Following Saturday’s crushing defeat by the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Paul Finebaum voiced his thoughts regarding Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders during the Tuesday morning broadcast of ESPN’s “First Take.”
In front of just under 89,000 fans in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Buffaloes were humiliated 28-10 by the Cornhuskers, forcing quarterback Shedeur Sanders to leave the game with 3:47 remaining in the fourth quarter. Two turnovers cost Colorado’s offense 260 yards in total, one of which was an interception that was recovered for a touchdown.
There was hardly any run game for the Buffs; 244 of the yards were gained by air. Despite the score seemed close, Nebraska was unable to add more points in the second half due to their patchy offensive performance.
Finebaum acknowledged the quarterback from Colorado’s dissatisfaction when Shedeur Sanders made remarks following the game about the team’s offensive difficulties, but he also pointed out that the same justification had been used in the past.
“Yeah, I mean, listen, I understand the frustration, but what he said there really doesn’t make a lot of sense to me,” Finebaum said. “He’s getting fired, really. The narrative is the same.
Finebaum went on to say that head coach Deion Sanders’ lack of development is the greater issue for Colorado, and he even went so far as to say that he doesn’t think this year’s team is superior to the 2023 group.
“And I think the bigger story, rather than coming down on Shedeur, is his father,” Finebaum continued. “What type of Colorado program does Deion Sanders oversee? This year, he made all the adjustments promise.
He became enraged with everyone who ventured a criticism. It’s the same squad, too. Not even close to how terrific they were a year ago. Shedeur, poor guy, is killing himself. That is not how many times you can be fired. He won’t survive the midseason, much less the playoffs.
And it was such a misleading score. Like you people, I watched that game. And in the first part, they were annihilated. That game was done, after all.
The score was 28 to 0. And Colorado did not even make it respectable; they simply downplayed the severity of the situation. Additionally, they will now face battles in every game.”
Finally, Finebaum reiterated his prediction that after Travis Hunter and both of his boys leave the show at the end of the season, Deion Sanders will try to flee Colorado.
“And I just sense that Deion Sanders and this whole thing is going to come apart at some point,” Finebaum concluded. “And he’s going to bail out without Travis or Shedeur.” Even though Deion Sanders is loved by all of you, I just don’t think he can handle this humiliation week after week.
He’s probably already searching for a way out, too. It has to be seen whether Colorado can increase their offensive effectiveness and safety of the quarterback, as well as whether Finebaum’s criticism of Coach Prime is validated at the end of the season.
The Buffs, still hurting from their defeat on Saturday, will try to turn things around when they play the in-state rival Colorado State Rams in Week 3. That Week 3 game, which will air on CBS, will take place on September 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET from Canvas Stadium in Fort Collins, Colorado.
