Renck: The college football season began with saved timeouts, a fake field goal and a frightening question: Did decisions by Deion Sanders and Jay Norvell deliver losses? Neither team was favored. Both remained competitive — CU until the final minutes, and CSU for three quarters. But pulling off an upset demanded near perfection from the headset. And multiple decisions hurt both teams and left heads shaking. It raises the question: Which coach worries you more after the season-opening losses?
Keeler: Having the best quarterback in the stadium will make any coach look like the smartest guy in the room. This was always going to be the season — no Shedeur, no Travis — in which we find out whether Deion Sanders, especially with game management, can really coach. As in, coach coach. Georgia Tech is for real, especially at the line of scrimmage. That said, CU doesn’t have its two cheat codes from the last two seasons to pull everybody’s bacon out of the fire. Coach Prime has to be the one winning tight games now — not his son. After watching the elder Sanders sit on two timeouts rather than use them in the final minute of a one-score game, you can’t blame Buffs Nation for harboring doubts.
Renck: Sanders has made CU relevant. Let’s get that out of the way. This is not about bringing in money and attention. It’s about coaching. Having endured suspect calls at the end of games and halves for two seasons, there was hope that Year 3 would reveal Sanders as more seasoned. It would be one thing if the Buffs only got bullied — they did, allowing 320 yards rushing. But the offensive play calling remains an issue. And Sean Lewis isn’t around to blame anymore. Trailing by a touchdown with 67 seconds remaining and hearing a swing pass called by Pat Shurmur and not stopping it is hard to forgive. What happened next was inexcusable. Sanders didn’t call timeout. Then he declined to call one as the clock reached 29 seconds with the Buffs facing a third-and-1. The Buffs were unlikely to produce a miracle comeback, but letting the seconds tick away guaranteed it.
Keeler: I’d be shocked if the Buffs and Sanders don’t clean up some of this stuff next week. Then again, what kind of test are the Blue Hens? Delaware headed into Labor Day ranked No. 127 out of 136 FBS schools in ESPN’s Football Power Index and 129th in the Massey Ratings. On paper, it sets up to be the perfect “Get Ju Ju Lewis some snaps” tilt. Meanwhile, the Big 12 remains as quirky and screwy as ever. Little things are going to matter in big moments. And the next one looms on Sept. 12 in Houston for the Buffs’ league opener.
Renck: Norvell’s fake field goal was not in the conversation with the Colts Catastrophe in 2015. But it belongs in the conversation with the worst plays in Week 1. Trailing by 10 early in the fourth quarter, Tahj Bullock was the holder and moved into the shotgun to take the snap. It fooled exactly no one. But at least Norvell was going for it. Sanders refused to be bold on fourth-and-short near midfield in the first half, and watched as CU went sideways on its final drive. Sanders must adapt to his new personnel, give Shurmur less freedom and start winning on the margins.
Keeler: A-minus for effort in Seattle, C-plus for execution. The Rams showed they were good enough to punch above their weight, though, which is all most fans in FoCo would ask for. Liked the aggression. Didn’t like the way Jalen Dupree felt like a spectator after halftime. If CSU can go back to embracing Norvell’s Big Ten roots and urge BFN to be a game-manager again, the Rams have the horses to run with anybody in the Mountain West. So long as they remember to run it on everybody.
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