In the midst of an angry defeat against an opponent with a worse record than themselves, the Colorado Buffaloes appeared to lose their cool against the Kansas Jayhawks.
At one point in the game, as Colorado was losing, Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders — son of Colorado coach and NFL legend Deion Sanders — appeared to shove an official in an attempt to prevent a fight.
Referee Kevin Mar had his arms outstretched in front of a group of Colorado players in an attempt to separate them from a Kansas player on the ground. At that moment, it appears that Sanders pushed Mar in the back with both hands.
FOX Sports rules analyst Mike Pereira said on the broadcast: “There’s no doubt he does. Look, I understand why he’s upset, because people are almost climbing over him after he falls.
‘But the officials can use their hands as much as they want to maintain order. But you can’t come back as a player and push a referee. In the chaos the referees don’t see it, but he’s lucky he wasn’t kicked out of the match.’
Sanders continued to play in the game and was not ejected or penalized by the officiating team.
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders (center) pushed referee Kevin Mar in the back
College football fans were outraged by these actions, with fans using this as an example of reasons why NFL teams should think twice before selecting him in the draft.
“Exhibit A why I would never draft him,” one college football fan wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Another said: ‘And people complaining about him getting hit low… F*** that. Knock this loser to his knees. No respect for anyone. Classless move by a loser.’
“Never felt so deeply rooted in someone’s demise,” a third person posted.
Sanders completed 23 of 29 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns on the day, while scrambling four times for 26 yards.
But that wasn’t enough to prevent the Buffaloes from losing to previously 4-6 Kansas by a score of 37-21 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
It hurts Colorado’s chances of reaching the College Football Playoff — something they would likely only achieve if they won the Big XII Championship game.
In order to make that play, they have to beat Oklahoma State and then two things have to happen: 1) BYU loses to 4-7 Houston or 2) Arizona State loses to 4-7 Arizona.