It’s been tough sledding for Colorado and the Sanders crew in recent weeks, and early in Friday’s game was no different.
In Colorado’s Week 12 56-14 blowout loss to Pac-12 rival Washington State, Buffaloes star quarterback Shedeur Sanders was feeling the heat early, including on one sack that led to a touchdown the other way — which led to the Cougars stealing his signature move.
Already down 7-0 with a little over five minutes left in the first quarter, Sanders took a snap out of the shotgun with Colorado on the Washington State 49-yard line.
After he faked a hand-off on a zone read, Sanders was hit from behind by Ron Stone Jr. before throwing the ball, which came loose and was picked up by Brennan Jackson, who ran it 40 yards for Washington State’s second touchdown of the night.
To add insult to injury, Jackson flexed his right arm up, which appeared to be mimicking Sanders’ signature “watch” celebration, which rose in popularity when the Buffaloes beat rival Colorado State earlier this season.
As this all went down, Sanders hit the ground hard and held his arm, and he was forced out for one series and replaced briefly by backup Ryan Staub.
The junior quarterback did end up coming back into the game, firing a 45-yard touchdown strike to star two-way player Travis Hunter.
Despite that highlight, it was a tough first quarter for Sanders, who was sacked four times by the Cougars defense.
He completed 6 of 10 passes for 86 yards over two quarters, continually facing pressure from the Washington State defense.
In the second quarter, Sanders was hit after a fumbled snap, appeared injured and left the game for good, USA Today reported.
“He had some numbness in his hand and couldn’t really grip the ball,” Sanders said after Colorado’s ugly loss. “But then that second hit he just got rolled up on, we decided not to send him back out.”
Colorado (4-7, 1-7 Pac-12 Conference) and “Coach Prime” were the darlings of college football after a 3-0 start, but the team has lost seven of eight since.
Despite a massive improvement upon last year’s win total, Sanders said the program measures itself against its own expectations.
“We’re falling short of what we’re capable of, that’s the part of this that’s tough to digest. We’ve got high expectations here, so this is tremendously disappointing,” said Sanders.
Washington State (5-6, 2-6) kept its hopes for a bowl game alive with the victory, but the Cougars will need to find a way to topple rival Washington next week in the Apple Cup to finish the job.
— with AP