Deion Sanders changed the game at Colorado. But Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders won it
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Dave Wilson, ESPN Staff Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas — On the first weekend of the 2023 season, hype gave way to history.
Deion Sanders arrived in Texas with 86 new Colorado players — an unprecedented remodel — and took down No. 17 TCU 45-42 in the Horned Frogs’ first game since a College Football Playoff National Championship game appearance.
The Buffaloes were a 21-point underdog, giving Coach Prime the first win by an underdog of more than 20 points in his full-time FBS coaching debut since the 1978 FBS/FCS split.
“We’re going to continuously be questioned because we do things that have never been done,” Deion Sanders said. “We do things that have never been done and that makes people uncomfortable.”
The cornerstone stars of Sanders’ transfer congregation — Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, who both came with him from Jackson State — definitely made the Horned Frogs uncomfortable. Along the way, they erased years of futility for Colorado in just one game:
• Shedeur Sanders completed 38 of 47 passes for 510 yards, the most passing yards by a player in his FBS debut over the past 25 years, while also becoming the first Colorado quarterback ever to top the 500-yard mark. He threw more touchdowns Saturday (4) than Colorado did in six road games last season (3). Over the past three years, Colorado had been one of three Power 5 teams without a 300-yard passer.
• Hunter played 129 snaps and became the first Division I player in the past 20 seasons to have 100 receiving yards (he finished with 119 on 11 catches) and an interception in the same game. He also had three tackles and a pass breakup.
“We had some guys that singled themselves out with their playing and their playing ability,” Deion Sanders said. “A lot of guys you doubted — one of them from an HBCU — I think he had 510 yards passing in a Power 5 football game. And he happens to be my son, and I’m proud of him, tremendously.”
Hunter, the former five-star recruit who was one of the first to buy into Sanders’ vision at Jackson State, wore a shirt with a montage of images from his coach’s Hall of Fame playing career. Like Sanders, he took the same opportunity to say that none of this was unexpected.
“Football is football no matter who’s playing. You got to go out there and dominate whoever’s in their way,” Hunter said. “I went out there and dominated. A lot of people doubted me because I rated myself as No. 1 on the Heisman watch list. Now people are praising me. They didn’t know what I could do. They’ve finally seen what I’ve seen, my vision and the coaches’ vision for me.”
Deion Sanders agreed, saying he believes he has to promote his players.
“We had a couple of guys who should be a front-runner for the Heisman right now,” he said. “Who did that? Who did what they did today?”
Dylan Edwards, one of the jewels of Sanders’ first Colorado recruiting class, for one.
The 5-foot-9, 170-pound freshman from Derby, Kansas, finished with 177 all-purpose yards and four touchdowns, becoming the first FBS freshman over the past 20 seasons with three receiving TDs and a rushing TD in his collegiate debut.
Sanders said he coached Edwards in youth football when the freshman was 7 years old, which led to the four-star recruit picking Colorado over offers from schools like Notre Dame, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Oregon. In fact he decommitted from Notre Dame to sign with Colorado.
“Don’t let the size fool you,” Sanders said. “Dylan looks in the mirror like ‘Shallow Hal.’ When he looks in the mirror he sees a 215-pound man that’s probably about 6-4. That’s the way Dylan addresses life.”
The Buffaloes also had four 100-yard receivers, a first in school history. Hunter and Edwards were two. The other two, Jimmy Horn Jr. (11 catches, 117 yards and a touchdown) and Xavier Weaver (6 catches, 118 yards) are transfers from South Florida.
It wasn’t all so magical. The Buffaloes gave up 541 yards, surrendered an 86-yard kickoff return and had a field goal blocked. Shedeur Sanders missed two deep balls to Hunter by inches, and Hunter just missed what could’ve been another interception.
The grand experiment looked like the shot in the arm Deion Sanders promised when he was hired, snapping a 27-game road losing streak against top-20 opponents in front of 53,294, the largest crowd in TCU history. The hype is gone. The Coach Prime era has already changed the fortunes at Colorado.
“These young men in there right now, they believe,” he said. “Not all of them believed before. But right now, they came up one by one, two by two, and said, ‘Coach, we believe.’ Now they believe. Now Boulder believes, people in the front office, people in the building, the fans, the students, now everybody wants to believe. I’m good with that. We got room.”
BOSTON — Marlins right fielder Dane Myers felt like a fan at Fenway Park was heckling him beyond what was appropriate, verbal abuse that began before he hit a tying homer in the ninth inning to help Miami rally past the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Myers said the heckling began in the eighth when the Red Sox led 3-2 and continued in the ninth after he homered and rookie Jakob Marsee followed with a two-run shot to put the Marlins on top.
