Is Deion Sanders allowing Travis Hunter and his son Shedeur Sanders to stat pad? Both Sanders and Hunter had a fantastic game against rivals Colorado State as they bounced back from the disappointing loss to Nebraska. This win comes at the right time for the Buffs as they look to build momentum in the Big 12. However, more than the game, it was Coach Prime’s tactics that came into question.

The Buffaloes had two drives with a 28-9 lead with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game. With a comfortable lead, many expected the team to run down the clock and see out the game. But they were in for a surprise as the Buffs ran 13 combined plays on their final two drives of the game with eight of them being passing plays. Shedeur Sanders dropped back 10 times with the game done and dusted.

Having Sanders in the game at the end was a questionable decision in itself, but having him throw the ball and be on the offensive late in the game raised many concerns. The Colorado insider, Kevin Borba from Locked On Buffs, criticized the aggression that the Buffs displayed in the last minutes of some of the Buffs’ games where the result is practically a done deal.

The claim? Deion may be endangering the lives of Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter to inflate stats and groom performances for the Heisman. Borba then put it bluntly: “If you’re up, you gotta protect your key players. Would you rather your top guys rack up some late-game stats or go on a run and win in the Big 12?” 

He added, “I didn’t like the late-game passing, not because Colorado State could have come back that Colorado’s defense was shut down locked down, but the reason I didn’t love it is because when you’re playing a rivalry team like Colorado State who I think by all accounts is probably going to be a middle of the pack Mountain West team at best, they have nothing to lose right so there are chance chances for a dirty hit we saw last year with Henry Blackburn.”

In a game between rivals such as CSU and the Buffaloes, intensity is usually high. We saw this last year during the game between the two sides. Throughout the game, there were taunts and jibes exchanged and the first quarter witnessed a troublesome moment.

Buffs WR Hunter was on the receiving end of a heavy hit by Hunter Blackburn as he caught a touchdown pass. Hunter withered in pain for a while but returned to the field before being withdrawn and taken to a local hospital. He was later diagnosed with a lacerated liver. Hence, many believed in order to avoid a similar scenario, Coach Prime should have taken measures to protect his best talents with the game already in the bag. But it looks like he had other plans.

Hunter caught 13 passes for 100 yards and two touchdowns, while Sanders completed 36-of-49 passes for 310 yards and four touchdown passes. However, Sanders’s stats may not have been this impressive if he hadn’t been throwing the ball during his team’s final two possessions of the game. So was this an attempt by Coach Prime to boost his numbers?

According to Borba, the Buffs have a lot more at stake and could ill-afford losing one of their star players due to an unnecessary risk. Shedeur has 999 passing yards and 9 TDS so far, while Hunter has 30 catches for 342 yards which shows their importance to the Colorado’s hopes this season. Meanwhile, he wasn’t the only one who called out Sanders’ tactics.

With the Buffs holding a comfortable 19-point lead and only 2:55 remaining, Sanders threw the ball on first and second down. After Charlie Offerdahl picked up a first down on the ground with 1:44 to go, he got one more carry before Sanders threw incomplete passes on second, third, and fourth down. This left CBS announcers Rich Waltz and Ross Tucker baffled.

Tucker said, “I gotta be honest with you. think this has to be coming from Deion Sanders. Because I just can’t imagine this is what Pat Shurmur would want to be doing in this situation. I mean, he’s a three-time NFL head coach. I think Pat would just be taking a knee and winning the football game and not taking a chance that any offensive linemen gets hurt or the quarterback gets hit again.”

Waltz also agreed and added, “It makes no sense. It’s a long season. I mean, they’ve got Baylor next week. It’s into the Big XII.”

Meanwhile, Coach Prime defended his decision when asked about it in the post game press conference. When asked if the first team playing offense late in a decided game was “personal,” he replied, “No. We wanted to score. The game is about scoring, isn’t it? As long as the other team is trying to score we’re trying to score.”

If Deion Sanders continues to deploy these tactics there is a chance it could catch up with him and his team eventually, but for now, he remains defiant.

Could Deion Sanders’ style cost him?

The late hit against CSU last year left Hunter out of the game and the Buffs breathed a sigh of relief that he did not suffer more. Fast forward to this season of the year. Hunter has been Sanders’s go-to guy in the field, having up to 30 receptions with 342 yards, while Shedeur himself has crossed 999 passing yards and 9 TDs, which shows their importance to the Buffs cause

But increasing them late in games where the defense is playing out of the end zone? This move could backfire and come back to haunt Coach Prime later in the season.

With their next game against Baylor, the Buffs fans will hope that Deion Sanders utilizes his two key assets according to the situation and not risk them getting an injury that could derail their season.