Deion Sanders trying to pad Shedeur Sanders’ stats is silly and dangerous

The Colorado Buffaloes toppled the Colorado State Rams last Saturday, 28-9, in what qualifies as an essential victory for Deion Sanders' team. After an embarrassing Week 2 loss to Nebraska, the pressure was officially on.

Coach Prime has been a storyline magnet since his arrival in Boulder, but not always for the right reasons. He has come under fire for his treatment of players and the media. He has come under fire for his conduct in the transfer portal. And, more bluntly, he has been under particularly intense scrutiny this season as folks try to figure out whether or not he's actually a good coach.

We can certainly mount an argument that Deion is not a good recruiter. He has the star talent, such as Travis Hunter, or his son at quarterback, but the roster margins for this Colorado team are poorly maintained. The offensive line has been a chronic issue since Deion's arrival and the defense has often looked a step behind the best competition.

All that is to say, a loss to their in-state rivals on Saturday would have dropped Colorado below .500 and set off a mass panic in the fandom. The Buffs won, which stems the tide momentarily, but now we must talk about how Colorado won the game. Sanders appeared very eager to make a point, leaving Sheduer in the game at quarterback and launching bombs toward the end zone with a 19-point lead and just over a minute left in the game.

Deion Sanders comes under fire for usage of Shedeur Sanders late in blowout victory

On the surface, it's just bad clock management. It's second down and six yards to go with a shade over one minute left. The Rams are essentially in concession mode, having zero realistic path to victory. Rather than pounding it forward with a run and either kneeling or punting to finish the game, however, Colorado launches one toward the end zone.

This also feels an awful lot like poor sportsmanship. More importantly, though, it's just plain pointless. There is only downside, even if the touchdown pass is caught. That just peeves the opposing team and ratchets up the uncomfortable narratives around your program. With the incomplete pass, you just have your prized QB sitting in the pocket behind college football's least dependable offensive line. It's a legitimate injury risk; there's a reason teams sub out their stars late in blowouts. This game was out of reach. Why even give the Rams defense a chance to lay another hit on Shedeur?

After the game, Shedeur made a spectacle of refusing to shake the hand of Colorado State's quarterback. This is a heated rivalry and there is undeniable bad blood, so it's fair to say that this play is unnecessarily reckless and a likely attempt to upstage the losing team. Nothing too negative came of it, so it's not worth a whole discourse cycle, but it's just another example of what bothers some fans about how the Buffs do business under Deion Sanders.

If Colorado can keep stacking wins, none of this stuff will carry weight. If Colorado careens toward mediocrity as we all expect, however, it's more difficult to justify the bravado and arrogance associated with this program.