Joel Klatt Issues Strong Warning to Deion Sanders Before Week 3

The 2023 "Rocky Mountain Showdown" between the Colorado Buffaloes and Colorado State Rams was the cherry on top of what was an electric start to Deion Sanders' tenure in Boulder.

Unfortunately for him and his squad, following the thrilling double overtime win, they lost eight of their next nine games. Heading into this year's meeting, which is taking place in Fort Collins, the Buffs are not riding a hype train like they were last year.

Instead, their ugly Week 2 loss at Nebraska, which dropped them to 1-1, has made this game one that Fox's Joel Klatt thinks Colorado cannot afford to lose. The former Colorado quarterback revealed on a recent episode of "The Joel Klatt Show" that this is the "biggest" game of Sanders' tenure.

“Can we just pause for a moment and think about how big this game is for Colorado and Coach Prime?” Klatt said . “This is, unequivocally, the biggest game that Colorado has had since Coach Prime has gotten there. Because they can not lose this game. If they lose this game, where do you go from here? This would be a sign of regression in the second year.

"If you just frame it like that, you understand the urgency that Colorado’s going to have to have in this game," Klatt said. "They have to win. And they’re going up into an environment that’s going to be very difficult to do that.”

Despite the fact that he thinks they will win, he did express concerns about how often they air it out. While they have an elite quarterback, they also rank dead last in the country in rushing offense, averaging just 37.5 per game.

“They’ve been the most pass-heavy team in the nation this season, which I’m not upset about, because yes, they’re going to throw the football, but they have to create some first down run game,” Klatt said. “Some! Because the more that Shedeur has to throw the ball because he has to versus because he wants to, the more they’re going to get beat. And the more he’s going to get sacked. They’ve gotta get some creativity and movement in that offense, pre-snap, to put the defense in conflict.”

Klatt also revealed he thinks they should lean less on man coverage on defense, as they rank No. 95 in college football in passing yards allowed per game with 238.5.

If the Buffs do lose, the already loud noise around Sanders' struggles as a head coach will only get louder. If they win, they can silence the critics for at least another week.

Related: Colorado State Players Send Warning to Colorado: 'We're Coming For Revenge'