Here’s the next question now that we know Deion Sanders passes muster. Can he sustain success at Colorado? Does he even have that desire?
Deion Sanders’ recruiting class ranks last in the Big 12. Is that evidence that he’ll permanently live in the portal, or a sign that he’s got one foot out the door.
Ole Miss football schedule not as much of an issue as its offensive line.
The stars whom Sanders packed up and brought with him from Jackson State to Colorado proved they can excel anywhere. Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders helped Coach Prime answer the question of whether he can win at this level.
He can, and he has.
“I’m so excited,” Sanders said Saturday after his team’s 48-21 victory over Central Florida that put Colorado in a tie atop the Big 12 standings. “You have no idea.”
So, here’s the next question now that we know Sanders passes muster.
Can he sustain success at Colorado? Does he even have that desire?
Sanders operates as if he plans to live out of his suitcase rather than unpack and set down roots.
Yes, I know he said he plans to coach Colorado for at least 10 seasons and that he doesn’t desire an NFL job. He also once said God called him to coach Jackson State, and he pledged on “60 Minutes” to “change the perspective of HBCU football.” He did that, briefly, until someone else called. Colorado was on the line. He gathered his luggage and jetted off.
And I don’t blame Sanders a bit for accepting a better job and a bigger paycheck, but there’s what you say, and there’s what you do.
And Sanders’ actions make him a flight risk.
Check out Colorado’s recruiting class. It ranks dead last in the Big 12 in the 247Sports Composite. Only eight prospects are committed to the class. He’s recruiting (or not recruiting, rather) like a guy who plans to vamoose.
Because, Sanders has plenty to sell, if he had the appetite for recruiting. He’s 8-9 at Colorado, including 4-1 this season.
If you don’t think that’s applaudable, you’ve forgotten the rubbish bin this program lived in before Sanders’ arrival. Colorado joined Northwestern as the nation’s worst Bowl Subdivisions programs in 2022. Colorado hired Sanders to spice things up. Has he ever.
Which makes Colorado’s stalled recruiting all the more noteworthy. Sanders shouldn’t struggle selling his vision to high school prospects.
Sanders lived out of the transfer portal the past two years. His strategy fared better than many expected it would.
A star quarterback like Shedeur who can pass and run remains a great equalizer. He puts a spiffy coat of varnish on this team.
And, to Prime’s credit, he improved the defense.
But, how long can he sustain this?
Shedeur Sanders and Hunter will head to the NFL after this season. Transfers of their ability are more the exception than the rule. Shilo Sanders, another of Prime’s sons, is a sixth-year senior safety. What’s stopping Prime from following his sons out the door?
The portal provides valuable tire patches for a program stranded on the shoulder, and coaches who ignore transfers live foolishly. But, building a program almost exclusively out of the portal becomes a highwire act. You can’t miss a step.
Signing and developing elite linemen remains the engine behind championship programs. Prime knows this. If there’s one thing he isn’t, it’s dumb.
I don’t think it’s that Sanders can’t recruit. Mostly, I think he just doesn’t want to, because why recruit to a place where you don’t plan to be?
If Sanders hears another calling after this season, Colorado will have received the full Prime experience.
Sanders magnetized eyeballs to a program that starved for attention. His presence helped ensure Colorado didn’t get left behind in realignment. And it’s no coincidence Colorado’s admissions applications surged after his first season. He put the university in the spotlight, and he made Colorado football fun, and college students like having fun.
And when he packs his luggage and listens for a voice from on high, Colorado would do well to go hire the next Sanders, except that won’t be possible, because Coach Prime can’t be duplicated.
Here’s what else is brewing in this “Topp Rope” view of college football:
Did Ole Miss get foiled by cupcake schedule?
It’s easy to rip Mississippi’s soft schedule throughout the first four weeks and use that to explain the Rebels’ 20-17 upset loss to Kentucky, but that cupcake feast didn’t cause this loss.
Ohio State opened the season with a few joke foes before crushing Michigan State in its first conference game.
The Rebels opening the season against Furman did not form their chief issue. Rather, Lane Kiffin’s “Portal King” strategy fell short in offensive line development.
Kentucky pushed around Ole Miss. If the Rebels had faced tougher opponents earlier in the season, they might have two losses by now, not one.
Emails of the week
Gary writes: You hit it right the other day when you said Hugh Freeze was no longer a QB whisperer. In the Oklahoma game, he should have yelled to Payton Thorne, run the ball, and we’ll punt. Thorne never should have thrown the ball for the pick-six, but there’s where coaching comes into play. You, as a coach, take charge, and run the ball.
My response: Agreed. Auburn should’ve run the ball.
Here’s the scenario you referenced: Auburn led 21-16 with less than five minutes remaining and faced third-and-4 from Oklahoma’s 43-yard line. Call a run play, and one of three things happen. You gain a first down, you set up fourth-and-short and go for it, or you get stuffed and punt on fourth-and-medium to pin Oklahoma deep. The one thing that wouldn’t happen: A turnover-prone quarterback throws a pick-six.
But, hey, Freeze says he dialed up one of his best game plans ever in that loss. Phew. If that’s Freeze’s best game plan, then Auburn needs a new coach.
Burt writes: Did we watch the same game? Alabama roared to a large halftime lead. Georgia fought back and took the lead late in the game as the Alabama offense completely shut down. Alabama was lucky to hit on a deep ball to win the game. The Alabama quarterback was completely ineffective in the second half except for one play.
My response: We watched the same game, but you must have missed Jalen Milroe torching Georgia for 491 total yards. If Milroe hadn’t been so ‘ineffective,’ as you say, he might have gone for 800 yards.
Three and out
1. If Missouri wins Saturday at Texas A&M, I’ll take the Tigers seriously as a playoff contender, while Google searches spike for Eliah Drinkwitz in Gainesville, Florida. He’s 15-2 the past two seasons at Missouri, and he even wears a visor like Steve Spurrier.
2. I can hear it now: Come early December, if Georgia is 9-3 with losses to Alabama, Texas and Tennessee, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey will quote “Sesame Street” again.
3. If you’re wondering why Chip Kelly left his UCLA coaching gig to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, he recently offered this whiff of insight into the perks of being an assistant: “You can go to the bathroom between series if you have to.” For further explanation, see UCLA’s 1-3 record this season. Kelly stepped down the ladder in exchange for leaving a program that’s in the toilet.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.
The ‘Topp Rope’ is his football column published throughout the USA TODAY Network.
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