2StripesCPD Digital, Vol. 5

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Welcome to another edition of 2StripesCPD Digital! Let's catch you up on everything that went down around the world of college football this week, plus give you a heads up on what's dropping next at 2StripesCPD. A portion of today's post is free to read, but click below to subscribe to the full version and join CFB fans just like yourself on the college football website that actually likes college football™️.

Why can't people just say they don't like Deion Sanders and want him to fail?

You'll be shocked to hear this, but folks online went nuts over something that happened at Colorado. This time, it was safety Shilo Sanders trying to work the Transfer Portal on Instagram:

Naturally, this sent CFB analysts who either have smooth brains or know how to cater to people with smooth brains for engagement up the wall. So much for last year's Louis Luggage! Shedeur and Shilo are basically calling the shots for the whole program! Do these guys even have someone in charge of player personnel??? DOES DEION EVEN RECRUIT?! Look how many dudes they have in the portal - this program is UNSERIOUS!!!!!

These takes would be more amusing if the people making them just outright said what they wanted to about Deion Sanders. They don't like how he runs a football program. They don't like how he recruits. They don't like the noise. They want him to fail spectacularly so they never have to hear the words "Coach Prime" in college football again. And you know what? Cool, I get it. I hate things too! We all have preferences, and what's for some people isn't for everyone. But it's OK to just admit that's what it is. You don't have to pretend that the backup running back who had 78 yards last season hitting the portal is a MAJOR BLOW TO FRAUD PROGRAM™️. The "Everyone on Colorado is jumping off a burning ship!!" punches hit like a feather when you look at who's leaving:

I get it, though. Colorado fans/fans who root for Deion will fall for it every time, while the people on the opposite side will line up at your takes trough like the little piggies they are and slurp it up. I can't hate on it - that's what doing good business as a sports analyst looks like today.

And just so we're clear - I'm not saying that Deion's above any criticism. The team clearly got worn down last season by the noise, blowing the Stanford game was embarrassing, I wish their recruiting strategy was a bit more refined, and the Sean Lewis saga was an avoidable mess. It's far from perfect, but what did you expect? We're talking about Colorado!

This is a program that went 1-11 in 2022. They were outscored 534-185 (-349) overall and 406-155 (-251) in Pac-12 play that season. Then Deion came in, gutted the roster, and they got undeniably better. They had the same 1-8 conference record in 2023, but won three more games overall, improving to 418-338 (-80) and 327-214 (-113) in those scoring margins. They still couldn't run the ball, but the offense jumped up by almost two touchdowns (15.4 to 28.2 points per game) and Shedeur Sanders had the most prolific passing season in school history. It took him one game to do something the program hadn't done in almost four seasons:

Travis Hunter was arguably the most exciting player in the country, and will be even better this year. The defense stunk again, but did anyone really think it would only take them nine months and some portal additions to clean up a unit that gave up nearly 45 points per game the prior season?

I wrote this nearly a year ago to the day:

...it could all go wrong and blow up in Sanders' face spectacularly - But what's your alternative? Is it doing things the way Dan Hawkins did? John Embree? Mike MacIntyre? Karl Dorrell?

What do people want Deion Sanders to do to make Colorado better? Be quiet? It's funny, because that's a real take I've seen multiple times. "I just wish everything with him wasn't a story." Are you 15 years old? How long have you been watching sports? This is the guy who made, "Must be the Money." This is the guy who played two professional sports at the same time. This is the guy who came into the 49ers locker room, immediately had tension with Jerry Rice, then proceeded to win Defensive Player of the Year and a Super Bowl. 10 months later he was shooting commercials with Jerry Jones, playing both sides of the ball, and winning another Super Bowl with the Cowboys. After all this time, you're still surprised that Deion Sanders is loud?

I'm working myself up and need to finish this section, so here's the crux of this whole thing for me: I can't believe how pinheaded you have to be to think having two players with over one million followers on Instagram each –the place where 90% of people younger than 25 basically live all day, including football players– tell other guys to reach out to them is actually a bad thing. Maybe you really are naive enough to think Shedeur and Shilo run personnel decisions for the team. For a program who basically puts everything on display for people to see, it's puzzling how often ignorance still rules the discussion when it comes to Colorado. Oh well! Enjoy your slop for the next four months.

Rule Changes for 2024

The NCAA approved a few rule changes for the 2024 season.