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BOULDER, Colo. — Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he had no regrets about making an offensive playcaller change before Saturday night’s 26-19 loss to No. 16 Oregon State, noting “a whole lot of intangibles” led to his decision.

Buffaloes analyst Pat Shurmur, the former coach of the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns, took over playcalling duties and was elevated to co-offensive coordinator. Sean Lewis, who had called offensive plays for Colorado’s first eight games, remained in the co-coordinator role and worked with the quarterbacks while signaling in plays from the sideline. Tight ends coach Tim Brewster moved into an off-field role to make room for Shurmur as the 10th assistant.

Colorado’s offense struggled mightily through three quarters, producing just 78 yards and three offensive points, before surging in the fourth quarter for 160 yards and two touchdowns. After starting 3-0, the Buffaloes have dropped five of six games and are below .500 for the first time under Sanders.

“We’re not going to demean Sean Lewis; we’re not going to take that tone,” Sanders said. “Sean is a good man; I think he is a good playcaller. We just needed change at the time. We needed to try something else at the time, and that’s what we did. I don’t look back on it. I don’t second-guess myself whatsoever, because there’s more to it than what you may know.

“Let’s just trust the process.”

Sanders did not disclose details of what contributed to the change, although he said Shurmur and former NFL player Dennis Thurman, the team’s director of quality of control for defense, sit at his sides during staff meetings and have been trusted advisers throughout the season. Shurmur last served in a playcalling role as Denver Broncos offensive coordinator in 2021.

Under Lewis, Colorado scored 36 or more points in four of its first five games and averaged 500.3 yards in those four contests. The offense had been less productive in two of the past three games and produced only 16 points and 242 yards in last week’s loss at UCLA.

“I’m not going to disclose all my thoughts, man — my thoughts are my thoughts,” Sanders said. “Just know that I made the decision and I don’t stumble or stutter on it, and I’m not looking back. It is what it is, and that’s what it’s going to be. I make a decision to help this team win. You guys don’t know all the intangibles yet. You’re just looking from the outside of the crib, looking in.

“I got tinted windows and you can’t even see in the house, but you’re making conclusions on what I should and should not do.”

Lewis left his post as Kent State’s coach after five seasons and brought his up-tempo offense to Colorado under Sanders.

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders set a Colorado single-game team passing record (510 yards) in the season opener and rose to become one of the nation’s passing leaders, but he also repeatedly took sacks and hits as the offensive line struggled.

Sanders continued to take punishment against Oregon State, which recorded four sacks, three by linebacker Andrew Chatfield, and seven quarterback hurries. He briefly went to the locker room in the second half before returning to throw both touchdown passes and finish with 245 passing yards.

“What type of guy would I look like, leaving all 80 of us out there hanging?” Shedeur Sanders said. “It’s got to be life-or-death situation for me to just leave everybody hanging like that. The pain of not being there for them overrides the pain that’s going through my body.”

In the first half, Colorado benefited from two Oregon State fumbles, both inside the Beavers’ 30-yard line, but generated only 15 total yards on the ensuing possessions and scored just three points. Other than two pass interference calls, Colorado’s long gain in the first half was 11 yards, and the offense finished the half with 52 total yards (1.7 yards per play) and just 2 net yards in the second quarter. Shedeur Sanders finished with his lowest first-half passing total (41 yards) of the season.

The Buffaloes didn’t eclipse the 100-yard mark until early in the fourth quarter, when they strung together their first three plays of longer than 13 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown pass from Sanders to Travis Hunter.

“It’s not really a big change, you know — we’re all in this together,” Shedeur Sanders said of the playcaller switch, adding that he has no preference on who calls plays. “We use the same concepts, same everything, I mean, it’s football.”

Sanders, who got up slowly from the interview table after the game and appeared to be limping a bit, said that the “grit and pain” from the past six weeks will serve him and Colorado better in the long run. Deion Sanders praised his team for fighting back against Oregon State but acknowledged what the team has lost after its hot start.

Colorado must win two of its final three games — at home against Arizona and on the road against Washington State and Utah — to become bowl-eligible.

“The passion of that first game, the passion of those [early] games, we’re missing that,” Deion Sanders said. “That’s something we’re trying to apprehend and locate.”

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Devils’ Nemec, scratched in G1, plays 2OT hero

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Devils' Nemec, scratched in G1, plays 2OT hero

NEWARK, N.J. — Simon Nemec hasn’t had an ideal start to his NHL career. But in Game 3 of the New Jersey Devils‘ Stanley Cup playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes, he finally had his career highlight.

The 21-year-old defenseman scored an unassisted goal at 2:36 of double overtime on Friday night to give the Devils a 3-2 win and new life, cutting the Hurricanes’ series lead to 2-1.

