The phenomenon that is Colorado heads to Oregon, but will Deion’s Buffs keep their momentum going?
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Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
BOULDER, Colo. — About an hour and a half before the Rocky Mountain Showdown was set to kick off this past weekend, Colorado coach Deion Sanders strolled down the Buffaloes’ sideline. Fans were starting to file in the stands, and there was already a large contingent of students who had arrived early to claim spots in their general admission sections.
As Sanders made his way toward the first student section at about the 40-yard line, they started to cheer. Then they started to bow. Both hands up, both hands down. Bend at the waist. Up and down. Up and down. Sanders continued walking toward the end zone — where the rest of the student seating wraps around — and more and more of them started to bow as the wave of worship stayed at his pace.
Colorado would move to 3-0 a few hours later in a double-overtime thriller, but in that moment the team was one of several undefeated teams in the country. One of eight in the Pac-12 alone. Yet here was Sanders, receiving God-like treatment. The whole scene, one that included a pregame visit from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Lil Wayne leading the team out of the tunnel, would have been incomprehensible a year ago.
Sanders’ gravitational pull is perhaps unlike anything college football has ever seen.
“Our kids are getting eyeballs, they’re getting viewers, getting scouts out every day to watch them do what they’re gifted to do,” Sanders said.
This week, the stakes are raised as Pac-12 play begins with a trip to No. 10 Oregon (3:30 p.m., ET, ABC), which ranks No. 2 nationally in scoring (58 points per game), No. 3 in total offense (587 yards per game) and has College Football Playoff aspirations.
As impressive as Colorado has been to start the season, Sanders knows this week’s test will require an exhaustive effort.
“We haven’t played a complete game,” Sanders said. “We have not played a game where the offense, defense as well as special teams has all shown up in the same manner.
“If the offense is playing well, the defense is hot garbage. If the defense is playing well, offense is horrible and special teams aren’t special, so we got to put it all together to be able to defeat a team like Oregon.”
Given Sanders’ proclamation that he has been keeping receipts about what opposing teams have said about him and his team, it was inevitable he would get asked this week about Oregon coach Dan Lanning’s comments from the summer in the wake of Colorado’s announcement it was leaving the Pac-12 to return to the Big 12.
“Not a big reaction,” Lanning said of Colorado’s move. “I’m trying to remember what they won to affect this conference. I don’t remember. Do you remember them winning anything? I don’t remember them winning anything.”
The swipe at CU’s past performance isn’t something Sanders felt the need to respond to. In fact, he went the opposite direction.
“I respect the heck out of this man, what he’s accomplished,” Sanders said of Lanning. “Stepping in, taking over the program and keeping it not only rocking steady, but accelerating it.
“I’m not a fan of anybody, except for some celebrities that got a tremendous gift, but not in sports. I respect the heck out of him. I love what he’s accomplishing. I love who he is, the way he runs his team. I love the way he operates.”
The sentiment is reciprocated by Lanning.
“I think Coach Sanders has done a great job, obviously with his team,” Lanning said. “He has created a lot of momentum and they’ve done phenomenal in their first three games.”
Even with a 3-0 record, however, the Buffs don’t necessarily look like a team ready to take down the Ducks. It took late heroics from quarterback Shedeur Sanders to beat Colorado State — which lost by 26 to Washington State in its previous game — to win a game it was favored in by 23.5 points.
While Sanders praised the team’s resiliency and fight in the locker room following that victory, he made it clear that level of performance won’t always be good enough.
“Ultimately, we won,” he told the team. “But that is not indicative of who we are. We underachieved. I don’t know how it happened because we work our butts off. You have some of the best coaches in the nation, I feel. But you still took it for granted.
“I want you guys to understand this moment, because we could be on the other side.”
Safety Shilo Sanders, who forced a fumble and returned an interception for a touchdown in that game, attributed Colorado State’s success to self-inflicted mistakes by Colorado.
“There wasn’t really nothing they was doing, it was just us,” he said. “That’s just how it’s going to be this whole season. We have the talent to be the best in this conference, in the country, but we can only do it to ourselves.”
But the Buffaloes will be missing a key part to their success. Two-way star Travis Hunter will be out against Oregon — and likely out for a few weeks — after suffering a lacerated liver on a late hit against Colorado State.
Hunter garnered Heisman buzz after the first two weeks in which he played 88.3% of Colorado’s snaps from scrimmage (not including special teams). His absence is the equivalent of two players.
“There’s no one in the country who could fill Travis Hunter’s shoes,” Deion said. “You got to understand, he’s a unique player. He’s one of a kind. He’s the best player on offense, the best player on defense. That’s just who he is — in the country, not just on this team.”
It’s a bold claim considering his son ranks No. 2 in the country in passing yards and is generating Heisman hype of his own. And that hype will only intensify should Colorado win in Eugene — where the Ducks have won 26 of their past 27 games while allowing just 18.8 points per game — as 21-point underdogs.
“[He’s] playing as well as anybody right now,” Lanning said of Shedeur. “He has a really good grasp of their system and I think that they do a great job of connecting on balls down the field, having a lot of changeups, creating some efficiencies in their offense with the tempo that they move with.”
