Grand Opening: College Football Starts, Playoff Talk Begins

Fast break Why the Buffs won: Rebounding. Plain and simple, that was the difference, as the Buffs were plus-21 on the boards, which contributed to a 13-3 advantage in second-chance points and limited possessions for Kansas. Three stars: 1. CU’s Sara-Rose Smith: Pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds, while also scoring eight points and dishing out a pair of assists. 2.

Luke McCaffrey believed that for NFL scouts to take him seriously, he needed to top his famous brother. After Luke emerged as one of the best receivers in the American Athletic Conference at Rice in 2023, teams were still unsure of his speed or if his playmaking ability at a Group of 5 school would translate to the NFL. So Luke made it his mission to beat the marks of his older brother Christian, the 49ers’ All-Pro running back, at the NFL Combine. “When I told NFL scouts that Luke was going to be a 4.4-something in the 40-yard dash, a lot of them didn’t believe me,” recalled then-Rice wideout coach Mike Kershaw.

Jordi Fernandez wasn’t in Denver for the coronation, but he helped steer the Nuggets toward the throne. During his six years on Michael Malone’s staff, en route to his own head coaching job in Brooklyn, he left an indelible imprint on players. “No good memories,” Michael Porter Jr. said, straight-faced. “Not a single one.” Kidding. “He was here when I first got here.

George Paton’s top lieutenant is getting interest for a top job. Broncos assistant general manager Darren Mougey interviewed Saturday morning for the New York Jets’ vacant general manager job, the Jets announced. Mougey, NFL Network reported, is one of several candidates set to speak with the Jets this weekend. The 39-year-old Arizona native has been with the Broncos his entire front-office career.

To get an idea of the unique talent that is Pat Surtain II, all you have to do is look at the variety of pass-catchers the Broncos asked him to cover this season. The list includes speed merchants, wily vets, young guns and big, physical specimens. There were five Pro Bowlers, including tight ends young (Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers) and old (Kansas City’s Travis Kelce), precision route-runners like Cincinnati’s Ja’Marr Chase and Baltimore’s Zay Flowers, and even a former pro and college teammate in Cleveland’s Jerry Jeudy. The one thing they all had in common: Surtain consistently locked them up. “The film doesn’t lie,” Broncos safety P.

Goodbye, reality. Hello, reality show. Is there any coach that makes more sense in Las Vegas than Deion Sanders? It is better for our state if Sanders remains at Colorado, where he has made the Buffaloes relevant again. But almost every NFL hiring cycle features an outside-the-box selection. And this season, if it’s not Notre Dame’s Marcus Freeman going to the Chicago Bears, would it be that crazy to see Sanders landing in Las Vegas? He has yet to receive a contract extension from CU, even as he has created a compelling argument that he deserves more than $8 million per season. And Las Vegas could work, while admittedly requiring suspension of belief.