Deion Sanders shares Colorado's approach to upcoming spring game
The Colorado Buffaloes have wrapped up their spring practices and are headed into the summer portion of their offseason. But before they were done with the spring, head coach Deion Sanders led the program in their second spring scrimmage game.
Some were curious about how he was going to orchestrate this year’s scrimmage. Before the game, Sanders revealed that he would mirror the format from 2023, allowing his first and second units to score against one another.
“Yeah, because the One’s offense is playing against the Two’s defense; don’t the two defense want to be the one defense? And then you have the One defense playing against the Two offense, and that Two offense wants to be the One,” said Sanders. “Then you’ll have times where you mix it up One vs One. But if you don’t go One vs. Two, how are you gonna tell those Twos they are capable of playing against Ones?”
“That’s the way we practice every day; that’s the way we gotta—I like that thought process. And threes go against threes.”
The reasoning behind this format is simple: he wants both his first and second units to be able to take the field with confidence during the 2024 season. If his second unit only practices against one another, the Buffaloes head coach does not believe it will prepare them for facing off against other programs’ top units.
Given Sanders’s answer, it appears as if the Buffaloes head coach has more interest in building depth for the fastly approaching 2024 campaign than he does in putting on a spectacle to display the capability of his first-string offense and defense.
Sanders on Travis Hunter’s usage in 2024: ‘It’s on him’
Sanders also said he won’t change anything about the way Travis Hunter plays, but it’s up to the latter to determine how effective he’ll be this season.
At his best, Hunter is one of the best players in college football, being able to electrify as a wide receiver and be a stout defensive back for Colorado. When he was injured last season, Hunter was certainly missed on both ends of the field.
Speaking with DNVR Sports, Sanders put the onus on Hunter to make sure he plays the best he can when he’s on the field.
“It’s on him,” Sanders said. “You want the kid to have fun, and you want a kid to be all that he desires to be. Travis came out of high school playing both ways. Travis came out of youth ball playing both ways (and) Travis going to college playing both ways, came from Jackson State playing both ways. Why would we change what he’s always done in his life?
“Just because some guy with no talent, sitting up here saying well, he should watch his number of reps. How you know? You count your number of reps when you go to the refrigerator every day?”