Baylor notebook: Sanders apologizes for on-field celebration, failure to shake Aranda's hand
BOULDER, Colo. — Deion Sanders wanted to shake Dave Aranda's hand.
In the aftermath, though, that proved impossible.
After Colorado clinched a 38-31 overtime win over Baylor in the Big 12 opener for both teams on Saturday night at Folsom Field, thousands of fans stormed the field to celebrate.
At the time, the result wasn't even official. The game officials had to review the final play to see if Baylor running back Dominic Richardson had crossed the plane of the end zone before Colorado's Travis Hunter popped the ball loose.
Eventually the refs ruled that the call of a fumble stood, giving Colorado the victory. The jubilant mayhem already ensuing on the field prevented any chance of Sanders, the Buffaloes' head coach, finding Baylor's Aranda in the mass of bodies.
"I want to apologize to the opposition for the way we stormed the field," Sanders said. "I didn't get an opportunity to go and shake the head coach's hand. I did try to go to the locker room and wait it out until he came out, but I don't think they got the word to him. It's just not professional. I wanted to shake his hand and acknowledge (Baylor's effort).
"I don't like what transpired at the end of the game, but I love what transpired at the end of the game. We have a fan base that's phenomenal. There's kids on this campus that love and bleed CU football, and I'm thankful."
Weird time to stage a 'Whiteout'
The majority of fans in attendance were cheering for the Buffaloes, but you might have been fooled if you just went by their attire.
This week Colorado announced a "Whiteout," asking its fans to show up in white. In one of its social media postings about that promotion, it showed a photo of a Colorado player in an all-white uniform, leading to speculation that the Buffaloes were going to wear white uniforms.
The only problem with that is that uniform decisions are made in the preseason, and Baylor was already slotted to wear white, as is customary for most road football teams.
A Baylor source said that Colorado never asked the Bears to wear anything but white and if they had been, Baylor would have been happy to oblige. Case in point: Iowa State has requested to wear white when it hosts Baylor on Oct. 5, and the Bears have agreed.
Colorado wore its traditional black jerseys with gold pants Saturday.
Bears rack up 8-pack of sacks
Asked earlier in the week if Baylor would bring pressure to Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders, BU head coach Dave Aranda played coy.
Aranda chose to point out the improvement Colorado's offensive line, and how the Buffaloes were good at recognizing when teams want to bring pressure, leading to Sanders getting the ball out quickly.
Yeah, it was all coachspeak.
The Bears brought heavy pressure to Sanders all night, giving fits to the Colorado O-line. They dumped the QB for eight sacks, the program's most since racking up 10 sacks against Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl that ended the 2021 season.
It was a top-notch effort by the BU defenders, but Aranda lamented the sacks that got away.
"We had eight sacks in this game," Aranda said. "We should have had really double that, to be honest. And that's not any disrespect. I have so much respect for Colorado. ... I just think there's a lot to improve there."
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