Colorado has spent the last month battling itself. On Thursday night, the Buffaloes finally get somebody else.
That’s the setup for Deion Sanders’ fourth season in Boulder, one that opens with a prime-time trip to Georgia Tech at 6 p.m. MT on ESPN. Colorado’s 2025 campaign ended with five straight losses, and since then the roster has been rebuilt, the coordinators on both sides of the ball have changed, and preseason camp has been used to teach new schemes while also building chemistry.
Now the Buffs get their first real test.
“These young men are excited,” Sanders said. “They can’t wait to go.
It seems like they’ve been practicing forever. But they haven’t let up.
You can still see the attention and passion. They’re getting to the ball.
Linemen are getting down the field and getting to their blocks. I’m happy with where they are.
They’re excited and anticipating Thursday night.”
Sanders also sees the opener as more than just a game. It’s a chance to create something memorable in Atlanta, the city where he became a two-sport star with the Falcons and Braves. For Colorado, it’s a rematch of last year’s opening loss in Boulder, and a shot to make it clear that 2025 is behind it by delivering a road statement on a national stage.
It is only Week 1, but the way Colorado handles the moment could say plenty about what comes next.
“You’re practicing against yourself,” Sanders said of the preseason routine. “The offense is doing well, you’re saying, well, the defense is horrible.
The defense is doing well, you’re saying the offense is horrible. Oftentimes, that might not be the case.
You might have two great teams, including special teams as well, but you really don’t know because you’re gauging against your players. But, for my knowledge of football, we’re pretty good.
“The level and the understanding of situational football in the game, these young men are really stepping up to the challenge.”
A lot of the attention Thursday will be on the new faces. Colorado’s lineup figures to feature plenty of transfers, including players stepping up from Group of Five programs and looking to prove they belong at the highest level.
One of them is linebacker Gideon Lampron, who came from Bowling Green and also played at Dayton. For him, the debut in black and gold carries a long wait’s worth of energy.
“I’m so excited to put on the black and gold this first game,” Lampron said. “That’s why all of us came here.
Been dreaming of playing at this level since I was a kid. I’m ready to go make the most of it.”
Colorado also knows the challenge waiting on the other side. Last season, Georgia Tech quarterback Haynes King carved up the Buffs, and Sanders said King “refused to lose” while rushing for 156 of the Yellow Jackets’ 320 yards on the ground.
This time, the name to watch is another Haynes - Georgia Tech running back Justice Haynes, a transfer from Michigan.
“He’s dynamic. He can score from anywhere on the field,” Sanders said.
“He’s tough. He’s physical.
He’s been there, done that. The kid can play, man.
We gotta do what we gotta do to keep him contained. We’re fully aware of wherever he’s gonna line up on Thursday night.”
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Buffs Mourn A Trailblazer Who Changed Colorado Athletics Forever
Jane Wahls influence on Colorado athletics still reaches across the university long after her time in Boulder. The first womens athletic director at CU after Title IX, Wahl helped guide the program through a pivotal era from 1975 to 1979, when womens varsity sports were being folded into the larger athletic department and the push for gender equity was still taking shape.
Wahl died Aug. 26 in Gothenburg, Nebraska, at 81, and her legacy at Colorado has already been firmly secured. She was inducted into the CU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019 and earned multiple honors for the trailblazing role she played in expanding opportunities for womens sports, a footprint Buffs fans can still trace in the department today. [Read more 🡒]
Charles Huff Just Drew A National Comparison Memphis Fans Will Notice
Memphis opened the Charles Huff era with a win, and the early buzz around the Tigers has already pushed their new coach into a national conversation that reaches well beyond the American Athletic Conference. Sports commentator Jason Whitlock used the moment to contrast Huffs hands-on approach with Deion Sanders much more public-facing style, drawing a comparison that Colorado fans know well because Sanders has helped keep the Buffaloes in the spotlight since taking over the program.
The broader backdrop only sharpens the point. Colorado has not been getting the same level of ESPN attention this season that it drew in past years, which has made every national mention of Sanders and the Buffaloes feel a little more noticeable. For a program still tied closely to its coachs image, any outside comparison like this tends to land with extra weight, especially when it is framed around work ethic, media presence and how a team chooses to build its identity. [Read more 🡒]
Colorado's 2026 Outlook Puts Deion's Offseason Overhaul Under Pressure
Colorados offseason makeover has left the program in a familiar spot heading into 2026, with a lot of turnover and not nearly as much certainty. The Buffaloes have reached just three bowl games in the past decade, one of them under Deion Sanders, and this latest reset brought new coordinators along with a heavy wave of transfers. It is the kind of roster and staff churn that can create optimism in one room and skepticism in another, especially for a team still trying to prove last seasons progress can be sustained.
Around the Buffaloes Wire staff, the forecasts reflect that uncertainty. Predictions for the regular season range from 6-6 to 8-4, and most of the expectation settles in the middle ground: a bowl trip feels realistic, but a push into the conference title picture does not. For Sanders, the real pressure of this overhaul may not be about whether Colorado can attract attention in the offseason, but whether all of those changes can finally translate into a steadier fall. [Read more 🡒]