The hype around the team from Boulder is unmatched for a group coming off a 1-11 finish the year prior. However, led by Deion Sanders, the Buffaloes are ready to explode back onto the national scene for their first season above .500 since 2016 and their second in the last 19 years. How are the Buffs expecting to pull off this dramatic turnaround? Through a transfer class that has a rare amount of both talent and depth heading into Boulder this fall.
It all starts with Coach Prime’s prized recruit, the No.1 overall player from the 2022 class, Travis Hunter. After Hunter shocked the world by deciding to play for Sanders over Florida State, there was much speculation that following Prime’s departure, Hunter would be following closely behind. This proved to be the case as just two weeks after Sanders announced his decision to take the job at Colorado, both Hunter and Sanders’ son Shedeur announced their decisions to transfer to the Buffs.
Shedeur was electric in his two years at JSU under his dad, throwing for a total of 6,963 yards and 70 touchdowns while throwing just 14 interceptions in his first two seasons. Meanwhile the Buffs threw for just 3,650 yards and 20 touchdowns over that two-year span. Despite losing talented receiver Montana Lemonious-Craig to Pac-12 rival Arizona, Sanders was able to revamp the weapons for the coming season.
It starts with Alton McCaskill. McCaskill is just a sophomore and rushed for nearly 1000 yards at Houston last year, while totaling 16 touchdowns along with two more through the air. Colorado adds Jimmy Horn Jr to the receiving group, a junior from USF. While there, Horn Jr racked up 959 yards and four touchdowns. In addition, Tar’varish Dawson from Auburn and Xavier Weaver, a fifth year from USF join the Buffs receiving corps, leaving Sanders with plenty of offensive firepower.
Deion has the national spotlight in his favor, due to his status as a hall of fame football player, and this has allowed him to elevate Colorado football to a national relevancy that they have not seen. Sanders uses the line “I’m not hard to find” very often on social media as a recruiting tactic, and it has worked perfectly for him as players flooded to the portal with intent to play for Coach Prime after he announced his decision to coach the Buffs.
“We Coming” is the mantra for Deion and the Buffs this year, and bringing in the number one transfer class in the country certainly sends that message. With a brutal schedule that includes an opening day matchup with reigning CFP finalist TCU, followed by conference matchups with Oregon, USC, Oregon State, UCLA, and Utah, the road back to success certainly will not be easy. However, Sanders and the Buffs are primed for the challenge, and ready to make some noise in 2023.