In the process, Nemec, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NHL draft, had the most impactful moment of his pro career with his first playoff goal.

“I was so happy,” he said. “Amazing feeling. It’s been a tough season for me, and that’s a really big win for us.”

A native of Slovakia, Nemec spent his first season after the draft in the American Hockey League. He split time between the AHL and the Devils in Year 2, thrust into action because of injuries to the New Jersey defense. He split time between the NHL and the minors again this season. Nemec has played 87 games in the NHL, with five goals and 18 assists while skating to a minus-17.

He was a frequent healthy scratch in New Jersey, including Game 1 on Sunday, and his lackluster play caused many to wonder if Nemec would live up to his lofty draft position. Nemec was last on the Devils in goals above replacement at minus-8.7, according to Evolving Hockey.

Thanks to injuries to defensemen Luke Hughes and Brenden Dillon, Nemec was called upon in Game 2 against Carolina and was back in the lineup for Game 3, in which the Devils lost defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic to injury after just 10 shifts. That injury, plus the multiple overtimes, meant massive increases in ice time for veterans such as Brian Dumoulin (36:29) and Brett Pesce (32:25), as well as more responsibility for Nemec.

“You just need guys to step up at the right times,” Dumoulin said. “He knew he was going to be going out there, we’re going to be relying on him, and we needed him. You could see that he took that moment. He wasn’t scared of it, and he took the reins of it.”

Nemec said the overtime goal, which beat Carolina goalie Frederik Andersen (34 saves), was the kind of boost he needs in his career.

“Yeah, it helps me a lot,” he said. “I feel like my confidence is back the last couple games. I’m just trying to play my game and do this stuff. I have to play offense a little bit, too, so my confidence is higher, and I just feel good about myself.”

Devils coach Sheldon Keefe admitted that he dreamed about defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler, who returned to the lineup for the first time since Feb. 4 and played 27:09, being the Game 3 hero.

“But if I was really thinking, I would have said, ‘Wouldn’t this be something if the young guy who just stepped up so big for us here, if he ended the game?'” Keefe said.

The message the coach gave his team in the overtime intermissions was one of aggressiveness. That apparently wasn’t lost on Nemec.

“We’ve got to go win this hockey game. We don’t want to sit back, we don’t want this game to go on forever,” Keefe said. “Credit Nemo with doing that. To have the mindset to do it, not just sitting back and conserving energy. He was on the front foot. You love to see it and love to see him get rewarded.”

Game 4 of the series will be Sunday afternoon in New Jersey.

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Follow live: Kings look to take 3-0 series lead vs. Oilers

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Hagel suspended for Game 3 due to hit on Barkov

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Hagel suspended for Game 3 due to hit on Barkov

Tampa Bay Lightning winger Brandon Hagel was suspended one game by the NHL Department of Player Safety on Friday night for what it labeled “an extremely forceful body check to an unsuspecting opponent” that injured Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.

Hagel will miss Saturday’s Game 3 in Sunrise, Florida. The Panthers lead the series 2-0.

Around midway through the third period of Thursday’s Game 2, Tampa Bay was on the power play while trailing 1-0. Barkov pressured defenseman Ryan McDonagh deep in the Lightning zone. With the puck clearly past Barkov, Hagel lined him up for a huge hit that sent the Panthers captain to the ice and thumping off the end boards.

A penalty was whistled, and the officials conferred before calling a “five-minute penalty.” After review, Hagel was given a 5-minute major for interference. Barkov left the game with 10:09 remaining in regulation and did not return to the Panthers’ 2-0 win.

Lightning coach Jon Cooper said after the game that he didn’t expect Hagel to receive a major penalty for the hit.

“Refs make the call. I was a little surprised it was a five, but it was,” he said.

The NHL ruled that Hagel’s hit made “some head contact” on Barkov.

“It’s important to note that Barkov is never in possession of the puck on this play and is therefore not eligible to be checked in any manner,” the league said.

In the Friday hearing, held remotely, Hagel argued that he approached the play anticipating that Barkov would play the puck. But the Department of Player Safety said the onus was on Hagel to ensure that Barkov was eligible to be checked. It also determined that the hit had “sufficient force” for supplemental discipline.

It’s Hagel’s first suspension in 375 regular-season and 36 playoff games. He was fined for boarding Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen in May 2022.

The Panthers held an optional skate Friday. Coach Paul Maurice said Barkov “hasn’t been ruled out yet” but “hasn’t been cleared” for Game 3.

“He’s an irreplicable player,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said of Barkov. “One of the best centermen in the league. He’s super important to our team.”

The Lightning lose Hagel while they struggle to score in the series; they scored two goals in Game 1 and were shut out in Game 2. Tampa Bay was the highest-scoring team in the regular season (3.56), with Hagel contributing 35 goals and 55 assists in 82 games.

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