Shedeur Sanders Accused Of Taking Sacks To Preserve Stats

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USC v Colorado
BOULDER, CO - SEPTEMBER 30: Shedeur Sanders #2 of the Colorado Buffaloes rushes for a touchdown in the second quarter against the USC Trojans at Folsom Field on September 30, 2023 in Boulder, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
Sanders has been sacked 25 times this season.

An anonymous Pac-12 assistant has accused Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders of taking sacks intentionally to preserve his passing stats. “I think they want to rack up some stats for Shedeur. He really holds on to the ball a long time. I think he takes sacks because he doesn’t want to affect his completion percentage,” the coach told The Athletic this week. Through five games, Sanders has been sacked 25 times for 221 lost yards. Furthermore, Sanders has -43 rushing yards on the season. “He’s playing a little different than he did earlier in the season. Before he showed that, he was willing to step up and escape through the B-gaps. Now, he’s retreating more,” the coach continued.

Sanders has been one of the best passers in college football this season. He is currently second in total yards with 1781 yards and the second-best completion percentage of QBs with more than 200 passing attempts. Sanders has attempted at least 33 passes in all five of his starts at Colorado. Furthermore, he has attempted at least 40 in four of those five games. However, Sanders took 10 sacks in his first two Pac-12 games, including seven against Oregon. Colorado has not responded to the allegations at the time of writing.

Deion Sanders Misses Radio Show

Meanwhile, Deion Sanders briefly sparked concern among Colorado fans after he missed his weekly radio show on Thursday. Assistant coach Mark Johnson, who also represented Colorado at the Pac-12 Media Day, filled in for Sanders. “We are going without Coach Prime here today. We received notification a little while ago that (he) was a little under the weather and had a bad reaction to his immune IVs, is what I was told.” A school spokesperson later today The Denver Post that Sanders was going to be fine. However, they declined to elaborate further on the incident.

It's not the first time that Sanders has suffered from some medical issues. He underwent surgery to remove blood clots in his legs during the offseason. That forced him to miss the aforementioned Pac-12 Media Day. At this time, there is no indication that Sanders will miss Colorado's trip to Arizona State this weekend. The Buffs are looking to bounce back from back-to-back losses with a win over the 1-4 Sun Devils.

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About The Author
Benjamin Mock (they/them) is a sports and culture writer working out of Philadelphia. Previously writing for the likes of Fixture, Dexerto, Fragster, and Jaxon, Ben has dedicated themselves to engaging and accessible articles about sports, esports, and internet culture. With a love for the weirder stories, you never quite know what to expect from their work.
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