By Scott Salomon
Colorado, losers of four out of its last five games, is no longer the little darling of College Football. Analysts and prognosticators are questioning Coach Prime’s methodology, especially the recent move to make Pat Shurmur the Offensive Coordinator and give him play-calling authority over Sean Lewis, who had called offensive plays all season.
One fan wrote, “Deion Sanders has no idea what he is doing.”
Ah, the love. I hate to say it, but I called it at the beginning of the season when I said that Coach Prime would fail miserably in Boulder. The narcissistic coach is not built for this. He hand-picked his entire roster through either high school recruiting or his heavy, unprecedented use of the transfer portal. The team came out 3-0 and looked Primed for a bowl bid, and was even nationally ranked.
Now, they can’t defend, they can’t run the ball, and they certainly can’t even protect their all-everything quarterback, Shedeur Sanders. Sanders runs like the wind and does his best to avoid trouble when his line breaks down, but not even Superman would come out unscathed after the beatings that he has taken.
Coach Prime recently said that Shedeur and his brother Shilo Sanders would not enter the NFL Draft until 2025, but Shedeur needs to go now.
His body won’t be able to withstand the butchering that he takes week in and week out. This is just another selfish motive on behalf of Prime, who knows that he needs his quarterback next season with him in Boulder.
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The offensive line is so bad that Sanders, the quarterback, had to get a painkilling injection at halftime of the UCLA loss because he was bruised and battered due to a turnstile offensive line that lets defensive lineman enter their backfield like ticket takers let people into Disney World.
During the season, I listened to the fans and the other analysts who called me crazy and told me I was wrong. I maintained my position despite the hate and shade that was thrown my way. Like Coach Prime, I keep receipts, too.
Kevin Burba of Athlon Sports even wrote, “Numerous college football analysts have shared their skepticism of Deion Sanders’ methods, but few have been as bold as Scott Salomon of Mike Farrell Sports.”
I also wrote that Coach Prime was not owed an apology after his Colorado team started 3-0 after winning one game all last season. My boss, Mike Farrell, suggested that in one of his columns, and I believed that I had to counter.
I was not down with that, and I said so. The receipts tell the story.
Coach Prime won three early, non-conference games, and the football world went berserk. He beat an overrated TCU team by a field goal and then beat Nebraska and Colorado State in an overtime game. Since then, they have lost, lost, and lost some more. They even blew a 29-0 halftime lead against Stanford and lost in overtime.
Keep telling me how Coach Prime is the best thing since Knute Rockne.
The Buffs offense looked anemic on Saturday and failed to reach its average yard totals in a 26-19 home loss to Oregon State. The score was not as close as it sounds, as Colorado scored near the end of the game to make the score look better than the game actually was.
Shurmur’s “innovative” offense, led by Shedeur Sanders, mustered only 238 total yards the entire game. The offensive unit under Lewis averaged close to that by halftime earlier in the season and was much more successful.
The Buffs averaged 500.3 yards of offense under Lewis’ guidance in four of the first five games of the season. Through the last three games, they only accrued an average of 242 yards and 16 points per contest.
Many fans and analysts took to social media to voice their displeasure at the job that Coach Prime has been doing of late. The tweets are permanent and very telling of how Buffs faithful feel about their coach, who brought the bag with the swag but cannot garner a bowl bid without two more victories.
Coach Prime ain't it. Colorado needs a new coach! pic.twitter.com/BHBu574kL8
— WISE (@Wise_Token) November 5, 2023
Prime was not happy after the game and questioned the Colorado faithful who criticize him and his team.
“You guys don’t know all the intangibles yet,” Coach Prime said. “You’re just looking from the outside of the crib, looking in. I got tinted windows, and you can’t even see in the house, but you’re making conclusions on what I should and should not do.”
If we do not know what the intangibles are after eight games, Prime, we never will. Therefore, why don’t you tell us what they are?
What was your answer? Go get a new offensive line. But Prime, you just got a new line and hand-picked your starters. Are you admitting you made an error in judging the talents of five starters who were brought in specifically to protect your baby boy Shedeur?
Colorado is trash this year. Coach Prime ain't prime!!!!!!
— WISE (@Wise_Token) November 5, 2023
The honeymoon appears to be over at Folsom Field. To become bowl-eligible, the Buffs need two more wins. Where are they going to come from? Colorado hosts No. 23 Arizona this weekend before closing out the season at No. 13 Utah and at Washington State.
It looks like this season is going to play out exactly as I surmised. Coach Prime was as successful as I thought he would be. He should have left his Louis Vuitton luggage in Jackson, Miss., as he is not going bowling, and his first season will be marked as a failure in Boulder.
He would have served college football much better at the helm of Jackson State, where he was building a solid program and instilling football in the blood of a fanbase that needed something to believe in.
