The Colorado Buffs laid down a marker with a thumping win over Arizona. The 34-7 rout at the Arizona Stadium took the Buffs to 3-1 in the Big 12 and 5-2 overall. This is already better than their disappointing run last season and things are looking up for Coach Prime and his Buffaloes. Yet, this moment hasn’t come without its fair share of problems and controversy.

The result against Arizona means they are one win away from being eligible to play in a bowl game with five regular-season games remaining. This should have been the talk of the town, but instead, ESPN’s report and somewhat scathing assessment of Deion Sanders made the headlines and it didn’t sit well with his son.

Now, Coach Prime’s personality and strong opinions have led to run-ins with the media, with ESPN host Paul Finebaum involved in an ongoing war of words with the Buffs HC. This time, however, the publication went ahead with a subtle jab at Sanders’s persona. In its College Football review of Week 8, under the Colorado section they wrote,

“Travis Hunter left Saturday’s game after aggravating a shoulder injury, but it didn’t matter much for the Buffaloes, who romped past the Arizona Wildcats, 34-7. Deion Sanders’ squad is now just a win away from bowl eligibility, which would be a nice bit of validation for the oft-criticized coach if he were the type of person who looked for external validation rather than simply counting Instagram likes.” Barstool Colorado shared the snapshot of the report on their Instagram with the caption, “But the media’s not biased at all. right?”

Although Coach Prime didn’t respond to this coverage, his son, Deion Sanders Jr. hit out at ESPN’s coverage of his father by sharing Barstool Buffs’ post in his IG story with the caption, “Shit, be crazy, dawg.” ESPN’s comments could be a dig at Sanders’s obsession with getting Hunter in line to win the Heisman Trophy and bring all the more attention to the Buffs program. But you cannot blame the coach for wishing his star player to rise to the highest honor in college football. However, there has been a notion that Hunter’s recent injury problems have been due to Sanders not giving him much rest.

Notably, Hunter was injured in the defeat against Kansas State a week earlier and missed the rest of the game after going off in the second quarter. Many believed he would sit out the game against Arizona, but that wasn’t the case. The Buffs’ two-way star Travis Hunter reaggravated his injury in the first half and had to sit out the rest of the contest.

Deion Sanders has come under fire for pushing Hunter in many of the Buffs’ games and while that is understandable not everyone is a fan of his tactics. Meanwhile, the Buffs HC’s outspoken nature did invite the wrath of Paul Finebaum.

Speaking in a press conference on September 17, Sanders called out the media for their treatment of players who are making money due to the Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals. Sanders suggested this might be due to jealousy in some part.

He said, “Once upon a time, you guys never attacked college players. Now they’re making more money than y’all, and some of y’all are envious and jealous about that. So you’re on the attack. It was hands off a college player, because he was an amateur, remember that? Remember that, guys? Now it’s hands on, go at ’em, any kind of way you want. They’re making more money than me and I’m mad about it.”

This however didn’t sit well with Finebaum who fired back. The ESPN host addressed Sanders’s comments on First Take and called the HC  “spineless” for attacking the media like that. Finebaum said, “Deion, right there, was purely gaslighting. Really unbecoming of his stature and status. He knows that’s not true…It’s baseless, and quite frankly it looks to me like he’s living in an alternative universe. Because that is simply not true.”

Well, it looks like Deion Sanders won’t have all of the media backing him as he continues to improve the Buffs’ fortunes this season. Their progress this season though will depend on Hunter’s fitness to a great extent.

Coach Prime on Travis Hunter’s injury

Well, this game was very crucial for Travis Hunter to regain his top Heisman and NFL draft rankings as his injury against Kansas State left him short of game time. However, Hunter got the shorter end of the stick against Arizona as well, leaving him fourth in the Heisman Trophy’s latest odds.

After the Buffs showdown against the Arizona Wildcats, Deion Sanders revealed the reason behind Travis’s exit from the game after the first half, saying, “He’s a little sore, a little banged up. Travis wanted to play. I don’t know if he was quite 100% ready, but a half of Travis is a whole of somebody.”

It is understandable that Sanders wants arguably his best player in good shape but at the same time he doesn’t want to jeopardize his Heisman chances, if there is a solid chance for him to play. Not to mention, Hunter will be the key to how the Buffs do for the rest of the season.

For the moment though, the team would want to take a steady approach when it comes to his return. It will be interesting to see if Coach Prime rushed him back for the Week 9 home clash against Cincinnati next Saturday.