Pac-12 Football

Deion Sanders was officially introduced as head coach of the Colorado Buffaloes on Sunday, and we now know what the former Jackson State bench boss will earn in his new role.

Sanders agreed to a five-year, $29.5 million deal with Colorado, according to Brian Howell of the Boulder Daily Camera.

Full details:

Sanders coached Jackson State over the last three seasons, amassing a 27-5 record while leading the Tigers into the national spotlight during his tenure.

Jackson State put together its first undefeated season in program history in 2022, finishing 12-0. The Tigers won the SWAC title Saturday with a 43-24 win over the Southern Jaguars and will take on the North Carolina Central Eagles in the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17.

During his introductory press conference in Colorado, Sanders expressed his desire to rebuild a Buffaloes squad that finished last in the Pac-12 this year with a 1-11 record.

Sanders said, via Zach Koons of Sports Illustrated:

“Now that I’ve gotten here and I see and I can understand it and I can grasp it, and I can feel it and I can touch it and I can taste it. I truly understand what you want. All you want is an opportunity to win. To compete, to dominate. To be among the elite, to be among the best. And darn it, I’m gonna give you that.

“We’re not here to compete but to win. Not to show up but to show out. Not to be among the rest but to be the absolute best. We’re coming to work, not to play. We’re coming to kill, not to kick it. Baby, I got to believe that we’re coming.”

The Buffaloes fired head coach Karl Dorrell following an 0-5 start to the 2022 season and replaced him with interim head coach Mike Sanford. Dorrell had been the coach at Colorado since 2020.

Sanders will be tasked with leading Colorado to its first winning season since 2016 when his team hits the field in 2023. While that could be a difficult task, the Buffaloes are expected to receive commitments from some top recruits with Sanders aboard.

Colorado already landed a commitment from five-star wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. on Sunday. Additionally, Sanders hinted at his son, Shedeur Sanders, transferring from Jackson State to Colorado for the 2023 season:

During the 2022 season with the Tigers, Shedeur Sanders completed 70.2 percent of his passes for 3,383 yards and 36 touchdowns against six interceptions, in addition to rushing for 174 yards and five scores.

Sanders spent 14 seasons in the NFL and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He won two Super Bowl titles and the 1994 Defensive Player of the Year award. Additionally, he was a six-time All-Pro and eight-time Pro Bowler.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams suffered a "significant" hamstring injury in Saturday's 47-24 loss to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game, Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley told reporters Sunday.

"It's probably good we're not playing for the next 2-3 weeks," Riley said. "We'll rehab him hard and hope to have him available."

Riley told reporters after Saturday's game that Williams suffered the injury on a 59-yard run in the first quarter.

"He was not even 50 percent," Riley said, per The Athletic's Stewart Mandel. "I thought about taking him out but he wouldn't let me ... maybe the gutsiest performance (at that position) I've ever seen."

Williams was a bit more candid when explaining his injury.

"You ever have an old rubber band? That’s kind of what it felt like," Williams said, per Sports Illustrated's Pat Forde.

Williams, who was seen limping by the start of the third quarter, played through the injury, completing 28-of-41 passes for 363 yards and three touchdowns against one interception in the loss. He also rushed for 21 yards on 12 carries.

The 20-year-old entered the Pac-12 Championship Game as the Heisman Trophy favorite, and he's likely still the front-runner. In 13 games this season, he has completed 66.1 percent of his passes for 4,075 yards and 37 touchdowns against four interceptions, in addition to rushing for 372 yards and 10 scores.

Williams followed Riley to USC after beginning his collegiate career as a freshman at Oklahoma, where Riley had been the head coach before accepting a deal to join the Trojans.

With a win in Saturday's championship game, USC might have been selected for the College Football Playoff. Instead, they dropped to 11-2 on the season and watched as the 11-1 Ohio State Buckeyes were picked for the four-team playoff.

Despite not being selected for the CFP, USC will face Tulane in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 2. If Williams is unable to play, Miller Moss would be in line to suit up.

Deion Sanders just took over as head coach at Colorado, and he appears to already have his starting quarterback for the 2023 season.

At his introductory press conference after being named to the position, Sanders indicated his son, Shedeur, will join him in Boulder, Colorado, and suit up for the Buffaloes.

Chris Hummer of 247Sports noted Shedeur Sanders hasn't officially entered the transfer portal, which opens Monday, but that his transfer from Jackson State is considered a foregone conclusion.

Shedeur has thrown for 3,383 yards and 36 touchdowns while running for 174 yards and five touchdowns this season. It's unclear whether he intends to play in the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 17, which pits Jackson State against North Carolina Central.

His transfer could have a domino effect for Colorado's quarterback situation.

J.T. Shrout, who transferred from Tennessee in 2021, just finished up his first year under center for the Buffaloes. With 1,220 yards and seven touchdowns, he was the team's leading passer.

Sanders' imminent arrival might have Shrout evaluating all of his transfer options.

True freshman Owen McCown already announced his intention to enter the portal, and there's seemingly no chance he'll walk back that decision now. McCown finished with 600 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions in his four appearances in 2022.

Sunday's press conference illustrated how Coach Prime intends to hit the ground running.

Colorado, which has five 10-loss seasons since 2006, is a massive rebuilding project. In the era of NIL and the one-time transfer rule, a program can be rejuvenated with just one offseason. And that's what the Buffaloes intend to do with Sanders.

There may not be a program that hits the transfer portal harder than Colorado, and it has a coach who can potentially bring elite talent to Boulder.

At least Sanders can cross off the quarterback position for now.

Wide receiver Robert Lockhart III, offensive tackle Jordan Hall and defensive back Twan Wilson announced they have decommitted from Jackson State amid news of Deion Sanders taking the head-coaching position at Colorado.

All three players made their announcements on social media:

Sanders closed out an undefeated 2022 season Saturday with a SWAC Championship Game win over Southern and was then almost immediately introduced as Colorado's next coach. The Hall of Fame cornerback went 27-5 over three seasons at Jackson State while bringing national media attention to football at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs).

The national cache helped Sanders land a number of high-profile recruits who otherwise would have attended FBS powers. 5-star cornerback Travis Hunter committed to Sanders and was dominant in his freshman season at Jackson State. It seems likely Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders, Deion's son, will lead a class of players who will follow Coach Prime from Jackson State to Colorado.

Wide receivers Kevin Coleman Jr. and Quaydarius Davis, defensive lineman KaTron Evans and cornerback De'Jahn Warren are among the other high-profile names currently on the Jackson State roster who could become notable transfers.

Sanders had not locked in a single 4-star or better recruit in his 2023 class, but that will likely soon change as he makes the transition to the Pac-12.

Wide receiver Isiah Kendall and linebackers Kofi Taylor-Barrocks and Jace Ward are the top players remaining in Jackson State's 2023 class at the moment.

Stanford is reportedly targeting Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman to replace David Shaw as the Cardinal's next head football coach.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported there is "mutual interest" between the two parties, and Roman has emerged as the vacancy's top candidate.

The 50-year-old has been an NFL offensive assistant for nearly a quarter-century after beginning his career with the Carolina Panthers in 1995. His only collegiate experience came at Stanford during the 2009 and 2010 seasons, when he served as a tight ends and offensive tackles coach under Jim Harbaugh.

When Harbaugh took the San Francisco 49ers' head coaching job in 2011, Shaw was promoted to Stanford's head coach and Roman followed Harbaugh to San Francisco. Roman has served as the offensive coordinator for the 49ers, Buffalo Bills and Ravens over the course of his career.

Baltimore promoted Roman to offensive coordinator in 2019, lining him up with Lamar Jackson's full-time takeover as the team's starting quarterback. Jackson won an MVP during his first season under Roman's tutelage and has made two of the last three Pro Bowls.

There has been some criticism of Roman's offensive philosophy, leading to speculation about his job security after last season, but he would be a solid hire for a Stanford program in desperate need of a revamp.

The Cardinal were 14-28 during Shaw's final four seasons, with his tenure concluding with back-to-back 3-9 campaigns. Stanford has struggled to keep up in the increasingly competitive college recruitment rat race, with NIL money and the ability of players to transfer more freely creating a difficult environment.

Roman has no head-coaching experience but brings an NFL cache that could create an energy that was lacking late in Shaw's tenure.

Deion Sanders is heading to Colorado.

The University of Colorado athletic director Rick George announced Sanders will be the next head football coach for the program.

Per The Athletic's Bruce Feldman, Sanders told his Jackson State players after their victory over Southern in the SWAC Championship Game on Saturday he was leaving for the new job.

Sanders did say during his address to the Tigers he will "finish what we started," which would seem to indicate he will remain with the team through the Celebration Bowl against North Carolina Central on Dec. 17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

The move has been rumored for most of the week leading up to Saturday's game. Sanders even confirmed he had been offered the Colorado job on Monday during a teleconference call with reporters.

Sanders also said other programs had contacted him to express their interest, but he declined to name them.

Per ESPN's Pete Thamel, Sanders spent most of this week "making inquiries to both potential members of his on-field staff and support staff at Colorado" about joining him at his new job.

Thamel also noted Sanders placed a call to a "prominent player in the NCAA transfer portal" and encouraged him not to make any decision until Sanders could recruit him to Colorado.

Getting Sanders is a huge boon for a program that has had five head coaches since 2018. Mike MacIntyre was fired after a six-game losing streak after starting the 2018 campaign 5-0. Quarterbacks coach Kurt Roper served as interim head coach for the final game of the year.

Mel Tucker went 5-7 in his lone season at Colorado in 2019 before resigning to take the same position at Michigan State. Karl Dorrell made it through two full seasons before being fired this past October after an 0-5 start.

Mike Sanford replaced Dorrell on an interim basis for the final seven games in 2022. The Buffaloes finished this season 1-11, tied for the worst single-season record in program history.

Colorado has only made two bowl appearances since 2008. It has only played for a Pac-12 title once since moving to the conference in 2011.

Sanders is wrapping up a successful three-season run at Jackson State University. He was hired by the program in September 2020 and has led it to a 27-5 record with back-to-back SWAC championships.

The Tigers' 12 wins this season broke the previous record of 11, set in 2021 (11-2). They can complete the first perfect season in program history with a win in the Celebration Bowl.

The USC football team will not be going to the College Football Playoff after falling to Utah 47-24 in the Pac 12 Championship Game on Friday evening in Las Vegas.

The No. 4 Trojans were guaranteed a postseason berth with a win over the No. 11 Utes, but a disastrous defensive effort led to USC's second defeat against Utah this year.

Utah rolled for 533 total yards, with quarterback Cameron Rising completing 22-of-34 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns. His 60-yard toss to tight end Thomas Yassmin gave the Utes a 33-24 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Utes steamrolled the Trojans on the ground as well with 223 yards and three scores on 35 carries (6.4 YPC).

After the Yassmin touchdown and a R.J. Hubert interception of USC quarterback Caleb Williams, Utes running back Ja'Quinden Jackson rushed for a 53-yard touchdown for a 39-24 edge.

The Utes defense then forced a turnover on downs before a Micah Bernard score put the game away for good.

The USC offense did all it could with Williams, the clear Heisman Trophy favorite, hobbled with a midgame lower-body injury that briefly sent him to the medical tent. He still impressed with 363 passing yards and three touchdowns.

However, the Utah offensive line dominated the trenches, allowing the skill-position players with more than enough room to dissect the USC defense through the air and on the ground.

That enables Utah to finish the evening on a 44-7 run after falling behind 17-3 in the second quarter, and Twitter noted the team's significant defensive struggles as a result.

Utah will now be heading to the Rose Bowl as the Pac-12 representative. USC will await its bowl fate following Saturday's conference championship games.

Stanford football coach David Shaw announced his resignation Saturday, ending the most successful tenure in program history.

"After many prayers and multiple discussions with my wife, one phrase keeps coming to me - it's time," Shaw said in a statement. "There are not sufficient words to describe the love and gratitude I feel for my family, all of my former and current players, my staff, this administration and the entire Stanford family. Thank you all."

Shaw went 96-54 over the course of 12 seasons at his alma mater, setting the all-time record for wins in program history. The 50-year-old began his career with a stretch of unprecedented success, with the Cardinal reeling off eight straight winning seasons and reaching a New Year's Six game four times.

However, the program has fallen off significantly over the last four seasons. Shaw leaves after going a combined 14-28 since 2019, including back-to-back 3-9 campaigns.

Once considered a hot candidate for NFL head-coaching jobs, Shaw says he has no immediate plans to continue coaching.

"I am not burnt out," Shaw told reporters. "I'm healthy; I feel good. But 16 years is a long time. ... 16 years of running a program, 16 years of being responsible for everything and everybody catches up to you."

Shaw came to Stanford in 2007 to serve as the offensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh. He was named head coach when Harbaugh left for the San Francisco 49ers after the 2010 season, continuing the upward trajectory that began during the Harbaugh era. Stanford won three Pac-12 titles in Shaw's first five seasons and peaked in 2015, finishing as the third-ranked team in the country.

While Shaw drew praise for doing less with more—Stanford's high academic requirements can create issues in recruiting—the program has lagged behind in an era of transfers and NIL endorsements.

"Stanford historically doesn't change quickly," Shaw said. "We are methodical. ... It's been difficult, but it's been difficult for everybody."

Shaw previously spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders and Baltimore Ravens before coming to Stanford. It would not be a surprise to see him eventually land an NFL coaching position, though he's not going to be at the top of as many lists as he would have been four or five years ago.

The No. 9 Oregon Ducks fell to the No. 21 Oregon State Beavers, their in-state rival, 38-34 on Saturday, and tensions escalated quickly following a loss that dropped Dan Lanning's squad to 9-3.

After the Ducks blew a 21-point lead to Oregon State, Beavers fans stormed the field, and that's when things got dicey.

While walking off the field at Reser Stadium, Ducks linebacker DJ Johnson appeared to punch an Oregon State fan in the back of the head before being dragged away from the situation by Oregon staffers.

It's unclear if Johnson will face any discipline or if authorities will get involved.

Johnson, a sixth-year senior, posted three tackles in Saturday's loss, bringing his season totals to six sacks, 36 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss and two pass breakups in 11 games.

The Ducks can secure a berth in the Pac-12 Championship Game if the No. 13 Washington Huskies fall to the Washington State Cougars on Saturday night. If the Huskies win, Oregon will await its bowl game matchup.