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Is Saturday’s game between the Colorado Buffaloes and Colorado State the biggest of Deion Sanders‘ tenure as head coach? That’s exactly what college football analyst Joel Klatt believes, and it’s hard to argue with him.

The Buffaloes are coming off a disastrous 28-10 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, that wasn’t as close as the final score indicated. Colorado trailed 28-0 at halftime, and once again displayed the same defensive issues and offensive line problems that plagued the team in 2023. While Sanders has excelled at generating attention and interest around a previously anonymous program, at some point results on the field and improvement have to matter…right?

Sanders and his team head to Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins to take on the rival Rams on Saturday as a seven point favorite, and Klatt on his college football show spoke about how important it is for them to live up to those expectations.

“Can we just pause for a moment and think about how big this game is for Colorado and Coach Prime?” Klatt said. “This is, unequivocally, the biggest game that Colorado has had since Coach Prime has gotten there. Because they can not lose this game. If they lose this game, where do you go from here? This would be a sign of regression in the second year. If you just frame it like that, you understand the urgency that Colorado’s going to have to have in this game. They have to win. And they’re going up into an environment that’s going to be very difficult to do that.”

Deion Sanders

BOULDER, Colo. – Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes reacts on the sideline during a game against North Dakota State Bison at Folsom Field on August 29, 2024. (Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images)

Deion Sanders Has To Get The Buffaloes Back In The Win Column

Since starting 3-0 in 2023, Colorado is now 2-9. They have a difficult upcoming schedule, with a road game at UCF, four ranked opponents including Kansas State, Utah, Arizona and Oklahoma State, as well as previously ranked Kansas. There aren’t many games remaining where they can reasonably expect to be favored. If they lose in a tough environment to Colorado State, Klatt’s right; where do they go from there?

Klatt also called out their predictability on offense, saying that they’ve become too reliant on throwing the ball.

“They’ve been the most pass-heavy team in the nation this season, which I’m not upset about, because yes, they’re going to throw the football, but they have to create some first down run game,” Klatt said. “Some! Because the more that Shedeur has to throw the ball because he has to versus because he wants to, the more they’re going to get beat. And the more he’s going to get sacked. They’ve gotta get some creativity and movement in that offense, pre-snap, to put the defense in conflict.”

The Coach Prime era in Boulder started as well as anyone could have hoped, before reality set in. With a tough schedule and little signs of improvement through the first two weeks of 2024, reality is starting to bite even harder.

Sanders is nowhere close to the hot seat, given the ancillary benefits he provides and it being just his second season on the job. But at some point, results have to match the talk. And Colorado talks a lot.