Initial observations from the CU Buffs’ 43-35 double-overtime win over the CSU Rams in the first Rocky Mountain Showdown between Deion Sanders and Jay Norvell at Folsom Field on Saturday night.
This was personal… for everyone: Let’s see… 11 penalties, multiple personal fouls, four unsportsmanlike flags and enough after-the-whistle scuffles and trash talk to fill a Stanley Cup playoff run (not to mention a pregame dust-up). And that was just the first quarter! In the days after CSU coach Jay Norvell caused a stir with his sunglasses-and-hat comment, Coach Prime and the CU Buffs couldn’t stop declaring how this game had become personal. Clearly, they were not alone. The Rams have spent months in CU’s shadow as Deion Sanders and the Buffs sucked up all the oxygen in the Centennial State — and pretty much everywhere else. Given a chance to share the same stage, the Rams made this their Super Bowl. And it showed.
Oh, Henry?!?!: Will Henry Blackburn ever be allowed back in Boulder? After the late hit the Fairview High School grad leveled on Heisman Trophy hopeful Travis Hunter — and, oh boy, was it late — that’s a toss-up. Pretty much all of social media lit up like a Fourth of July fireworks show as Hunter writhed in pain on the turf and the CSU safety stomped off the other way. Even Lakers star LeBron James felt the need to chime in: “I don’t understand the difference between targeting and what I just witnessed. I’ve seen others get thrown out for far less. That was blatant and uncalled for IMO!” As much as it might pain us to say it, King James has a point. There was obvious intention behind Blackburn’s shot. And it might have sent Hunter to the hospital. If that isn’t worth of ejection, what is?
The other, other Sanders: Shedeur Sanders and Pops stole the headlines through the first two weeks of CU’s improbable rise to national phenomenon. But on Saturday night, it was Shilo Sanders who kept the Buffs afloat. First, it came on a pick-six that turned the tables on CSU as it threated to take an early lead in the first quarter. The senior defensive back read CSU quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi’s eyes and jumped a short curl route, snatching the ball and flying 80 yards the other way for a touchdown. Then, with CSU at the Buffs 14-yard line with a chance to take a two-score lead early in the third quarter, Sanders came up big again, delivering a hit on tight end Dallin Holker that jarred the ball loose and wound up in the Buffs’ hands. CU does not win this game without either of those plays.
Rams find their QB: That sound you hear? That’s quarterback Clay Millen running as fast as he possibly can into the transfer portal. The explosive passing game Jay Norvell promised in his introductory news conference and hadn’t delivered through 13 games finally showed up Saturday night in Boulder. And he has Brayden …read more
Source:: The Denver Post – Sports
