Joel Klatt: Colorado State is 'unequivocally the biggest game' in Deion Sanders' Colorado tenure

The Rocky Mountain Showdown, after delivering a great game and big ratings a year ago, might be even more important for Colorado and head coach Deion Sanders in Year 2. That is, at least, what former Buffalo quarterback and Fox football analyst Joel Klatt thinks.

Heading into a road matchup with in-state rival Colorado State, Klatt does not think Colorado can afford a loss. After starting the season 1-1 and not inspiring much confidence that the Buffaloes are making the necessary progress, Klatt thinks a loss on Saturday night could be disastrous for Colorado.

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“Can we just pause for a moment and think about how big this game is for Colorado and Coach Prime?” Klatt said. “This is, unequivocally, the biggest game that Colorado has had since Coach Prime has gotten there. Because they can not lose this game. If they lose this game, where do you go from here? This would be a sign of regression in the second year. If you just frame it like that, you understand the urgency that Colorado’s going to have to have in this game. They have to win. And they’re going up into an environment that’s going to be very difficult to do that.”

Since starting the 2023 season — his first year at Colorado — on a 3-0 run, Colorado has gone 2-9 in the next 11 games under Sanders. And Klatt is concerned the Buffaloes will continue to struggle to find balance on offense.

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“They’ve been the most pass-heavy team in the nation this season, which I’m not upset about, because yes, they’re going to throw the football, but they have to create some first down run game,” Klatt said. “Some! Because the more that Shedeur has to throw the ball because he has to versus because he wants to, the more they’re going to get beat. And the more he’s going to get sacked. They’ve gotta get some creativity and movement in that offense, pre-snap, to put the defense in conflict.”

And defensively, Klatt worries about the Buffaloes hanging on in man coverage against the passing offense of the Rams. While cornerback and wideout Travis Hunter is certainly an elite player in man coverage, the rest of the Colorado defensive backs have not been as effective.

And Klatt can see a world where the Buffaloes defense is left spinning for much of Saturday evening.

“Watch for those crossing routes early. To the tight end, to [Tory] Horton,” Klatt said. “They’re just going to bring those shallow crossing routes, boom, boom, boom. And I would sit right there until Colorado proved that they would stop running man coverage. Because they’ve got a great man cover player in Travis Hunter, but everybody else is not great in man coverage. So they get hurt by the quarterback run in man coverage. They get hurt by the crossing routes in man coverage. You can tell that I watch these games incredibly closely. Colorado’s defense has looked better in the second half of each of their first two games and given themselves a chance to win.”

But for all the concerns that Klatt might have, he’s still picking his alma mater to get the much-needed rivalry win, albeit a close one, again.

“Listen, because they have to win, and I’m certainly not picking Colorado State to win, obviously, I’ve got Colorado winning this one in a classic, again, 24-20. It’s going to be a close game,” Klatt said. “I don’t like the 7.5 [point spread] for Colorado. But I like the Buffs to pull this one out late. They’ve gotta protect Shedeur. If they don’t protect Shedeur and they just sit in a static formation, it’s going to be a long day. If they don’t adjust off their man coverage and defense, it’s going to be a long day.”