Nov 16, 2024; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders calls in a play in the first quarter against the Utah Utes at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images The Deion Sanders show is coming to Kansas City.
Sanders and No. 16 Colorado will test their mettle against Kansas on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. The game will be played at Arrowhead Stadium, as all of Kansas’ home games this season are away from Lawrence, Kan.
The Buffaloes (8-2, 6-1 Big 12) have won four straight games. If they win their last two — including a home contest against Oklahoma State on Nov. 29 — they will play in the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 7 for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
But first things first. The Buffaloes likely will have their hands full with the Jayhawks (4-6, 3-4), who have won two straight games against ranked teams for the first time in school history. A week after knocking off Iowa State at Arrowhead, the Jayhawks handed BYU its first loss of the season on Saturday night with a 17-13 decision in Provo, Utah.
“I feel like our team has always done a great job being able to stay the course,” quarterback Jalon Daniels said. “I feel like a big staple within our program is being able to trust the process.”
The Jayhawks’ bowl chances seemed all-but done after they lost to Kansas State on Oct. 26 to fall to 2-6 overall. But if they knock off the Buffaloes and then win at Baylor on Nov. 30, they’ll be bowl eligible.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach Sanders,” Kansas coach Lance Leipold said Monday. “The thing we have in common is that we’ve come up through the ranks. He’s found a way to be successful using his own philosophy. He’s built a college football team that’s one of the most improved in college football in a very short period of time.
“They’re a very talented team that’s playing with a lot of confidence.”
The Jayhawks’ victory over BYU was a defensive struggle, which snapped a streak of six straight games of scoring at least 27 points.
The Buffaloes have been scoring a lot of points in their four-game winning streak. They scored 34 points in back-to-back games before scoring 41 at Texas Tech and 49 against Utah last Saturday.
Still, Sanders wasn’t completely satisfied.
“We haven’t even put it all together yet,” Sanders said at his postgame news conference. “Like we haven’t even played our best game. That should be in itself scary. When I said (when he was hired at Colorado), ‘We comin.’ We still coming. We never stopped coming. We are coming, and we ain’t nearly there yet.”
Now, with the Jayhawks in their sights, Sanders isn’t going to take anything for granted.
“They’re tough, they’re physical, they play a consistent game,” Sanders said. “That quarterback gives you problems because he’s very versatile. The defense can take the ball away interception-wise and they have not given up — regardless of what the record may state — the last two weeks. They’ve knocked some people off their feet. It’s going to be a tremendous task for us.”
–Field Level Media
