? We’re not sure. That’s why we’re critical of Grinch, and that’s why this Colorado game is such an important moment for this USC defense.

We asked our Pac-12 football panel if this is a week in which Colorado’s struggling offense will get healthy against USC’s defense:

Lincoln Riley doesn’t care about Colorado’s national profile, but what about other coaches?

Lincoln Riley trusts that USC doesn’t need to plead for attention relative to Colorado, but other coaches might not be as secure.

Lincoln Riley and Deion Sanders offer two very different ways of presenting themselves and their football programs to the public. To a considerable extent, this is due to the different situations they inherited at USC and Colorado, respectively. USC has the ultimate national brand. Colorado was a 1-11 nowhere team which needed a total makeover. Riley has made three College Football Playoffs. Deion had coached in the FCS and was just beginning to enter the world of the Power Five conferences. Riley has coached multiple Heisman Trophy winners. Deion is in his first season coaching FBS college football. Riley is in Los Angeles, a major media market. Deion is in Boulder, Colorado.

Situations will certainly shape how coaches present their programs to the public. However, this is also a reflection of the personalities involved. Riley is an introvert. Deion is the classic media-magnet public figure, who never passes up a chance to talk about himself and his efforts.

When we compare Lincoln Riley to other coaches across the country, how are they motivated (or not) by the presence of Deion Sanders? Colorado is such a ratings draw that the other coaches who face Deion this year (and in the future) might be drawn to do things against Colorado they wouldn’t go versus other opponents. Consider Dan Lanning’s speeches this past weekend: Were they done solely because Colorado gave Oregon a unique level of increased visibility?

Let’s discuss this:

Breakfast with the Buffs in Boulder: USC-Colorado is a Fox Big Noon Saturday game

USC had to agree to the early kickoff, which will be 9 a.m. Pacific time and 10 a.m. in Boulder. Have breakfast with the Buffs, Trojan fans.

Breakfast football will be a regular part of life for USC fans in the Big Ten. When the Trojans visit Ohio State or Michigan or Penn State in future years, they will play on Fox Big Noon Saturday at 9 a.m. Pacific time.

The Trojans, in their last year as a Pac-12 member, had to agree to an earlybird kickoff with the Colorado Buffaloes if they were going to appear on Fox Big Noon Saturday against Deion Sanders. They agreed, and so it is now official: USC at Colorado on September 30 will be a breakfast football game. The game will air at 9 a.m. Pacific time, and will start just after 10 a.m. on site in Boulder, Colorado, at Folsom Field.

This is smart by USC. The Trojans need to get used to these early kickoffs. Lincoln Riley and his staff need to learn how to adjust to body-clock games, figuring out what works in terms of preparation and planning.

This will be Colorado’s third Big Noon Saturday game of the month of September, a clear sign of how much publicity and exposure Colorado has generated as a result of having Coach Prime on the sidelines. CU is the big story in college football this year. Television networks can’t get enough of him. You’ll want to follow Buffaloes Wire for complete Colorado coverage.

Let’s see how USC and Colorado fans, and other college football fans, are reacting to this news that USC will play a body-clock game early in the morning: