The Colorado Buffaloes‘ 41-27 victory over Texas Tech on November 9 further solidified the Buffs’ standing in the Big 12.
It was Colorado’s fourth straight road win, and it came against a Red Raiders team that was 6-3 heading in. To say things got contentious is a bit of an understatement. Throughout the game, the Texas Tech crowd took to throwing various items on the field — more on that later — and things got so contentious that at one point, a few folks from the Colorado bench — including starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders — took umbrage with actions of Texas Tech’s ball boy.
When Shedeur’s brother, Colorado safety Shilo Sanders, scored a touchdown on a 6-yard fumble recovery in the game’s final minute, the Red Raiders’ ball boy took the football directly out of a celebrating Shilo’s hands. While it’s standard practice for ball boys to collect their respective team’s pigskins after scoring plays, Shedeur still took exception to it.
You can watch a video of the incident, captured by X user We Coming, below.
Social Media Reacts to Shedeur Sanders’ Interaction With Texas Tech Ball Boy
Texas Tech “Ball Boy” tried to snatch Shilo touchdown ball out of his hand and then stepped up to Shedeur 👀
The above video was viewed over six million times at the time of publication, and responses were varied.
“This is so damn lame on CU’s part. Have some respect for the ball boy doing his job,” one X user wrote.
“It’s Texas Tech’s ball. Each team provides their own offensive balls and ball boys. This isn’t the NFL,” another added.
Other fans were on the side of the Sanders brothers.
“If it’s his job, how come no other ball boy did this the whole season?” one X user wondered.
“Knocking it out of his hands is NOT his job,” another fan added, in reference to the ball boy’s actions. “Anyone defending that is wrong.”
For further context, Texas Tech fans had been throwing everything from tortillas to water bottles at the Colorado bench, as well as at Buffaloes players.
“They were throwing everything but my mama at me,” Colorado coach Deion Sanders said after the Buffs’ win, via USA Today.
Noting soft shell tortillas are one thing, Sanders revealed he had to alert the game’s refs once more harmful objects began to fly in his direction.
“When they start throwing the water bottles and those other objects, that’s when you’ve got to alarm the officials, and say, ‘OK now, tortillas are one thing, but water bottles are another thing,'” Sanders said. “That’s getting a little crazy.”
After the game, Shedeur also revealed that he autographed a tortilla. “I had to sign one,” the Buffalos QB said. “They kept throwing them at me, so I had to.”
Shedeur Sanders really signed a tortilla from Texas Tech 😭
(via @CUBuffsFootball)
Colorado Has Huge Opportunity Ahead in Remaining 3 Games
Transitioning back to the Big 12 Conference after over a decade in the Pac-12, the Buffaloes have achieved a 7-2 overall record and a 5-1 mark in conference play, positioning themselves as strong contenders for the Big 12 Championship.
Through nine games, Sanders has played extremely well, throwing for 2,882 yards and 24 touchdowns, completing 72.9% of his passes with an NCAA-best quarterback rating of 163.1. His leadership and precision have been pivotal in orchestrating the Buffaloes’ offense. The team will need him to continue to play well in order to meet its goals.
With three regular-season games remaining against Utah, Kansas, and Oklahoma State, the Buffaloes are in control of their destiny. Winning out would secure a spot in the Big 12 Championship and potentially a berth in the College Football Playoff. We’ll see how it all plays out.
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Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders’ Interaction With Texas Tech Ball Boy Goes Viral