Kirk Herbstreit: Colorado 'means business' after 2-0 start, No. 18 ranking under Deion Sanders

Kirk Herbstreit was blown away by Colorado’s quick turnaround under Deion Sanders as College GameDay descended upon Boulder.

Sanders and Colorado are 2-0 right now, ranked No. 18 in the country and have the whole nation buzzing about its in-state rivalry game against Colorado State. Jay Norvell already poked the bear, or the Buffalo if you will, and now everything’s personal on Colorado’s journey.

Over the last 20 years, Colorado’s been near the basement of college football. That changed overnight with Sanders.

“We saw it last year when he did it at Jackson State and now having a chance to do it in the FBS and in a big Power Five conference like Colorado,” Herbstreit said on SportsCenter. “And the way it started you know, it’s been fascinating to watch. I think sometimes, we talked about this the last few weeks, I think sometimes what gets lost because you get on social media and you see okay, he’s making it personal. 

“And there’s so much energy that if you don’t break down film and really watch them and you see how well coached they are, this team means business, you know, they are very, very well coached. They take things very seriously. They take a lot of pride in doing things the right way. And you know, he played with a flair, he coaches with a flair but man, one thing you know about them is they’re going to be a fundamentally sound team on both sides of the ball.”

Colorado not the same old program anymore

Herbstreit could barely get another word in based on the crowd behind him, before College GameDay even started.

“I don’t know if they know that they had a football team here for the last 20 years, honestly,” Herbstreit said. “And now this looks like they made up for 20 years of mediocrity. And they put it together this year, so you can only imagine, it’s like they’ve been caged up with Ralphie and now they’ve been released and allowed to come out and be proud of their brand.” 

Herbstreit put it into perspective how Colorado hasn’t been a talking point in two decades. He took a shot at the program, but it was a friendly jab considering where the Buffaloes are under Sanders now.

“I work with Christopher Fowler, he hasn’t talked about CU football ever, since maybe that show we were on back in 1996,” Herbstreit said. “I think that was the last time he brought him up. Now everywhere you go, this puts it in perspective what Coach Prime has done to this brand, not just winning games, I would argue that they’ve become one of the biggest stories not just in college football … 

“The NFL is talking about Coach Prime. They’ve become one of the big stories in sports, not just college football. That’s how big of a personality he is. And that’s how big this brand has become. And again, if this weren’t Alabama or Ohio State, it’d be like man, it’s cool. It’s Colorado. They sucked forever and now you got this going on. It’s incredible.”

At least Herbie was complimentary now, otherwise Sanders and Colorado would’ve made it personal.