Colorado finished the season unbeaten, but in 2024 what will happen to Deion Sanders?

Is this really the end? Whoa. Incredible start, mind-blowing finale, and an experience unlike anything in Colorado football history. The unprecedented influx of fans to Folsom Field, the media excitement, and the presence of celebrities on the sidelines. What a journey, wow. As long as Deion Sanders leads the Buffalo stampede and its drive to become relevant again in college football, it will undoubtedly continue.

After a disastrous start with three straight victories, a national ranking was achieved. Twelve games and not a single victory against a rival team to finish the season with a winning record.

Serious concerns about game management and the requirement for more discipline for a college football team that has been identified as one of the most penalized. There’s not much time to catch your breath, buff lovers. Next week, the transfer portal comes alive. Coach Prime does it better than anyone else. With Colorado’s roster of players and assistant coaches, things will happen quickly. Never a boring time.

The peaks and valleys? The amazing season-opening victory at TCU was the high point, according to one observer. The lowest point was the still-unfathomable collapse against Stanford at home. How do you waste a halftime lead of 29 points in 30 minutes? Sanders’s initial season? Holy smokes, a moment to remember.

My thoughts stray to my first season covering CU football as an old journalist. The year was 1988. KCNC-TV in Denver was known as the “Home of the Buffs.” The task of “getting in the back pocket of the CU football program” was given to a young reporter. Without a doubt. Considering how this season’s 4-8 is transposed by that 8-4 campaign in the past? Let’s go back in time together.

The pinnacle of moments? It was, I would say, the season’s first road trip. In mid-September, the Buffs, led by head coach Bill McCartney, traveled east to face the highly skilled Iowa Hawkeyes, who were coached by Hayden Fry. The heat is what immediately springs to mind. stifling. Kinnick Stadium had artificial turf at the time. I can vividly recall seeing a sideline temperature gauge revealing the players had to endure a heat index of more than 100 degrees. Humidity was sky high as well.

However, the Buffs made a strong comeback in the fourth quarter because to outstanding performances from all of their players, especially safety Bruce Young, wide receiver Jeff Campbell, running back Eric Bieniemy, quarterback Sal Aunese, cornerback Dave McCloughan, and linebacker Alfred Williams. Colorado upset No. 19 Iowa and a dominant Big Ten team, 24-21. The Buffs had not defeated a ranked opponent on the road in ten years.

What will live on in your memory forever? Then the changing room. Fry started the notorious pink visitor’s team locker room at Iowa, which is still in use today. Following an incredibly motivating performance, your writer walked into the little room anticipating complete happiness on the players’ faces.

False. It was pure fatigue. That sweltering, steamy day in late summer was McCartney’s eighth team, and they had literally left it all on the field. Prostate on the floor or lying against those pink walls, physically and emotionally spent? The Buffs didn’t say much. Never forgotten.

The final game of the year was the lowest point. The Freedom Bowl in California’s Anaheim. Expected to defeat BYU and its young quarterback Ty Detmer—the brother of future CU signal-caller Koy Detmer and winner of the Heisman Trophy—the Buffs entered the game up 8-3. The game was sloppy. Despite being a three-point favorite, Colorado appeared out of sorts. Aunese performed poorly. Though confusing at the moment, it became clear later.

We found out that the unquestionable leader of the Buffs, the southpaw quarterback, was suffering from stomach cancer, which was later determined to be deadly. He was sadly killed in the first few games of the 1989 season. Colorado football’s remarkable “One Heart Beat” campaign and subsequent rise to national prominence and championship were both sparked by the loss of their leader.

Football, as well as sports in general, are little worlds. Highs and lows. Perspiration and giving up. After Aunese’s death, the ’88 team experienced unfathomable lows. They responded dramatically the next year, having a season to remember. The squad of Coach Prime? We’ll find out.