Colorado had the home crowd at Folsom Field, a 29-0 halftime-lead Friday night and seemingly an inevitable fifth win.
Then something happened to Deion Sanders's inaugural herd of Buffaloes, who appeared poised to take one more gallop toward bowl eligibility.
The visiting Cardinal had another thing in mind.
Buoyed by the record-setting 294-yard, three-touchdown performance by wideout Elic Ayomanor and able to capitalize on Colorado's whopping 17 penalties, the Cardinal rallied for an 46-43, double-overtime win that left Coach Prime to question his team's commitment.
“What I just said in the locker room to the team (after the loss) is they got to make up in their mind are they in love with this game or are they in like with it?," Deion Sanders said. "Because when you love something, you give to it unconditionally. You give everything you got to, but when you like it that's just a button you push and it lights up. That’s what they do on social media. So they got to figure out, do they love it or do they like it? And it's hard for me, because I love this. I love it.
"Without a shadow of a doubt I am truly 100 percent in love with this thing. And I just want people to match me. Just match my passion, match my heart, match my love, match my consistency, just match my mannerisms, just match every darn thing I give to this game. I love this. Sadly, I love it so much but the game don't even occupy the ability to love you back. That's strange love, isn’t it?”
Shedeur Sanders tossed an interception that ended Colorado's second overtime possession, and Stanford kicked a short field goal to give first-year coach Troy Taylor a needed win.
Deion Sanders, meanwhile, flatly stated Shedeur Sanders never should have thrown the ball but cautioned against his team's mindset as it heads into an off week.
“You have no choice but to go forward," Coach Prime said. "That’s life. This ain’t the only thing that’s going on in life. I mean, all you guys are dealing with something, you're still moving, you’re still progressing, you’re still going forward? We got to do the same darn thing. We didn't expect that. There’s a lot of things that goes on in life that is unexpected and this was one of them. We got to knuckle up and let's go."
As he again leaned into the notion of outside detractors who would revel in the Buffaloes' loss, Coach Prime emphasized his team had to regroup and battle back from not only a school-record collapse but also what their coach said was the worst of his life at any level.
“We can’t sit down and have no pity party," Deion Sanders said. "Y'all don't feel bad for us. Some of y’all are ecstatic about what transpired today. And I know that, but that's cool.
"We're gonna take this one on the chin, because we deserve it. I've never been in one of these. From youth on I don't remember being up 29 [to] nothing and losing the football game. I really don't. This is a little tough for me. And I'm trying my best and I thank you all for your patience and thank you for your heart. Because this is really tough for me. But you can see when I'm amping up and I kind of see this stuff coming you can see why I go in like I go at it because I could feel my team. I could feel what's about to transpire. And here we go.”
After having off next Saturday, Colorado has back-to-back games against top-25 PAC-12 foes: at No. 18 UCLA October 28 and home against No. 15 Oregon State November 4.