Deion Sanders’ CU Buffs can win Big 12 if they play like UCF game

ORLANDO — If the Buffs can raise their game on the road for Deion Sanders, so can I.

“I want you to have the same passion, the same commitment to blessing them and giving them encouragement and motivation as you do when you’re ripping them apart,” Coach Prime said after CU eviscerated previously unbeaten UCF on Saturday, 48-21.

“And it’s only fair. This equality is only fair, when everybody like these kids, have feelings and emotions.”

You can win this Big 12, Coach.

Said it.

Mean it.

Fair is fair.

Your Buffs can win this darned league. This year. If you play like that? Every weekend, from here to Black Friday? Not a doubt in my mind.

Or, more importantly, in their minds.

“We came out and had an adversity that was bad (the first series), and nobody flinched,” said CU safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig, whose 95-yard scoop-and-score fumble return sealed the most complete, and complementary, victory of the Deion Sanders Era in Boulder.

“So I think we were trending in the right direction. Everybody’s bought in. You can tell. I mean, we don’t point fingers. We pick each other up.”

Remember the team from the second half of the Nebraska debacle? Once it showed up, it never left.

Saturday was the soundest, most comprehensive game of the Coach Prime Era. Start to finish. Not a first half, the way Stanford was a year ago. Or a second half, the way USC in ’23 was.

For four hours and 22 minutes, counting the lightning delay, Deion Sanders outcoached Gus Malzahn. In Gus’ backyard, no less. The Buffs (4-1, 2-0 Big 12) weren’t just the team with the best player — sorry, best players — on the field. They had the better defense. The better special teams. The better run game. The better play-calling. The better situational awareness. The better poise. The better everything.

UCF (3-1, 1-1) had guys pointing fingers. CU just looked up and pointed to the scoreboard.

“I feel like we’re trending in the right direction,” Deion Sanders said. “I love where we’re at as a program. I really do.”

It’s early. Too early, as learned from the Buffs’ 3-0 start a year ago. But he’s got to start loving that dance card, too. CU beat a hurricane and beat the No. 1 rushing offense in America on the same trip. UCF came into the weekend averaging 376 yards on the ground per game. The Buffs, with 177 rush yards allowed, cut that number down by more than half.

If you’re a Buffs fan, who scares you?

Kansas State? The Wildcats have to tussle with CU in Boulder on Oct. 12, and got absolutely kiboshed at BYU. At Arizona on the Oct. 19? If you can run with the Knights, you can run with the ‘Cats. At Texas Tech on Nov. 9? Same thing. Utah might be a tough out on Nov. 16 at Folsom Field, but you’ve got them in your house. At KU on Nov. 23? The Rock Chalkers just slipped to 1-4. Oklahoma State at home on Nov. 29? The Pokes (3-2, 0-2 Big 12) have dropped two straight and got clobbered on Saturday in Manhattan, Kan.

“I think (a win like this) just instills confidence,” said CU wideout Will Sheppard, whose diving, 47-yard touchdown catch late in the first quarter put the visitors up 14-7. “The confidence that, we can do it. And everything that we’ve been working on from … the spring and then from the summer, it’s falling into place. And I think we’re excited to be getting there this week and facing Kansas State this (next) week.”

After three quarters, CU was outrushing UCF, 130-125. And on six fewer carries (22 to 28). RJ Harvey, the Knights’ star tailback, had 77 rushing yards on 16 carries, and none longer than 13 yards. QB KJ Jefferson added 76 yards on 20 carries.

“We knew (Jefferson) was going to be a problem,” the elder Sanders said. “We had to stop him running the football. (They’re) not just a one-man band. We knew we had to take away some things … just trying to stifle the run a little bit, get him to start over. But we knew we could score as well. So to keep up with our part, (with) the scoring, it gets them off their comfort zone, gets them to throw the ball more than they like to.”

Ted Roof’s UCF defense is no great shakes. But with 28 completions on 35 attempts and three scores, Shedeur Sanders sure as heck didn’t hurt his NFL draft stock. New coordinator Rob Livingston’s defense, meanwhile, made Jefferson look one-dimensional — and that dimension isn’t passing. The Knights see third-and-forever as a prelude to a punt. The Buffs see third-and-forever as a chance to get Hunter on SportsCenter’s “Top 10” again.