Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter saw their college careers come to a disappointing end with a 36-14 loss to BYU after deciding against sitting out Colorado’s Alamo Bowl game.
The Buffaloes traveled to the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, flying via a luxurious custom jet, to take on No.17 ranked Cougars. After finishing the season 9-3, Deion Sanders’ team was ranked No.23 in the country and missed out on the expanded College Football Playoffs.
As a result, many thought quarterback Shedeur Sanders and newly-crowned Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter should sit out the final game of the season given their NFL Draft ambitions. Both are set to declare to enter the league, and Colorado took out unprecedented insurance to protect them before the Alamo Bowl.
Despite insisting they wanted to take to the field one more time with their teammates, Sanders and Hunter were denied a dream farewell. instead, they went out on a loss as their decision backfired having passed up on the chance to say goodbye in a 52-0 win over Oklahoma State in their final home game at Folsom Field on November 29.
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Colorado came out flat in Texas, going in 20-0 down at halftime and being 27-0 down shortly after the break. Hunter did get the Buffaloes on the board in the third quarter, taking a short pass from Sanders as he escaped the pocket to evade pass rushers before Hunter juked his way into the endzone.
However, it was ultimately an evening to forget despite Hunter in particular impressing in the last game of his glittering college career. While Sanders had just 208 passing yards, finishing 16/23 with two touchdowns and two interceptions, Hunter had 106 yards on four receptions while also continuing to play on defense.
Explaining his decision not to sit out the bowl game, Hunter said: “It’s definitely important because I started this thing with Coach Prime and Shedeur and most of the coaches on the coaching staff. So I want to finish it off right.
“I didn’t give them a full season my first year (at Jackson State due to injury), so I’m going to go and end this thing off right. It will be our last game together. We’ll go out there and dominate and show the loyalty that I have for them.”
Shedeur Sanders had a tough time in the Alamo Bowl (
David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Ahead of the game, head coach Deion Sanders got very emotional as he discussed his last game coaching Hunter and his sons, Shedeur and Shilo.
“The journey,” Sanders said. “The journey. The tremendous, tumultuous journey. I’m sorry, this is tough. This is tough.”
“I’m seeing when they first put on uniforms,” added Sanders. “You know, when they first started. When I first started coaching them. The good, the bad, the indifference. The ups and downs.
“Just the journey, it has been a heck of a journey. And I’m thankful and appreciative. I thank God for it. I gotta get it together. I gotta coach, I gotta get it together.”
Deion Sanders was emotional when speaking about his two sons ahead of the Alamo Bowl (
Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
In his pre-game press conference, Sanders admitted: “It’s gonna be something to behold,. I don’t know how I’m gonna handle it.
“I know Travis is gonna trigger me. I know it because he always does, and he’s gonna bring tears out of my eyes. But I don’t look forward to it. But I do, because that means they’re going to another level, another chapter of life. And they’re gonna soar.”
Speaking after their final regular season game about their Bowl game intentions, Deion Sanders explained: We have a plethora of seniors that are pro-bound and guess what? Every last one of them is going to play.
“We don’t tap out. We don’t sit out. It’s a blessing to play this wonderful game, and our kids are gonna play.
“We got a kid (Travis Hunter) that is going to pick up the Heisman Trophy this week and he’s gonna to play. We got a quarterback that picked up an award last weekend and he’s going to play.”
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