Lanning noted that Shedeur likes to buy time with his feet to find open receivers, as opposed to taking off on his own.
Oregon counters with a Heisman candidate of its own at quarterback with Bo Nix, who is one of just six quarterbacks in the country with at least eight touchdown passes and no interceptions. Their matchup represents the first high-profile quarterback showdown this year in the Pac-12, which is loaded with one of the deepest, most accomplished quarterback groups in college football history — a main reason in the conference’s early-season success that has resulted in eight teams ranked in the AP top 25.
“You’ve been playing opposing conferences, other teams, but now this is when we get in the meat potatoes of what really matters for us and our goals that we want to accomplish,” Lanning said. “So, there’s some great teams. I think we’ll continue to see that each week. I think we have a really tough schedule and certainly a tough opponent coming up here this week.”
But it’s not just any average tough opponent making the trip. The interest Deion has generated is making the Buffaloes a traveling phenomenon, one that would be taken to even greater heights with a top-10 win away from the altar of Folsom Field.
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Jesse Rogers
MILWAUKEE — In the midst of a heavyweight battle for first place in the National League Central, the Chicago Cubs are still scouring the landscape for help before Thursday’s MLB trade deadline. On their wish list: two starters, a reliever, a potential upgrade at third base and perhaps a backup center fielder.
The man to get it done? President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, who received a multiyear contract extension Monday as ownership believes he’s the right person to lead the organization during this trade deadline and beyond.
With such a lengthy to-do list, why hasn’t Hoyer made a move yet with just days left to deal? What teams want for those players has been sky high at the top and middle of the market, according to sources familiar with the Cubs’ situation.
Sometimes, a deadline is all it takes to make things happen.
“No one’s untouchable,” Hoyer said recently. “But at the same time, we have a lot of really good prospects and you have to feel like you’re getting commensurate value.”
While the Cubs attempt to find the right fits for their deadline needs, here is where things stand at each area they hope to address.
Starting pitching
Of all their needs, the Cubs view finding help on the mound to be their biggest priority, according to sources familiar with their thinking.
They rank 14th in the majors in starting pitching ERA, and their need for help is amplified by their lack of depth after Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga at the top of the rotation.
“They’ve known that was a need since Justin Steele went down,” a rival executive said.
The Cubs have “kicked the tires in a lot of places” in their search for pitching, one American League source said.
That includes starting pitchers at the top of this year’s deadline like Washington Nationals star MacKenzie Gore, those in the middle like Chicago White Sox righty Adrian Houser and even a player returning from injury in Cleveland Guardians starter Shane Bieber. Bieber could be this year’s deadline version of Boyd, who helped Cleveland down the stretch last year before signing with the Cubs in the offseason.
The Cubs have talked at various times to the Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays about their potentially available starters and to the Pittsburgh Pirates about Mitch Keller, as well as a handful of other teams, according to sources. The Cubs are also candidates to land one of Arizona’s available pitchers — though, after another so-so performance by Zac Gallen over the weekend, righty Merrill Kelly, 37, is the more reliable of the two Diamondbacks pitchers. And they also have shown interest in Baltimore’s Zach Eflin.
“The Cubs are ready to pounce if the prices come down,” another source said.
The return needed to land Gore would be astronomical and is prohibitive to a deal for the strikeout artist. ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel has said that the key player the Nationals are rumored to want for Gore is third baseman Matt Shaw, who isn’t on the table.
The White Sox are looking for a prospect ranked in the teens for Houser and even Gore’s teammate, Michael Soroka, would take a higher-than-expected return despite a 4.87 ERA.
The Cubs are determined to enter August with a deeper rotation, so a move is likely. But which team lowers its demands is still the big question.
Relief pitching
Similar to the starters, the Cubs’ bullpen also ranks in the middle of the pack in ERA this season, with clear opportunities for improvement if Chicago can find the right deadline match and multiple relievers needed for the high stakes of the months ahead. The Cubs’ core group of Daniel Palencia, Caleb Thielbar, Ryan Brasier, Drew Pomeranz and Brad Keller has been solid, but those latter few have shown some cracks recently. This is also Palencia’s first chance at being a closer, so the Cubs wouldn’t mind pairing someone with some experience, considering Ryan Pressly has been shaky at best.
The Cubs are among the teams that would love to acquire either Griffin Jax or Danny Coulombe or closer Jhoan Duran from the Minnesota Twins. But just as they do for the available starting pitchers, the Cubs have their ‘irons in the fire’ for the relievers as well, according to the AL source.
There is one closer who could be on the move but can be ruled out for the Cubs — Ryan Helsley, who plays for the rival Cardinals. But Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan, Pirates closer David Bednar, Braves righty Raisel Iglesias and Rays ninth-inning man Pete Fairbanks are all possibilities if Duran isn’t attainable.
Third base
The first trade deadline domino at third base fell last week when the New York Yankees acquired Ryan McMahon from the Colorado Rockies. But the Cubs weren’t really in on McMahon, according to league sources, which provides a window into how they are approaching the hot corner this month.