“Maybe so,” he said when asked if the fan said something inappropriate. “I don’t really want to get into that. Probably drinking some beers out there, having a good time. It’s a baseball game. I won’t get into necessarily what I heard exactly. It’s part of the game. I think I need to be a pro and probably handle it just a little bit better.”
Myers said he yelled back at the fan in the ninth before security workers intervened. After the fan was removed, Miami wrapped up its 5-3 victory.
“I basically said: ‘Would you be saying this if you were on the field right in my face?'” Myers said. “That was basically the one guy that kind of got the whole section going.”
Myers credited security workers with handling the situation.
“Yeah, they probably had that happen before. They kind of were on it right away,” he said. “Kudos for them kind of stepping in. I wouldn’t ever go into the stands or do anything like that. Just kind of letting them know I’m a person, too. I’m a human, too, so I want some respect as well.”
When asked if the Red Sox approached him and asked what was said — with the possibility of banning the fan for a longer period — he said he wasn’t sure if he would provide details.
“It’s hard to tell. Like I said, they’re fans. They have the right to cheer and to jeer as well. I won’t necessarily … get into what was exactly said,” Myers said.
In the fourth inning, Myers went back on Wilyer Abreu‘s two-run homer and turned like he was going to make an over-the-shoulder grab, but when he crashed into the wall, the ball popped out of his glove and over the fence.
“I don’t know if that ball’s getting over or not, but to kind of have it in my glove then go over and cost two runs kind of hurt,” he said. “I got the chance to make up for it and glad I was able to.”
CINCINNATI — Austin Hays‘ single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning gave the Cincinnati Reds a 3-2 victory over Milwaukee on Sunday, ending the Brewers’ franchise-record winning streak at 14 games.
Milwaukee had barely pulled out the previous two games in Cincinnati for its longest streak ever within one season and the longest in the majors since the St. Louis Cardinals won 17 straight from Sept. 11-28, 2021.
This time, Spencer Steer‘s sacrifice bunt in the 10th advanced designated runner TJ Friedl to third. After intentional walks to Elly De La Cruz and Will Benson loaded the bases, Hays laced a single down the third-base line for his second career walk-off hit.
Milwaukee, which overcame a seven-run deficit on Friday, rallied to win in 14 innings Saturday and have eight come-from-behind wins over its 14-game win streak, nearly came back again.
William Contreras hit his 13th home run of the season, a two-run shot off Reds closer Emilio Pagan, to put Milwaukee ahead 2-1 in the ninth. But the Reds tied it when Benson reached on a fielding error by shortstop Joey Ortiz and later scored on Jose Trevino’s single.
The first-place Brewers are 53-17 in their past 70 games. The loss accounted for just their 14th blown save this season, third fewest in MLB, according to ESPN Research.
The game was scoreless through six innings with Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott and Brewers lefty Jose Quintana allowing a combined six hits with 11 strikeouts.
Cincinnati scored the game’s first run when Hays led off the seventh with a double and scored on Trevino’s sacrifice fly to the wall in center.
Graham Ashcraft (7-4) earned the win for Cincinnati. Grant Anderson (2-4) took the loss.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
WASHINGTON — Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola‘s first start after returning from the injured list didn’t last long.
The right-hander allowed six runs in 2⅓ innings Sunday against the Washington Nationals, a start that ended when seven consecutive batters reached safely.
Nola struck out four in his first major league outing since May 14.
The former All-Star was one of the majors’ most durable pitchers entering the season, making at least 32 starts and throwing at least 180⅔ innings in each of the last six full seasons. But a sprained right ankle and fractured rib cost him three months this season.
His return became even more significant Saturday when Philadelphia placed ace Zack Wheeler on the injured list with a blood clot in his right arm. Nola already was scheduled to start after making three minor league rehabilitation appearances, though the Phillies scrapped their plans to use a six-man rotation.
Nola gave up Luis Garcia Jr.’s leadoff single in the first inning, then appeared to settle in. He retired the next seven batters as Philadelphia built a 6-0 lead.
The Nationals stitched together three consecutive singles in the third, the last by CJ Abrams to score a run. That led to a mound visit from pitching coach Caleb Cotham, but Nola then walked Paul DeJong before giving up Daylen Lile‘s two-run single and Dylan Crews‘ two-run double. Jose Tena followed with a tying double to end Nola’s day.
Nola allowed seven hits while throwing 53 pitches. His ERA rose to 6.92.
In addition to Nola taking Wheeler’s roster spot, the Phillies activated third baseman Alec Bohm from the injured list and optioned infielder Otto Kemp to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room on the 40-man roster for Nola, Philadelphia released outfielder Cal Stevenson.
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