IN SEPTEMBER 2023, Colorado football coach Deion Sanders could have been licking his wounds in the immediate aftermath of a 42-6 drubbing by the Oregon Ducks.

Instead, he sat down at the post-match press conference at Autzen Stadium completely undisturbed.

“One thing I can say honestly and candidly: You better get me now,” Sanders said. ‘This is the worst we will experience. You better get me right now.”

Despite the Buffaloes’ 3-0 start, this was a confession from Sanders. He knew his team wasn’t ready to compete with the better teams in college football.

But it was also a warning.

“I know I have sunglasses,” he said. “But I can see the future and it looks very good.”

As the season wore on and Colorado limped to last place in the Pac-12, it was fair to wonder how realistic Sanders’ early-season proclamation was. The offensive line couldn’t keep its son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, afloat, and the defense allowed the third-most points of any Power 5 team.

A number of offseason personnel changes and roster turnover did not have much impact on external expectations, as the Buffaloes were projected to finish 11th in the official preseason Big 12 media poll.

But on the same day the poll was released, Sanders sat down with ESPN and chuckled about that possibility.

“I’d be an idiot to sit here and not tell you we plan to win,” he said. “I don’t know who’s going to sit down and say they’re not going to win. You must be an idiot to say that. We definitely plan to win.”

Ahead of Saturday’s visit to Texas Tech, Sanders’ plan has come to fruition, and his story in Eugene last season seems almost prophetic.

With an improved offensive line and a reliable defense, the Buffs are not only much improved from a year ago, they are also in the thick of the race for the Big 12 title and the College Football Playoff berth that comes with it.

WHEN TO HIRE SANDERS Robert Livingston to become the defensive coordinator in February was a bit of an unorthodox move.

Although Livingston had spent the last 12 years with the Cincinnati Bengals – the last eight as the secondary coach – he had never played before. And here he joined an otherwise complete staff that happened to have two of the best defensive players in the history of the sport – Sanders and Warren Sapp – in the building.

With all the attention on Colorado, this would be a new level of pressure, and early in the second quarter of Colorado’s opener against FCS North Dakota State, Livingston was already feeling it.

“I thought I was going to be tarred and feathered,” Livingston said. “It was 17-14, North Dakota State, and I was like, ‘Oh, s—.'”

The defense settled down and Colorado won 31-26, but it wasn’t exactly the win Colorado wanted as the same flaws from last season were on display. In the first half against Nebraska the following week, it was more of the same, as the Buffs trailed 28-0 at halftime.

Here we go again.

Since then, however, Colorado has been a revelation, recording five of six wins – narrowly losing to No. 19 Kansas State – with the defensive improvement serving as a catalyst.

After allowing 34.8 points per game last year, that number has dropped to 22.0 this year.

Livingston had several conversations with Sanders during the interview process, including phone calls, video conferences with staff and an in-person visit. He wasn’t exactly focused on a return to college after last serving as a quality control coach at Vanderbilt in 2011, but it quickly became clear that Sanders was the right person, Boulder the right place and the opportunity to play as a defensive midfielder. serve. coordinator was too good to pass up.

“I fell in love with the place,” Livingston said. “It was a no-brainer for me.”

Livingston said he adopted Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon’s philosophy when he was hired as the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive coordinator in 2021. He had no intention of carrying out any specific plan. First he wanted to understand the squad and then build a style to take advantage of its strengths.

“It wouldn’t be, ‘Hey, we have to do it this way because this is the way I’ve always done it,’” Livingston said. ‘That’s lazy. That has always been a pet peeve of mine.

“You have to be able to ask the hard questions: ‘Why do we do it this way? Why do we teach it this way? Why do we play this coverage or this blitz?’ You have to be able to highlight the guys you want to highlight.”

For the Buffs, that starts with Travis Hunter.

His two-sidedness makes him one of the favorites for the Heisman Trophy, but it was at cornerback where he first made his mark on college football. He leads the team in interceptions (2) and pass breakups (7), and he is one of five players to force a fumble.

“Travis is a unicorn,” Livingston said. “His feel for the game is very unique. He can kind of sense the issues that arise over two series. He is clearly one of the best players, if not the best player, in the country.”

Livingston said Hunter and DJ McKinney’s ability to hold their ground in man coverage has been a key to the defense’s pass rush.

“We put those corners in some tough spots,” Livingston said. “It’s a testament to them that they can win their one-on-one matches because when the rush and the coverage don’t work together, explosive matches happen.”

