Colorado football has been one of the stories of college football this season, and now all of its goals are in front of it. Deion Sanders and the Buffs are 6-2 and have a legitimate, realistic chance to reach the Big 12 title game and earn a shot at making the College Football Playoff.
While Colorado's sights are set on team accomplishments, the Buffs will be at the forefront of plenty of individual award races as well. The most notable among those is the Heisman Trophy, where two-way superstar Travis Hunter is one of the top candidates. Hunter has been one of the best cornerbacks and one of the best wide receivers in the nation this year, and he is making a very convincing case that he should win college football's highest individual honor.
Of course, there are still some people who don't think Hunter should win the Heisman or that he is elite at either one of his positions. Hunter sent a message on a recent episode of the 2Legendary podcast with Shedeur Sanders, according to Andrew Peters of Bleacher Report.
“I just hate when people say I'm not top five at receiver, top five at DB,” Hunter said, per Peters. “What are y'all watching? Every gameplan for the opposing team has got to be revolved around me bro. Y'all got to stop that. I've allowed no touchdowns this season, I'm locking up on every side of the ball, I've probably gave up like 30 yards this whole season… At receiver, nobody ever stops me. I went 9-for-9 last week. Who do you know that's doing that?”
Colorado playing its best football as they return from bye week
What once seemed like a far-away reality is now a distinct possibility as Deion Sanders and Colorado find themselves in a tie for second place in the Big 12. Not only that, but Colorado is playing its best football at the right tome and have a very manageable schedule on the way in.
The Buffs will look to improve to 7-2 on the season when they take on Texas Tech in Lubbock on Saturday. They finish the season with home games against struggling Utah and Oklahoma State with a road game against Kansas sandwiched in between. Those are four games that Colorado will likely be favored in, and four wins gives it a great chance to advance to the Big 12 title game.
Due to an ugly early season loss to Nebraska that has aged very poorly and a close loss to Kansas State last month, Colorado's margin for error is exactly zero. However, the defense is playing some very good football under new defensive coordinator Robert Livingston and the offense will always be extremely explosive with Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter in the mix.
Colorado still needs a little bit of help around the Big 12, and another loss by Iowa State would go a very long way in letting the Buffs control their own destiny to get to the title game. If they can get there, they have the talent to get a win and sneak into the 12-team playoff field.