People can’t seem to make up their minds about CU Buffs. Are they good? Are they bad? While there’s skepticism about whether they are a strong team overall, any success this season will likely come down to the standout performances of their superstar players.
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During an episode of College Gameday, Pat McAfee spoke his mind on Deion’s Buffs ahead of their matchup against Colorado State, calling them out for their inability to stand out as a team.
McAffe didn’t hesitate to deliver a sharp criticism despite growing up as a Deion fan. Even though he acknowledged Coach Prime’s leadership and the work they have been putting in, he pointed out that the HC hasn’t been able to establish a winning culture yet:
“Their team building and culture building seemingly has not really worked out so far. I’m worried about the Buffaloes…They have good players to be a great team but nobody believes that they are a good team, they just think they have superstars.”
While contending that Sanders can lead the team, McAfee believes they have lagged in creating a winning team culture. This is problematic for Colorado, especially given that their opponents have improved vastly since last season.
After last season, the hype around the Buffs should’ve died down, given that they finished the season with only 4 wins. But fans are still rallying behind the Deion Sanders-led unit.
They got a ray of hope after the Buffs put up a win against ND State but were soundly beaten by the Cornhuskers the very next week.
The Buffaloes have two of the top 10 picks in the 2025 draft in Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. Both are contenders for the Heisman going into the season.
They also have a couple of top wideouts in Will Shephard, LaJohntay Wester, and Jimmy Horn Jr. Shilo Sanders has emerged as one of the leaders in their secondary.
While McAfee’s opinion might not carry a lot of weight in Colorado or college football, his take on Buffaloes got unwavering support from his new game day co-host Nick Saban.
Team chemistry going to be real key for Buffs’ success
Nick Saban knows a thing or two about creating winning football teams and lifting National Championships. During the same segment of the Gameday, the 7-time Natty winning coach emphasized team chemistry as a crucial factor to becoming a great team, rather than a team with a few superstars:
“I really think team chemistry is going to be the real key for them. That’s players believing in themselves, players believing in each other, coaches believing in players, players believing in coaches.”
Saban pointed out that players need to believe in themselves, their teammates, and the coaches while coaches need to do the same, building a culture of faith and admiration:
“Because if you don’t have respect and trust on your team, you got a hard time building team chemistry, and when you play on the road in games like this you need to have a lot of togetherness on your team.”
The Buffs were outplayed on both sides of the ball on Saturday. While Shedeur still threw for 244 yards, he didn’t look comfortable in the pocket and threw a pick-six.
Their run game was nonexistent, getting merely 16 yards. Defensively, they gave up 344 yards of total offense and were unable to contain Nebrasksa’s ground game.
The experts agree that there needs to be a change in the locker room before they can see a change on the field. But will Deion Sanders heed this advice and prevent a repeat of last year’s disastrous season?