While coverage and pass-rush metrics have a chicken-or-egg dynamic, it’s worth noting that Colorado is No. 2 in the Big 12 in sacks (22), No. 1 in QB pressures per game (14.88) and No. 3 in pass breakups per game (4). The response rate (85.4%) is five percentage points higher than a year ago. Everything has gotten better as the season has gone on.

NO FBS QUARTERBACK was fired more times than Shedeur Sanders a year ago. He was dropped 52 times in 11 games and ultimately had to sit out the last game of the season with an injury after taking a beating over the previous three months.

The pass protection has historically been poor, and the rushing offense could have been worse. Colorado averaged just 2.21 yards per carry – the fourth-worst mark by a Power 5 team over the past decade – leading to the demotion of offensive coordinator Sean Lewis, who was later hired as head coach at San State Diego.

It was clear to everyone watching that an overhaul was needed up front, and Coach Prime made it clear that they would aggressively pursue linemen who could play right away in 2024. But as the season ended and that process unfolded, he also had to look for a new offensive line coach with Bill O’Boyle continuing with Lewis.

His preference for coaches with a professional background led him to Norman, Oklahoma, where Phil Loadholt, a seven-year NFL veteran, worked at his alma mater as an offensive analyst.

“We were introduced through a mutual friend, and he asked if I came over for an interview over Zoom,” Loadholt told ESPN. “But he was home in Texas, so I told him I’d like to meet him in person.”

Coach Prime agreed, so Loadholt made the 2.5-hour drive across state lines. They met for a few hours and it was a natural fit from the start.

With Pat Shurmur named offensive coordinator, Loadholt came in with a good understanding of the offense. The two crossed paths briefly in 2015 with the Minnesota Vikings — they spent OTAs together before Loadholt’s retirement that summer — but more importantly, they came from similar schools.

“He comes from the same stock as a lot of the guys I played for,” Loadholt said. “I feel like I understand what he wants and how he wants to do it. There’s a familiarity with that NFL style, and that made the transition a lot smoother for me because even though we weren’t together long, we still speak the same language when it comes to offense.”

When Loadholt signed on, Colorado was all in on rebuilding its offensive line through the portal. The prevailing wisdom was that they would find players there ready to play from Day 1, and by the time the season started, Colorado added twelve new offensive linemen, including nine transfers.

For eight games, results were mixed. Shedeur Sanders has been sacked 25 times – only four FBS players have been sacked more – but the protection has improved throughout the year.

And despite all the time spent adding players through the portal, it’s not these players who have made the biggest impact.

Of the players in the five-man combination that the Buffaloes have used most this season, only Phillip Houston arrived via the transfer portal – from Florida International Panthers – in the off-season.

Three others – RG Kareem Harden, LG Tyler Brown and C Hank Zilinskas – were on Colorado’s roster last season, while perhaps the best is five-star true freshman tackle Jordan Seaton. UTEP transfer Mayers and Indiana transfer Kahlil Benson have also seen significant playing time as Loadholt has looked for the best combination, rotating as many as eight players in a game. In the last game against Cincinnati, seven offensive linemen played at least 31 snaps.

Against Arizona, eight linemen played at least 19 snaps.

Above all, Loadholt said, the first eight games were a quasi-confidence-building exercise. He had to learn which players to trust, and they had to build trust with each other and with their quarterback.

“I played with a Heisman Trophy quarterback (Sam Bradford at Oklahoma in 2008) and (Shedeur) is one of those types of guys,” Loadholt said. “If we can protect him and that trust is there, he will agree with us.”

Before coming to Colorado, Loadholt met Seaton while visiting Oklahoma. What stood out then is still true this year.

“It was his attention to detail and the way he went about his business,” Loadholt said. “And then it shows up in our room too. He’s the first guy to answer a question. He asks questions when he wants to. He’s not afraid to ask questions, he’s the first guy to give you an answer, he does the work outside the door here, which clearly helped him.

“He is absolutely wise beyond his years. He is an intelligent young man who works his butt off, and I am proud of him for the way he has played so far.”

Since allowing two sacks against Nebraska in Week 2, Seaton has allowed just one sack and two QB hits, according to Pro Football Focus.

The running game is also being worked on. Only Florida State (2.67) has averaged fewer yards per carry than Colorado (2.77) among Power 4 teams, but the Buffaloes have had more 100-yard rushing games over the past four games (3) than last season (2 ).

The gains are marginal, but they have made a difference, and that incremental improvement combined with pre-existing star power has legitimized the Buffs in a way that is not up for debate.

Colorado is no longer a team that can be accused of “fighting for clicks.”