Recent Buffs quarterback play revealing how special Shedeur Sanders was

Former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders is mobbed by fans alongside freshman Julian Lewis (right) at a CU basketball game last season. (Photo by Ryan Asaro/Sko Buffs Sports)

Following the Colorado Buffaloes’ embarrassing 53-7 loss to the Utah Utes, in which quarterback Kaidon Salter went 9-for-22 passing with 37 yards, no touchdowns, an interception, and a 10.6 rating, questions regarding who should be behind center are arising again. 

Between a senior in Salter, sophomore Ryan Staub, and true freshman Julian Lewis, the quarterback play has not been at the level needed to be competitive in the Big 12 conference.

Head Coach Deion Sanders set out to compete for a conference championship this season. At this point, those expectations look completely unattainable.

As the team loses more games by October than all of last season, it’s hard not to reminisce about that magical 2024 campaign. How did the team that won nine games last season fall so hard back to their losing ways? 

There are countless problems with this team right now, but the biggest hole lies at the most important position on the field. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders is no longer leading Colorado, and the team is feeling it.

It hasn’t even been a full season since the departure of Sanders to the NFL, but poor quarterback play from all three pass throwers reveals how special he was to this team, and the program may never see a player quite like him again.

Sanders followed his father to Boulder from Jackson State University and put up 7,364 passing yards and 64 touchdown passes total over his two seasons in black and gold.

In his senior year, Sanders led Colorado to a 9-4 season and a bowl game appearance for just the third time in 15 years. Sanders led the Big 12 in completions, passing yards, and touchdowns in 2024, and all of FBS football in completion percentage.

Sanders’ 4,134 passing yards in 2024 are the most in a single season in program history. His 64 career touchdowns as a Buff are also the most in program history, taking the title over quarterbacks who played for Colorado for double the time.

Sanders won the 2024 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, was the quarterback of the Heisman Trophy winner in wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, and finished eighth in Heisman voting himself, earning a vote for first place.

It’s not particularly daring to call Sanders the greatest quarterback in program history. His jersey number sits in the ring of honor at Folsom Field, after all. Going even further, Sanders was a once-in-a-lifetime quarterback for this program.

Even more so than Sanders’ talent in throwing, the dynamic between coach Deion Sanders and his son can never be replicated.

At every level of his football career, Coach Prime was right by his son. From Trinity Christian to Jackson State to Colorado, Shedeur Sanders was under the coaching of his father. The father-son duo knew each other’s styles and tendencies. In the Buffs’ first year post-Shedeur, that chemistry between quarterback and coach is severely missed.

The biggest criticism towards Sanders was his unapologetic confidence and flashiness on and off the field, especially for having a 13-12 career record as a Buff. It’s the driving force behind the condemnation of his number being retired, and likely contributed to his NFL draft slide. The narrative was that Sanders was too cocky for a player to lose that much.

However, it actually downplayed his success and legacy. The statistics are there. He’s the best to play his position in Buffs history. He built a brand for a program whose only definition for decades was losing. Sanders talked a lot on the field, but many forgot that his numbers can talk too.

Sanders and his father sensationalized the program, putting all eyes on a football team that hasn’t been a consistent winner since the early 2000s. In their very first game in black and gold, 7.26 million people watched an upset win over TCU.

Colorado was sixth in college football for total TV viewership, attracting over 46 million viewers in 2024. People wanted to watch Sanders alongside his dad and Hunter at the highest level of college football.

Sanders helped ring in the new era of Colorado football under Coach Prime. He was meant to be the launchpad for a program that would finally get back to competing. However, Sanders may be the best the Buffs will get.

That’s not to be cynical, but rather to credit Sanders as a special player who left a legacy and changed a culture as both a football player and a celebrity.

Don’t take Sanders for granted. He was a once-in-a-lifetime quarterback for this program. The future still looks bright, despite the rut the Buffs find themselves in right now. Lewis is set to take the keys of this team and serve as Sanders’ true successor.

Time will tell if Lewis will reach the levels No. 2 did, but they are big shoes to fill. That legacy will live in Boulder forever.