BOULDER — Is this Costco or CU-stco? Because nobody in Big 12 football has imported more sheer bulk of sheer bulk than Deion Sanders has for 2025.
The Buffs this year landed at least eight players from the transfer portal listed at 306 pounds or larger, per the 247Sports.com database. That’s No. 1 in the league by at least two party subs.
In fact, the only conference peer that came close to portaling in big dudes at the same volume was West Virginia, with six — from a haul of a whopping 54 portal additions.
“We’re going to impose our will. And we’ve got big dudes on our defensive line to kind of give us that competition that we need,” CU sophomore left tackle Jordan Seaton said earlier this month. “And we’re just grinding right now and making sure that we’re able to run the ball when we want and how we want.”
CU is bigger. Coach Prime says they’re badder. But will they be better? And, more to the point, better in the box? Is 2025 the year teams finally stop trying to punch the Buffs in the kisser?
We’re going to find out in a few days, one way or another. Year 3 of the Coach Prime Era is stacked with coin-flip matchups. And the opener against Georgia Tech before a national ESPN audience Friday at Folsom Field shapes up to be one of the sexiest — right out of the gate.
Coach Brent Key’s Yellow Jackets, on paper, are built to do the things that drove last year’s 9-4 Buffs, and CU fans, a little nuts.
Key was Alabama’s offensive line coach under Nick Saban. He’s chiseled his Jackets into what Midwesterners would easily recognize as the Wisconsin/Iowa/Kansas State archetype. Dominate the trenches. Move the chains on the ground. Chew up clock like it’s a tray of Dubai chocolate.
The Yellow Jackets ran up 271 yards against Miami last fall. They rolled up another 260 on the ground at Georgia.
Tech ranked fourth nationally in the FBS in rush yards gained on second down (6.26 per carry). They finished 20th in rushing first downs converted on third-and-3 or fewer. CU, meanwhile, was tied for 72nd in rushing first downs allowed on third-and-short.
Uh-oh.
“I’m very confident in my front seven,” CU senior defensive tackle Anquin Barnes Jr., said recently. “I like my front seven against any other front seven in the world. So, the confidence is there. I believe in my guys.”
Can the rest of us? CU might be the most fascinating team in all of college football to start 2025, largely because nobody has any idea what a Coach Prime program at the Power 4 level truly looks like without Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders.
Jackson State in 2022 and 2021, in hindsight, at least sketched out an idea of what’s to come. This feels like almost a completely blank slate, more refresh than rebuild.
Sanders has hinted at a complete offensive about-face, a run-first mantra that probably works better with Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter starting at quarterback than gifted freshman Julian Lewis. Trust the floor you know until Ju Ju’s ceiling shows you otherwise.
Although we learned with Bo Nix a year ago, the best way to accelerate a learning curve for a new QB1 is to pair him with a defense that can clean up their mistakes and give them a chance to grow on the job.
To Sanders’ credit, the most glaring personnel holes of his 2023 debut season — offensive line, depth, depth, more depth and speed across the board — were pretty much addressed in the offseason leading up to Year 2.
Yet if CU ran into an opponent with a big offensive line, one committed to running the ball and committed to keeping Shedeur on the sideline, Ralphie’s engine didn’t always turn over.
Kansas State, Kansas and BYU more or less followed the same script: Get a lead, keep the ball, keep your distance, then keep gashing the Buffs on the ground until time runs out.
And, sure enough, the Jackets’ projected starters along the offensive line average 306 pounds.
“The D-line definitely plays a big part in team success,” CU defensive end Samuel Okunlola said. “The front four is very important. So, yeah, we definitely play a big role. We have to show up every time.”
Your serve, big guy.
The Buffs are 7-3 under Coach Prime when giving up 139 rushing yards or fewer in a game. The Yellow Jackets are 2-6 under Key since ’23 when running for under 140. If that’s science, it sure as heck ain’t the rocket variety.
“What I can do for the whole team,” said CU offensive lineman Xavier Hill, one of those new Buffs 300-pounders, “I feel like that’s a golden opportunity.”
And a gilded path, potentially. Of the 16 Big 12 championship game participants since 2017, 10 wound up ranked either first or second in the league in team run defense during the regular season.
Even in a league that’s unabashedly basketball on grass, the low man wins. Louis Vuitton luggage will put you on the map in a hurry. But shopping for quality beef up front is still the surest way to stay there.
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