The latter two may not be on level with the Iron Bowl, Civil War, or Paul Bunyan Trophy, but the Centennial Cup matchup between the #18-ranked Colorado Buffaloes and the Rams turned much more interesting over the past few days.
Having lost the last five in the rivalry, with the last four being by two scores, Colorado State head coach Jay Norvell certainly has a few eyes turning away from the shiny new toy in Boulder for a few minutes.
On Thursday, Norvell took a swipe at Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, and his attire during press conferences since moving to the Pac 12.
“When I talk to grown-ups, I take my hat and glasses off. That’s what my mother taught me.”
Sanders, the college football and NFL Hall-of-Famer, has the Buffaloes at 2-0, and about to lay a world of hurt in Boulder on Saturday against an interstate rival. The Buffaloes lead the overall series 67-22-2. However, the last time these two teams met in Boulder, the Rams scored a 23-17 victory in 2009. Since 1998, the Centennial Cup has been played at Invesco Field at Mile High, home to the NFL’s Denver Broncos. In 2015, Colorado wanted to move the rivalry back to the Boulder and Fort Collins campuses, but also threw shade that it may not be in their best interest to continue the rivalry.
The likelihood of the Rams pulling the upset is slim, but it has happened before. In 2002, Colorado came in ranked #7, then saw the Rams pull a 19-14 upset, which was the catalyst to a 9-5 season. The Buffaloes lost the Big 12 Championship to Oklahoma, then the Alamo Bowl in overtime to Wisconsin.
In 2023, coaches will wear sweatshirts, polo shirts, or hoodies on the sidelines. We are long past the days of Hank Stram or Tom Landry wearing suits on Sundays. Sanders, coming off of lower body surgery, is in hats, sweatshirts, sunglasses, gold chains, and sitting down for a majority of the Buffaloes’ first two games.
Norvell was looking for a soundbyte, and Sanders now has bulletin board material for a program looking to make a statement. Colorado has scored 81 points in their first two games, while the Rams gave up 50 in their season-opening loss to Washington State.
Can we also talk about the irony that Colorado State’s first two games are against Pac 12 schools, while the entire Mountain West Conference, who the Rams belong to, are likely to be absorbed in next year?
Both schools finish the non-conference part of their schedule with Saturday’s game. Only the Rams, Arizona State and Stanford are unranked over the remainder of Colorado’s schedule. Colorado is the only ranked team on Colorado State’s entire 2023 slate.
Norvell is in his second season in Fort Collins, having come off a 3-9 debut campaign. Prior to Colorado State, Norvell turned Nevada into a program that made four consecutive bowl games. The Colorado State program has not seen a winning campaign since a 7-6 mark in 2017. Norvell is at the point now that Sanders wants to be. “Coach Prime” is the most anticipated debut season of a Division I head coach since Jim Harbaugh at Michigan in 2015.
Harbaugh has back-to-back Big 10 Championships, while Sanders has two wins out of the chute, including an upset over the 2022 National Championship runner-up. TCU was missing eight starters to the NFL draft when Colorado pulled the Week 1 upset, but we need to be realistic. Colorado State is not Oregon or USC…Colorado’s next two opponents.
Norvell will be humbled for his comments on Saturday, but we will see how Sanders reacts when he receives similar treatment before the end of September. Caleb Williams against Shedeur Sanders should be highly entertaining in two weeks, though.
-JC24
In 2023, coaches will wear sweatshirts, polo shirts, or hoodies on the sidelines. We are long past the days of Hank Stram or Tom Landry wearing suits on Sundays. Sanders, coming off of lower body surgery, is in hats, sweatshirts, sunglasses, gold chains, and sitting down for a majority of the Buffaloes’ first two games.
Norvell was looking for a soundbyte, and Sanders now has bulletin board material for a program looking to make a statement. Colorado has scored 81 points in their first two games, while the Rams gave up 50 in their season-opening loss to Washington State.
Can we also talk about the irony that Colorado State’s first two games are against Pac 12 schools, while the entire Mountain West Conference, who the Rams belong to, are likely to be absorbed in next year?
Both schools finish the non-conference part of their schedule with Saturday’s game. Only the Rams, Arizona State and Stanford are unranked over the remainder of Colorado’s schedule. Colorado is the only ranked team on Colorado State’s entire 2023 slate.
Norvell is in his second season in Fort Collins, having come off a 3-9 debut campaign. Prior to Colorado State, Norvell turned Nevada into a program that made four consecutive bowl games. The Colorado State program has not seen a winning campaign since a 7-6 mark in 2017. Norvell is at the point now that Sanders wants to be. “Coach Prime” is the most anticipated debut season of a Division I head coach since Jim Harbaugh at Michigan in 2015.
Harbaugh has back-to-back Big 10 Championships, while Sanders has two wins out of the chute, including an upset over the 2022 National Championship runner-up. TCU was missing eight starters to the NFL draft when Colorado pulled the Week 1 upset, but we need to be realistic. Colorado State is not Oregon or USC…Colorado’s next two opponents.
Norvell will be humbled for his comments on Saturday, but we will see how Sanders reacts when he receives similar treatment before the end of September. Caleb Williams against Shedeur Sanders should be highly entertaining in two weeks, though.
-JC24