The Colorado Buffaloes are 1-0 to start the 2023 season. Technically, a repeat of last year’s 1-11 record is possible. Technically. Realistically, the remaining teams in the Pac-12 have some real concerns on their hands as the west coast conference enters its final year as we know it. What was a gimme on the schedule last year is now a circled date on the calendar as Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes make their mark on the conference.
There were plenty of offseason doubts about Sanders’ team-building strategies as head coach, but the doubters have largely been silenced after today’s 45-42 road upset over No. 17 TCU, the 2022 College Football Playoff runners-up. CU entered as a 21-point underdog, but played incredible football on both sides to get out of Fort Worth with a program-defining win in Week 1.
So are the 2023 Buffaloes for real, or was this game a fluke? It would be a major fluke if it did turn out to be the latter situation. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders made some big-time plays, ending the game with four passing touchdowns, 510 yards in the air, and zero interceptions. He has some playmaking targets in Travis Hunter, Jimmy Horn, and Dylan Edwards.
Hunter, who is playing both cornerback and wide receiver for the Buffaloes, carved out a name for himself today with 119 receiving yards and one interception. Colorado did not make it easy on TCU, grabbing two red zone interceptions, converting nine of 15 third downs and two of two fourth downs, and making the Horned Frogs pay in the secondary.
Yes, TCU’s defense leaves much on the field to be desired. But so do many other defenses in the Big 12, which the Buffaloes will join next year. The Buffs will need to tighten things up on their run defense after allowing 262 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. The Buffaloes’ limitations on their offensive line will make for some struggles later in the season. But make no mistake — this team is not the Colorado Buffaloes of years past, and the Pac-12 just got a lot more interesting.