BOULDER — After the first big home win in the CU Buffs’ Keep The Receipts Tour, Shedeur Sanders reminded fans why Saturday’s victory over Nebraska was “personal” in his debut appearance in the rivalry series.
Sanders took issue with Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule standing on the CU logo at midfield prior to the Buffs’ 36-14 domination at Folsom Field. The QB also cited offseason comments by Rhule that were thinly veiled swipes at Deion Sanders’ CU rebuild.
“We go out there to warm up and you’ve got the head coach for the other team trying to stand in the middle of the Buff,” Shedeur Sanders said. “If a couple players do it, it’s fine, enjoy the scenery. But when you’ve got the whole team trying to disrespect (the logo), I’m not going for that at all. I went in there and disrupted it. They knew I was ripped. That Buff means a lot to me.
“It was extreme disrespect. The coach said a lot of things about my pops and about my program.”
While Rhule heaped praise on CU this week, noting Tuesday he has the “utmost respect for Coach Sanders,” the Buffs QB didn’t forget Rhule’s comments back in January (“I’m one of those guys, I don’t let cameras in… I want it to be about the players,” he told reporters) and March (“The program is built on work — it’s not built on hype”).
Hence why Shedeur Sanders’ smile seemed to gleam off his No. 2 diamond necklace in postgame, after he torched NU for 393 yards and two touchdowns through the air, plus 23 yards and a TD on the ground. It was all Buffs in the second half, and the junior QB was at the center of it.
“All respect was gone for them and their program, because they disrespected us first,” Sanders said.
CU wideout Xavier Weaver, who posted his second straight 100-yard game with 10 catches for 170 yards and a touchdown, said the Buffs also took issue with Nebraska punting into their huddle during pregame.
“They punted the ball into our huddle, and almost hit Coach (Sanders) in the head,” Weaver said. “It was personal. We wanted to run the score up.”
The Buffs did that in the second half, outscoring the Huskers 23-7 until Nebraska’s garbage-time touchdown with one second left. Along the way, Shedeur got flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after ripping off his helmet to celebrate a highlight scramble that led to a two-point pass — a conversion later overturned by replay.
Coach Prime was initially upset with his son for taking off his helmet to yell at the crowd and mob around with his teammates. Then he remembered his QB’s fire in that moment was rooted in this rivalry, which Colorado has owned with a 3-0 mark since both programs departed the Big 12 in 2010.
“One of the funniest moments in the game was after Shedeur made that tremendous scramble, a Heisman-type play, and I said ‘You cannot take your helmet off,'” Deion Sanders said. “He said, ‘Dad, it’s personal’… I was really upset in the moment, but he broke the (tension) up. This whole team really took the (‘it’s personal’ mantra) to heart this week.”
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