While the Colorado Buffaloes emerged victorious in their Week 1 matchup against North Dakota State, Deion Sanders’ play calling down the stretch has generated a lot of pushback.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum became the latest media member to speak out against Sanders, citing the Buffaloes’ horrible clock management in Week 1.
“I’ve had my issues with Deion Sanders recently over things he’s done, but I was rooting for them,” Finebaum said. “I was having fun watching. It was an exciting game, but what concerns me more than anything else was the way Deion coached the game down the stretch.”
“Is he in control the sidelines? Does Shedeur have the final word on everything? Because at a time, and I’m sure you thought of this, and I know others have said it, but at a time when you needed to run the clock out, they’re just firing away, giving the opponent an opportunity to come back and win the game.”
With time winding down in the fourth quarter, North Dakota State had just one timeout remaining and trailed by five. Instead of running the clock out with less than two minutes to go, the Buffaloes elected to throw the ball three straight times, two of which fell incomplete and stopped the clock for the Bison.
Colorado went on to survive NDSU’s hail mary attempt, falling five yards short of pay dirt. Regardless, Sanders’ coaching decisions in the fourth quarter could have easily been the team’s undoing.
The Buffaloes will be tested yet again in Week 2 with a matchup on the road vs. Nebraska.
