Colorado
Deion Sanders, Colorado under microscope this weekend against Oregon
It’s college football’s version of Super Saturday.
There will be six games featuring two top-25 opponents this Saturday, and that doesn’t even include the ACC showdown between Clemson and fourth-ranked Florida State in Death Valley.
It’s a fascinating day, which starts with the Florida State-Clemson showdown at noon, includes Deion Sanders and No. 19 Colorado meeting 10th-ranked Oregon at 3:30 p.m. and wraps up with a top-10 meeting between Ohio State and Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., at 7:30 p.m.
The Post’s Zach Braziller gets you ready for the monster day below with six players, coaches and teams under the microscope:
Deion Sanders
We start with Sanders, because of course we do.
He has been the biggest story of the college football season, a bombastic, flashy and outspoken Hall of Fame cornerback who has Colorado off to an impressive 3-0 start.
A win over Oregon would be even more impressive than the Buffaloes’ Week 1 stunner at TCU. The undefeated and explosive Ducks are 21-point favorites, and Colorado will be without two-way standout Travis Hunter (lacerated liver).
Tellingly, Sanders struck a different chord this week, praising his opponent rather than using the no respect card, as he had in recent weeks.
He knows what he’s up against.
Sam Hartman
Notre Dame quarterbacks threw 25 touchdown passes all of last year.
Hartman already has 13, igniting a Fighting Irish offense that is averaging more than 50 points per game.
The Wake Forest transfer has lived up to the hype so far, but Saturday will be when we begin to really find out about him. Beat No. 6 Ohio State at home, and he will become a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate, and No. 9 Notre Dame will emerge as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender.
The spotlight will be on the super-senior. He chose Notre Dame for opportunities like these.
Nick Saban
The whispers are slowly growing louder: The legendary coach has lost a step at the age of 71.
Alabama is headed in the wrong direction.
The home loss to Texas two weeks ago was one thing.
But the panic move of benching quarterback Jalen Milroe against South Florida was another.
Neither Tyler Buchner nor Ty Simpson was the answer at quarterback in an ugly 17-3 victory last Saturday, and now Saban has gone back to the athletic Milroe, who is clearly his best option.
A loss at home to No. 15 Mississippi and former Saban assistant Lane Kiffin would all but eliminate the Crimson Tide from playoff consideration in September, unheard of for the powerhouse program.
It would also set unwanted history: The last time the Tide lost two straight games at Bryant-Denny Stadium was 2007, Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Clemson
The Tigers are unranked, but an argument can be made that, after Alabama, they have the most on the line Saturday.
A victory over visiting Florida State would put Clemson back in the playoff mix and in position to reach the ACC championship game.
A loss would make the rest of this season about salvaging a lost year that began with a loss to Duke, which is still undefeated.
Dabo Swinney’s team has responded well to that opening defeat, notching back-to-back blowout victories over Charleston Southern and FAU.
Most importantly, quarterback Cade Klubnik has been impressive, throwing for seven touchdowns in those two games. If that is a sign the former top recruit has found his game, Clemson can beat Florida State, which has shown slippage of late coming off a near disastrous loss at Boston College.
A noteworthy stat: Swinney’s team is a home underdog for the first time since a game against Lamar Jackson and No. 3 Louisville on Oct 2, 2016. Clemson and Deshaun Watson prevailed that day, and went on to win the national championship.
Marvin Harrison Jr.
After a quiet opener, Harrison has found his stride, catching 12 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns the last two weeks.
Ohio State’s superstar wideout can wreck games, but he will face a stiff test from Notre Dame cornerbacks Cam Hart and Benjamin Morrison.
In the matchup last year, the Fighting Irish held Harrison to five catches for 56 yards in a 21-10 loss to the Buckeyes. Keep your eye on how Notre Dame deals with Harrison.
It could determine the winner.
Cameron Rising
The loaded Pac-12 just got better with the expected return of Utah’s star quarterback.
Rising, who produced 32 touchdowns a year ago, is expected to start for the 11th-ranked Utes after he missed the first three games while recovering from ACL surgery.
He’s coming back at the right time, as Utah hosts surprising UCLA ahead of a trip to No. 14 Oregon State next weekend.
Utah already has two wins over power five opponents Florida and Baylor, and now it is getting back its best player.
USC, Washington and Oregon are ranked higher nationally, but Utah won the conference last year and can absolutely repeat with a healthy Rising.
Drew Allar
There has been ample hype in State College, Pa., surrounding Allar, Penn State’s sophomore quarterback.
He has backed it up so far during the Nittany Lions’ perfect start, showcasing a big arm with no interceptions yet in 88 passing attempts.