Shaw has been much better recently, including posting a ..387/.406/.839 slash line since the All-Star break while playing stellar defense.
“Matt is getting a great opportunity,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He’s doing the best to take advantage of it. … You should have to earn your spots on teams like this. That’s completely fair. It doesn’t get easier. You have to earn that. Matt is doing a great job of that.”
Shaw’s improvement has given Chicago confidence that he can handle the position the rest of this season. It also allows the Cubs to see if a big deal develops instead of forcing one to fill a lineup spot.
Chicago is in constant contact with the Arizona Diamondbacks about possibly acquiring third baseman Eugenio Suarez and Kelly in what likely would be the biggest blockbuster of this deadline. It’s probably a long shot because Chicago’s biggest need is on the mound, but it’s not impossible.
What the Cubs have to offer
Though expectations on trade return are bound to come down somewhat in the coming days, the reality of this deadline is that there are more teams looking to add than subtract, so it will take big offers to land the best players available.
The Cubs are willing to part with their top prospect, OF Owen Caissie, but not for a player they’ll have for one season. The slugging outfielder is one of the three players drawing the most interest from opposing teams, along with Shaw and Double-A pitcher Jaxon Wiggins. Chicago has made 22-year-old outfielder Kevin Alcantara available, but so far, he hasn’t drawn the interest the other players have.
“I mean that’s one of the fun parts of this job is you kind of have to alter your playbook,” Hoyer said about being nimble and switching directions.
One thing the Cubs won’t do this year is blow up their farm system to increase their playoff odds — which sit at 94.7%, according to FanGraphs.
The Cubs are in a different place this July than they were in 2016, when they moved their No.1 prospect — Gleyber Torres — for closer Aroldis Chapman despite having about a 99% chance of making the postseason. But the move helped them win the World Series.
If that deadline is what all-in looks like on the North Side, the vibe heading into Thursday could be best described as “mostly-in.”
The Cubs are highly motivated to return to the postseason after a prolonged absence, and an aggressive approach is still expected as Chicago prepares for a division race that could be a battle to the end. But the Cubs’ level of aggressiveness remains to be seen.
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Jorge Castillo
The Yankees traded for outfielder Austin Slater from the White Sox on Wednesday, as New York continues to bolster a roster currently without superstar outfielder Aaron Judge ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
The White Sox acquired minor league pitcher Gage Ziehl in return.
Slater is batting .236 with five home runs and a .721 OPS in 51 games this season, but like recent Yankees acquisition Amed Rosario, he has been very productive against left-handed pitchers with a .261 batting average, .859 OPS and all five of his home runs coming in 77 plate appearances against them.
“Really enjoyed my time here and met some incredible people,” Slater said of the White Sox. “Super fun clubhouse to be in. But then also really excited to go play for the Yankees. One of those teams as a kid you always dream about playing for. And they are right in a race for the playoffs. Excited to go there and try to help them out.”
The 32-year-old right-handed hitter missed over a month between April and May with a torn meniscus in his right knee. He signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with Chicago in November, making him a rental for the Yankees before reaching free agency again this offseason.
Slater has started 15 games in right field, nine in left field and one as designated hitter this season. He provides the Yankees further insurance should Judge, who is on the 10-day injured list with a flexor strain, not return to the outfield for the remainder of the year.
As of now, the Yankees hope Judge will return in early August after the 10-day minimum absence to serve as their designated hitter and begin a throwing program with the goal of returning to right field this season. Giancarlo Stanton, the club’s everyday designated hitter, began working out in right field this week to prepare for the possibility of playing the field for the first time since 2023.
Slater also offers Yankees manager Aaron Boone more lineup and in-game flexibility to counter left-handed pitchers with an outfield group that leans heavily left-handed. With Judge on the injured list, the Yankees don’t have a right-handed-hitting primary outfielder on the active roster; Trent Grisham and Cody Bellinger are left-handed, and Jasson Dominguez, a switch-hitter, has a .585 OPS in 98 plate appearances batting from the right side this season. Slater figures to start games over Dominguez against left-handed pitchers.
Slater spent the first seven-plus seasons of his career with the San Francisco Giants before being traded to the Cincinnati Reds last summer. New York will be Slater’s fifth team in just over a year.
“At this point, we’re a little more prepared than we were last year,” Slater said. “It was something, there was always writing on the wall that it could happen. That maybe helped us mentally prepare a little bit more this year.”
Rosario, a utility man acquired from the Washington Nationals on Saturday, gives Boone another right-handed-hitting corner outfield option, but he is also slated to play second and third base.
Ziehl, 22, was a fourth-round pick by the Yankees last year. The right-hander has posted a 4.15 ERA in 16 appearances (15 starts) between three levels this season, topping out with one start in Double-A.
In addition to Slater and Rosario, the Yankees have traded for veteran third baseman Ryan McMahon in the past week. The Yankees remain in the market for pitching, both starters and relievers before Thursday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline, sources said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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