Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders: 'How many times did Raiola get touched?' after Nebraska loss

there's a viral clip circulating of shador Sanders performing his postgame press conference following Colorado's 28 to 10 loss in Lincoln Nebraska and it is revealing for some on a number of levels but it is also underscoring what I told you was likely to happen with Colorado in 2024 it looks to all the world like Colorado is beginning to come apart shidu Sanders was asked about how the offense was performing what was going right for him what was going wrong for him and then he exited the game you know it looked like perhaps due to injury but he certainly didn't finish it when it looked like the game was Out Of Reach the way that he chose to answer a question about Co about Colorado's running game was indeed projected at balance but what he said was how many times did riola get hit and from there it was becoming very clear that shadur has had enough of his offensive line not just this year but last year I wondered at what point it was going to start to show in public how shador must feel when he is trying to play quarterback at Colorado one of the things that I had applauded him for up until now is how he had shouldered being quarterback at Colorado knowing that the protection was not there knowing that his offensive line was the worst in the sport last year and quite literally could be the worst in the sport this year and it was really telling about his character because even going into this season I think most of us would have said he would be telling the truth to talk about his offensive line not being any good when Travis Hunter and he were playing EA Sports college football 25 the day before it launched on Early Access Travis was playing as Colorado he was going for on fourth down and he was complaining that he got sacked and he was saying this offensive line can't block for nothing cuz they were trash last year they gave up 50 sacks of shador Sanders 52 sacks in the season but they got shador hit 199 times and I tried to tell people this and I don't know why it hasn't stuck because I have said this many times over it's not just that he got hit 199 times it's that he got hit so much that he broke a vertebrae in his back and that is what forced him to miss the last game of the season and when you are seeing Nebraska's defense particularly its defensive line tii onto every other Snapper so it felt you probably want to get him out there protect him because the offensive line is not going to protect him I'm also looking at this from the standpoint he got sacked five times in this game and we're calling that an improvement from last year we're calling that we're we're calling that okay they didn't sack him seven times like they did last year in this game even though it felt better because NE Nebraska lost that game Colorado won it now that he is throwing the offensive line under the bus where that's how it is going to be interpreted and that's what we're dealing with is how people are interpreting your comments because it's very difficult to a understand why the offensive line wasn't the only priority going into transfer portal season last year like and it's also difficult to understand how we're supposed to evaluate shadur Sanders when he is running for his life that it was admirable what he was able to do last year because he threw for over 3,000 yards he put up a bunch of TDS he didn't throw a lot of interceptions and that offensive line was garbage and all anybody want to say and Colorado fans be the first one to tell you this if you gave him Georgia's offensive line if you gave him Alabama's offensive line Ohio State's offensive line insert college football playoff Contender here's offensive line maybe he's a Heisman finalist well that's not necessarily true I look at Dylan Gabriel Oregon they're struggling they don't know if they're coming or going and that offensive line is better than Colorado's you know look at Notre Dames they don't know if they're coming or going but are they better than what Colorado is giving shadur yes and that is the problem so going in the into the cycle one of the things that had raised my antenna wasn't so much that they were bringing in more guys because they've done that already right they bring in skill players they will always have skilled players because skill players are easier to come by and frankly easier to find finding guys that can Crush in a defensive interior as offensive lineman but move them back and finding defensive lineman that can Crush in an offensive line and move them back that is where Big Time college football programs succeed when you are thinking about Georgia one of the reasons that it's difficult for me to say that Carson Beck is one of the best players in the sports is because he is surrounded by the best players in the sport constantly that offensive line is ridiculous Tate Ratt is going to get drafted drafted probably in the first round that's just a guard Colorado does not have a player that I believe can play in the National Football League on that offensive line not a single one Colorado's got plenty of guys at skill safety Corner wide receiver tail back that can play in the National Football League and they didn't need to come to Colorado to prove that by the way as we continue to look at Colorado as we continue to evaluate their season going forward it will be telling to me just how much this Prime can really reorient can the narrative as they like to say in the comments things that will tweak me call just talking about the media talking about the narrative talking about this guy no man give me a good honest take and and don't rely on these ridiculous Adon attacks this is a Sports Talk Show it is not your daddy's Facebook page build an argument D Hayden got five rushes for 32 yards Colorado managed to rush the ball 22 times for 16 yards s per yard and that is where shadur is had enough because one of the things that was always going to be difficult for Colorado to show me is that they could protect him because to protect him is not just pass Pro it's being able to run the ball effectively and people have to respect it if I don't have to respect you running the ball why why the hell am I going to wh wh why the hell am I going to act like you can why why am I not just going to call as many Zone blisses as I can and come after your quarterback I'm that's what I would do I am going to try to hit him and hit him and hit him and they did again excuse me not five sacks six sacks in this game Travis Hunter was Travis Hunter again 10 catches for 110 but he showed if you can take him away or if you can allow him not to get into the end zone and they didn't you can win I thought bringing in D Hayden was going to show that Colorado was committed to running the football and they are not committed to running the football I thought firing sha Lewis and elevating Pat Shermer was going to show me play action pass and they ain't shown me no play action pass I don't see how this is getting better I I I just don't you've hired a bunch of guys that you think are good in coach Prime right Roberts Livingston maybe Pat shmer not yet not not at Colorado Phil Odo got work to do on the offensive line Warren Sap is is that a mascot or is he just there what's he what's he doing you know I'm I'm asking what is his contribution to Colorado's winning because last night did not look like winning and more than that they don't look like winning a lot this season something's got to give something's got to change the fracture is is coming like if it's not here already it just doesn't feel good in Boulder and and Prime's got to do what great head coaches do now he has to try to find a way to reach his team in such a way that they want to respond and I say this often and this is why I think great coaches can be oversold but also undervalued great coaching isn't about ex's and O's it's not even about motivation it is being able to say the right thing at the right time to the right person Jimmy Johnson had a saying that I myself have lived by I'm going to treat you all fairly I'm not going to treat you all the same I think Prime is gonna have to do that with parts of uh media that he has to interact with where whether it's video uh or digital or print I think that narrative is also going to change because is it's not incumbent upon players or students to understand their coaches or teachers it is incumbent upon coaches and teachers to understand their students and players that's why you get paid millions of dollars to do this job as a head coach and that is what makes great teachers great teachers find a way to communicate to you so that you can get what they are laying down Prime has not yet done that and it's starting to show shadur is now realizing that he could do what he could do at the FCS level and it worked but the caliber of a player at this level power four is just that much faster it's just that much bigger it's just that much stronger it is a lot like the transition for many from college to the NFL something got to change in Boulder and it got to change right now