Now, Allar will face his first legitimate opponent, No. 24 Iowa, which is allowing just 12.3 points per game and features a robust secondary led by cornerback Cooper DeJean and safety Quinn Schulte.
It will be interesting to see how Allar fares, and it could offer some insight into Penn State’s chances against Big Ten East powers Ohio State and Michigan.
Colorado
Canadiens defeat sluggish Avalanche in shootout, snap Colorado’s six-game win streak
The Colorado Avalanche dug deep, fueled by some officiating-driven anger, and authored a wild, remarkable comeback two nights ago in an electric evening at Ball Arena.
This was not that.
The Montreal Canadiens ended Colorado’s six-game winning streak with a 2-1 shootout victory Saturday at Ball Arena. Cole Caufield and Kirby Dach scored for the Canadiens in the shootout.
There are some 2-1 thrillers, with great saves, end-to-end action and high drama.
This was not that.
“We were just OK,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We were good defensively, responsible, checked hard against a team that’s tops in the league right now in creating offense. But we didn’t do a good enough job creating offense ourselves.”
Maybe there was a letdown after the crazy 6-5 comeback win Thursday night against the Buffalo Sabres, but this contest felt like it was played at a slower pace at times. The Avs jumped out to an early lead and played well enough for the first 40 minutes, but also looked far from a crisp, surging outfit that has collected so many positive results in the past month.
At one point, the Avalanche had just seven shots on net across more than 35 minutes of play. The Avs created more scoring opportunities than Montreal, but also missed the net on several of their best looks.
Colorado had scored at least four goals in each of the six games during the winning streak.
“We had a lot of zone time. We just didn’t create a lot of chances,” Bednar said. “Not enough of a shot mentality. That attack mentality just wasn’t there. Seemed like we were really selective on the shots we wanted to take.”
Montreal was playing the second half of a back-to-back and started rookie Jakub Dobes in net. Dobes, 23, was making his second career NHL start and stopped 22 of 23 Colorado shots. He had a 34-save shutout against the defending champion Florida Panthers in his first start.
The Avs are now 24-15-1 this season as they reach the midpoint Monday night against those Panthers. They will certainly need to be better with a significant step up in competition.
Mackenzie Blackwood didn’t have a lot of work, but he made three excellent saves when it was still a 1-0 game to give the Avs a chance. He and Scott Wedgewood have been outstanding since arriving in late November and early December. This is a game Colorado probably would have been chasing, given its lack of offense, but the new goalies have given this club a new pathway to win games.
Caulfield scored for Montreal with 6:35 remaining in the third period after an Avs turnover led to a 2-on-1. The Canadiens, who struggled to generate much offense for a lot of this contest, were pushing for an equalizer and the better of the play for the first time in the game leading up to Caufield’s goal.
The Avalanche scored the lone goal of the opening period on its second power play of the contest. Mikko Rantanen cut to the net from the right flank and Nathan MacKinnon found him. Rantanen directed the puck into the net with his foot at 9:01 of the period.
It was Rantanen’s 23rd goal of the season. The guy they call “Moose” scored a goal in his fourth straight game, and now has a 13-game point streak. That ties the longest in the NHL this season and is one shy of the longest in his career.
“He’s been phenomenal,” Bednar said. “He’s one of those one-shot goal scorers. When you need a big goal, you’ve got a guy that can score from all kinds of areas on that side of the ice.”
FOOTNOTES: Avs coach Jared Bednar said goalie Scott Wedgewood does not have a high-ankle sprain on the team’s pregame show before this contest. Bednar hopes that Wedgewood is only going to miss 1-2 weeks after falling awkwardly on Buffalo forward Zach Benson in his crease Thursday night.
Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.
Originally Published:
Colorado
First Alert Weather Day Saturday for snow and cold
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
Colorado
What Colorado man was thinking prior to Tesla Cybertruck explosion in Las Vegas
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
-
Health1 week ago
New Year life lessons from country star: 'Never forget where you came from'
-
Technology1 week ago
Meta’s ‘software update issue’ has been breaking Quest headsets for weeks
-
Business4 days ago
These are the top 7 issues facing the struggling restaurant industry in 2025
-
Politics1 week ago
'Politics is bad for business.' Why Disney's Bob Iger is trying to avoid hot buttons
-
Culture4 days ago
The 25 worst losses in college football history, including Baylor’s 2024 entry at Colorado
-
Sports4 days ago
The top out-of-contract players available as free transfers: Kimmich, De Bruyne, Van Dijk…
-
Politics2 days ago
New Orleans attacker had 'remote detonator' for explosives in French Quarter, Biden says
-
Politics2 days ago
Carter's judicial picks reshaped the federal bench across the country