Colorado football has a bigger problem than the Go-Go offense before facing No. 11 Utah (Part 1)

Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series entitled, "Colorado football has a bigger problem than the Go-Go offense before facing No. 11 Utah (Part 1)."

As the 11th-ranked Utah Utes prepare to take on the Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday, one of Deion Sanders' staff members seems to be at the center of controversy with his recent remarks.

Christopher Neely, who is often near Coach Prime during press conferences and follows him around with a camera for social media content, claims Sanders inherited a program that hadn’t been successful for 20 years before he arrived.

Christopher, who is also known as Uncle Neely, has a knack for finding opportunities to protect Coach Prime when CU fans get upset about the team's lack of success. Needless to say, outside the 2024 season, Colorado has struggled to compete with Utah in the Rumble in the Rockies series.

In this instance, Neely tried to insinuate that Coach Prime has been trying to get rid of the 20-year losing mentality and overlooked several things when he made those remarks. Sanders wasn’t successful in the Pac-12 during his first season as the Buffs' head coach and won only one conference game, ending the season with a 4-8 record. Utah has been a conference foe throughout the last 16 years, and made the jump with Colorado to the Big 12. But the Utes haven't had nearly the same trouble as the Buffs have.

Colorado's first season in the Big 12 after Oklahoma and Texas had moved to the SEC, was their best in the Sanders' era at 9-4. However, BYU handed the Buffs a 36-14 loss in the 2024 Valero Alamo Bowl. It was the final game for Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, who moved on to the NFL.

Sanders may have inherited a 1-11 team upon his arrival, but there were a few playmakers on the team that he helped make the decision to enter the transfer portal, and had success at the next location they played. He did the program no favors with this "Louis Luggage" speech. But the Buffs have been successful in recruiting playmakers to the program only to see them leave once the season ends. The repetitive cycle is what's killing Colorado's momentum, and the difference between Sanders and Morgan Scalley, who tried for player retention over chasing a pay day.

With all the excitement Coach Prime brought to the program upon his arrival, the team's early success was short. After the Buffs defeated TCU, 45-42, in the 2023 season opener, Sanders asked reporters, "Do they believe now?" After winning the next two games, with a 3-0 record, the Buffs went on to win one out of the next nine games. Shedeur Sanders was sacked 56 times that season, and their inability to rush the ball made them one dimensional. It's the same thing that plagues the Buffs right now. The QB's struggles and the running game is flat.

Check out part two of the series.

Utah moves up in latest AP Top 25 College Football Poll 

Five takeaways from Utah's 41-24 win over Kansas

Utah's two-QB offense could fuel a historic postseason run

If Utah is serious about fundraising, it's time for jersey patches and renaming Rice-Eccles Stadium