Deion Sanders has another two-way star in the making for Colorado football
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Colorado football coach Deion Sanders made sure to spread the news about one of his players Tuesday, Sept. 8, during his weekly news conference in Boulder.
As the Buffaloes prepare for their home opener against Weber State on Sept. 12, Sanders announced second-year Colorado player Chauncey Gooden “was the only interior lineman in all of Division I football that played both ways” last week when the Buffaloes beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 14-13.
Gooden, who is listed at 6-3, 380 pounds, started on the offensive line and also rang up a tackle during eight snaps on defense, making him a rare breed under Sanders in more ways than one.
▶ He might be the best two-way player under Sanders since Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy as a cornerback and receiver for the Buffaloes in 2024.
▶ He also might be the best athlete named Chauncey at Colorado since Chauncey Billups, who went on to a Hall of Fame basketball career after leaving the Buffaloes in 1997.
“Chauncey’s earned it,” said Sanders, whose team is 1-0.
Unlike other coaches, Sanders welcomes two-way players, in part because he played both ways himself as a cornerback and occasional receiver in the NFL. But there’s one condition: First they’ve got to be good enough to dominate on one side of the ball.
With Gooden, he has. The Nashville native was part of an offensive line that gave up only one sack against Georgia Tech and also is part of an upstart all-new defense that looks to help Colorado improve to 2-0 this week as a five-touchdown favorite against the Wildcats.
“Heisman winner Travis Hunter (was) the best player to do it,” Gooden told reporters Tuesday. “So it’s just like, the the fact that I can do what he did, even in the trenches, it’s just remarkable.”
Gooden said he played both ways in youth football, middle school and high school before arriving at Colorado, where he only played 18 snaps last year as a freshman. He knows the deal with Sanders.
“He made it clear that I need to handle what I need to handle on the offensive side to be able to play defense,” Gooden said. “But defense is always something I’ve had the heart for.”
Deion Sanders asks, 'Anybody heard that mess?'
A reporter shared some old wisdom with Sanders on Tuesday by telling him teams “make their biggest jump” in improvement between their first and second games of the season. But Sanders questioned it.
“I never heard that before,” Sanders said.
“No?” the reporter said.
“No,” Sanders said. “Anybody heard that mess? I never heard it. Y’all heard it? It must have been on the white side of town.”
The reporter then rephrased his question to ask him what improvements he’d most like to see against Weber State. He named a few areas, including his offense.
“Offensively, we got to do so much better, receivers as well as quarterback seeing the game and making necessary plays that we need to make,” Sanders said.
It was the only time Sanders mentioned quarterback play at the news conference. He otherwise wasn’t asked about the play of second-year quarterback Julian Lewis, who redeemed himself late in the game in Atlanta when he led the Buffs downfield to take the lead with 37 seconds left.
Before the final drive, Lewis had completed only 10 of 21 passes for 84 yards and no touchdowns. But then he found his moxie when he needed to on that last possession of eight plays and 75 yards. He completed 4 of 6 passes for 60 yards on that final possession, which ended with a 20-yard touchdown pass to tight end Charlie Williams — Lewis’ longest pass of the night.
Colorado is a 34.5-point favorite vs. Weber State at home
Lewis, who is only 18 years old, should have an easier time against Weber State of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in Colorado’s home opener Sept. 12. Weber State is a 34.5-point underdog for this game and is 1-1 after suffering a 47-42 loss against Southern Utah on Sept. 5.
“I promise you, we’re not taking anything for granted, because I know darn well if I was on that team, I would come here and want to show out, so that maybe somebody could recognize me and notice me and maybe grab me out of the (transfer) portal and pay me handsomely,” Sanders said. “That’s what I would be thinking if I was on that team.”
If Colorado wins, the Buffs will be 2-0 for the first time since Sanders’ first season in Boulder in 2023, when they started 3-0 before finishing 4-8.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Deion Sanders has another two-way star in the making for Colorado football
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