ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith delivered a fuming rant about Colorado’s embarrassing 46-43 overtime loss to Stanford after the Buffaloes held a 29-point lead at halftime of Friday’s Pac-12 battle.
Stanford, who entered the game against Colorado as a 13-point underdog, outscored Colorado 36-7 in the second half and handed Deion Sanders’s squad its third loss in four games. The Buffaloes recorded their biggest blown lead in program history.
In Monday’s edition of ESPN’s First Take, Smith slammed Colorado for the loss, calling it an “absolute disgrace” and “unacceptable” given that their coach is among the all-time list of greatest football players and athletes.
“I think Deion Sanders is a hell of coach,” Smith said. “… He’s about 7 or 8 dogs away. But here’s the problem, the players got caught up in the shine their coach generated. … Ya’ll are getting ya’ll ass kicked. Show up, stand up cuz your daddy and to the players on that squad, your coach, as much bravado as he had, as much swag as he had, he was the best on the planet week in and week out. You knew PrimeTime Deion Sanders was the best probably ever. Ya’ll ain’t on that level. Stop acting like it and show up on the damn field and do what the hell you supposed to do instead of getting your ass kicked on national television.”
.@stephenasmith calls Deion Sanders' loss to Stanford "an absolute disgrace" 😳 pic.twitter.com/pZFs3M6a7U
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 16, 2023
Smith also weighed in on Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders after a link promoting merchandise was posted on his Instagram account when the Buffaloes held the 29-point advantage against the Cardinal.
“I’m calling out his son Shedeur Sanders who I love and think has star written all over him, but whether it was you or by accident or somebody on your social media team, you cannot have something being posted at halftime of a damn game,” Smith said.
Colorado (4-3) enters a bye week before returning to action on Oct. 28 in a road matchup against UCLA.