FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- Colorado coach Deion Sanders said after a 28-9 win over Colorado State on Saturday night that the Rams made the game more personal after they took shots at his players and program.
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders put it more bluntly: "They just asked for it."
Comments quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi and wide receiver Tory Horton made during a media day interview with a local television station surfaced on social media this week. Horton lamented a 43-35 loss to Colorado last year, saying, "We should have murdered them guys, and they came out with that attitude they were on top of the world, and this ain't no Cinderella story. We're coming for revenge."
Fowler-Nicolosi said: "I think it goes to show that the hype, the media train, it only gets you so far at the end of the day. You have to line up 11 guys against our 11 guys, and we'll find out who wants it more. We'll see how far Instagram followers gets them."
In response, Colorado played its best game of the season as Sanders threw for 310 yards and four touchdowns, Travis Hunter had 13 catches for 100 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, and the offensive line opened holes for the run game and gave up only one sack.
"Personal game, emotional game," Deion Sanders said. "They kind of make it like that. We just want to play some football. The disrespect was uncalled for throughout the week. We knew that coming into the game it was going to be a bit personal, and it was."
Sanders said during pregame warmups that a Colorado State player ran into receivers coach Jason Phillips and elbowed him. Then during the game, with Colorado State trailing 14-3, Fowler-Nicolosi made a gesture at Hunter signaling he was too small after a run out of bounds.
"How stupid is that? This is Travis Hunter. Like, who does that?" Deion Sanders said. "I wouldn't allow my kids to do that. But when you allow kids to sit in an interview and talk against us? Come on, dog."
Sanders was also asked about calling pass plays with less than a minute to go and the victory secured.
"We wanted to score. The game is about scoring isn't it?" Deion Sanders said. "I don't know protocol. As long as the other team is trying to score, we're trying to score. That's my rule."
Sanders said he wanted his team to come out and win decisively. The Buffaloes did that from the start, a vast difference from a 28-10 loss to Nebraska in which Shedeur Sanders was sacked five times and Colorado managed 16 rushing yards.
On Saturday, Colorado had 109 rushing yards, averaging 5.7 per carry, and gave up only one hurry on 49 attempts. As a nod to the performance of their teammates, Sanders and Hunter had the offensive line stand behind them during postgame interviews.
"You guys buried them last week after the game. There was a lot of hate and disdain and, 'Here we go again.' That's what they got," Deion Sanders said. "These are young men. They are still filled with feelings and emotions. They get those text messages. They get the DMs. That don't make them feel well."
As for his play, Hunter said he did not have any extra motivation after he was knocked out of this game a year ago and sent to the hospital. He could be seen during pregame warmups staring at the crowd, which was chanting profanities at Colorado, and silently nodding.
In addition to his receiving yards, touchdowns and interception, Hunter had five tackles and a pass breakup playing 123 of 138 snaps from scrimmage. Colorado said it was believed to be the first time in the modern era of college football history for a player to record Hunter's full stat line.
Perhaps the only surprising thing about his performance is that he pulled himself from the game after chasing down Avery Morrow on a 62-yard run in the fourth quarter. Colorado State scored its only touchdown two plays later, with Hunter on the bench.
"I got mad at him for getting out the game too. I said don't ever do that again. Check in next time," Shedeur Sanders said.
"That's probably the first time I did that," Hunter said of taking himself out of the game. "Because normally when I run them down I'll be able to catch my breath and get back up. That time, I don't know what happened."
Asked if that was as good as Hunter can be, Deion Sanders said, "No. Travis is phenomenal week in and week out. We've got a quarterback that's phenomenal too. We've just got to protect him. I think the whole country knows that. We did a great job of that today. When you see us do that, you're going to see 36-of-49, no turnovers."
Sanders said his players were aware of what was said and written about them after the loss to Nebraska. But he also pointed to the improvement he saw from the defense in the second half of that loss and the strides the offensive line has made.
"We heard all the foolishness. Might as well abandon the season with one loss," Sanders said. "Do you know how many people have lost one game in college football? There's some really good teams that have lost one games. We'd like to think that we're one of them. Yes, we're developing some things. Yes, we're working on some things. But you see this arrow is headed in the right direction."