Many expected the Colorado to trample Stanford ahead of the Pac-12 battle on Friday night
Deion Sanders’s squad was trending in that direction when the Buffaloes built a 29-point advantage at halftime of the contest. However, that was until the Cardinal outscored the Buffaloes, 36-7, in the second half and booted a game-winning field goal to register the 46-43 double overtime win.
Sanders, who is known to keep receipts and confront his doubters with entertaining catchphrases that often turn into viral moments, became the subject of a hilarious Saturday Night Live skit mocking the Buffaloes’ coach after Friday’s “disturbing” loss. Actor Kenan Thompson, dressed in an iconic white Colorado hoodie and black sunglasses, starred as “Coach Prime” and fielded questions from NBC anchor Colin Jost in the comedy sketch.
The Buffaloes started 3-0 this season before going 1-3 in their last four games. When Jost reminded the make-believe Prime that his team was currently 4-3 after the hot start to the ’23 campaign, Thompson responded with a classic Sanders line.
“Colin [Jost], what about me makes you think that I care about what you think about me? You don’t understand that my team has it all, man. Coaching? Genius. Offense? Explosive. Defense? Trying. It’s a complete package, man,” the made up Prime said.
How many CFB coaches get featured on SNL after blowing a 29 point lead? pic.twitter.com/VwA60YTzyE
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) October 15, 2023
Even with Jost pointing out that Colorado blew the 29-point lead in dramatic fashion, Thompson delivered another outstanding Prime-like response.
“Wasn’t that crazy?” the fictitious Prime said. “We went up 29 to nothing at the half, so I went home and fell asleep. I woke up this morning as shocked as anyone … Nobody’s perfect. Name one team that’s undefeated.”
The act also poked fun at Sanders’s departure from Jackson State, the HBCU program that launched Sanders’s career as a head coach in the collegiate ranks and the one he often called a “God” given assignment.
“Coaching is a higher calling,” Thompson said. “… You know, I truly believe that God called me there [JSU], and he said, ‘This is your destiny.’”
But then three years later, Jost questioned fictional Prime’s decision to take his talents to Boulder, Colo., a city with a very different demographic from Jackson, Mississippi.
“God called me again and was like, ‘My bad.’ And then he showed me the promised land of Colorado,” the invented Prime said. “I had these visions, Colin, a place where there was white people, like every single person was white … Not many people know this, but Colorado is an HWCU, or historically white college, kind of like where you went Colin.”
The segment was by far one of the most hilarious parodies of one of college football’s most high-profile coaches.
