photo by: AP Photo/Rick Scuteri

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders talks to quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) in the first half during an NCAA college football game against Arizona, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Tucson, Ariz.

Two disparate rebuilding projects that have run in parallel will intersect on Saturday when Colorado visits GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium to face Kansas.

It will be the first meeting between the two schools since Colorado initially left the Big 12 prior to the 2011 season — only to return to the conference 13 years later.

But the program the Jayhawks face on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. bears little resemblance to any previous iteration of the Buffaloes, or to virtually any other program in the sport. It is a College Football Playoff and Big 12 title contender and one of the nation’s breakout teams.

“This is probably one of the games we’ve been waiting on all season, though,” KU cornerback Cobee Bryant said. “Other than K-State, this was the other one, Colorado, so we’ve been waiting on it.”

CU head coach Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders, his starting quarterback and son Shedeur Sanders and the two-way star Travis Hunter have been at the center of a highly visible, highly successful, at times polarizing climb to prominence. All three arrived from Jackson State prior to the 2023 season; in Sanders’ first year at the helm the Buffaloes made some initial noise by beating reigning national runner-up TCU in their opener, but lost eight of their final nine games.

This season has brought much more sustained success for CU. The Buffaloes needed a Hail Mary to beat Baylor and lost narrowly to Kansas State but have otherwise won by double digits against UCF, Arizona, Cincinnati, Texas Tech and Utah.

“I have a lot of respect for Coach Sanders, and Coach Prime, and how he’s gone about it,” KU coach Lance Leipold said. “I told him that one of the first times I met him, because the thing that we do have in common is we’ve come up through ranks that aren’t necessarily conventional to get a Power Four football job.”

Leipold rose from Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater to Buffalo in the MAC and then to KU, while Sanders, a member of the professional and college football halls of fame, had coached in high school before getting the gig at Jackson State and then going straight to struggling Colorado.

Sanders called Leipold a friend and said he was thankful for the “love and respect” the KU coach had shown by checking in on him now and then.

While Leipold and Sanders may share some roots and some appreciation — if not much in terms of their personalities — their teams really haven’t had much in common this year. KU faded from the public eye this season until back-to-back ranked wins over Iowa State and BYU gave the Jayhawks a shot at bowl eligibility, while CU has been under the microscope throughout. In addition, the two teams have played almost completely different schedules outside of K-State.

“This is a team we haven’t played,” KU coach Lance Leipold said on Monday. “This is a team that we really didn’t have a ton of crossover film on as far as opponents, as far as how it falls for us.”

It hasn’t taken him long, though, to get acquainted with the Buffaloes’ bold-face names.

photo by: AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

Colorado wide receiver Travis Hunter (12) runs after catching a pass against Central Florida during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

By playing both wideout and cornerback, Hunter, the Heisman Trophy favorite, has made something that virtually no one else in modern college football does appear almost routine.

“He’s doing it on both sides of the ball and doesn’t seem to get tired,” KU defensive coordinator Brian Borland said. “I wish he would.”

With 911 receiving yards and nine touchdowns through the air on offense to go with three interceptions on defense, he will test two of KU’s most experienced and potent position groups: its wide receivers and its cornerbacks. Leipold praised Sanders and his staff for getting Hunter up to speed with two separate game plans each week and keeping him healthy, and called him “a special athlete of our time.”

“It’s so far beyond the realm of what we do now,” offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes said. “I wonder if there are other people that are capable of doing it, we just don’t ever think about it because that’s not the way we do things traditionally.”

Shedeur Sanders hasn’t had to rely solely on Hunter, though.

“You can’t focus your game plan around stopping No. 12 (Hunter),” Borland said, “because you’re going to get hurt by any number of other guys.”

One of the top quarterbacks in the nation statistically with 3,222 yards and 27 passing touchdowns to just seven interceptions, Sanders has been able to spread the ball around to a versatile and highly talented group of wideouts also featuring Jimmy Horn Jr., Will Sheppard and LaJohntay Wester.

photo by: AP Photo/David Zalubowski

Colorado wide receiver Will Sheppard (14) pulls in a touchdown pass over Utah cornerback Cameron Calhoun (4) in the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Boulder, Colo.

photo by: AP Photo/David Zalubowski

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders (2) runs as Utah linebacker Karene Reid (21) covers in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, in Boulder, Colo.

The quarterback doesn’t run the ball as much as he extends pass plays.

“Receivers seem to know, they put their foot in the ground and they get places,” Borland said, “and a lot of their big plays are plays like that where it’s probably not necessarily the initial route that’s drawn up, it’s what happens after that.”

Bryant added: “I really talked to Shedeur like two days ago, actually, because we’re kind of cool some ways, but yeah, he told me, ‘Just stay on your man,’ because he (is) going to try to move around in the pocket.”

CU is a bit weaker elsewhere on offense. The Buffaloes have the worst run game in the Big 12 and even their pass blocking is just 11th in the 16-team league on Pro Football Focus, even with a much-improved offensive line as compared to last year.

“They’ve done a really good job, but I think there’s still some opportunity for us,” Borland said.

Defensively, they rank near the middle of the pack. Safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green have racked up 76 and 73 tackles, respectively, while Arizona State transfer defensive end BJ Green II lands near the top of the conference with 10 tackles for loss. Cornerbacks DJ McKinney and Preston Hodge accompany Hunter in the secondary.

Kansas Jayhawks (4-6, 3-4 Big 12) vs. No. 16 Colorado Buffaloes (8-2, 6-1 Big 12)

• GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri, 2:30 p.m.

• Broadcast: Fox

• Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network (in Lawrence, KLWN AM 1320 / K269GB FM 101.7 / KKSW FM 105.9)

• Betting line: CU -3; over/under 59.5

• Series history: CU leads 42-25-3

Keep an eye out

1. Staying centered: It’ll be an intense day for the Jayhawks, between facing a third straight ranked opponent (and one with such a national profile) in a do-or-die situation and saying goodbye to 30-plus seniors playing at home — at least at Arrowhead — for the final time. Leipold emphasized that his players can’t let senior day overwhelm them.

2. Off his spots: The KU pass rush has not necessarily been a bright spot this year, particularly when it’s been called upon to get after the quarterback without the aid of blitzers. But defensive end Dean Miller has upped his game in recent weeks and managed to record three pressures apiece in each of the last two weeks, increasing his pass-rush win rate on the year to 8.9%. He also has four sacks in the last four games. Players like Miller will need to prevent Sanders from either settling into the pocket or making plays on the move, with all the weapons he has downfield. Leipold said that creating “pressure and disruption and trying to get Shedeur off rhythm is going to be important, so we’ll need another big game from (Miller).”

3. Senior shift: A quiet season for last year’s leading wideout Lawrence Arnold, who has not recorded more than four catches in a game this year, took a negative turn last week when he suffered an early injury at BYU. Fellow senior Trevor Wilson stepped in but did not record a reception, and in fact half of his eight catches on the year came in one breakout game against Kansas State. If Arnold is out against CU — Leipold called him “highly questionable” — the Jayhawks will need Wilson and Doug Emilien operating at peak capacity against the Buffaloes’ potent secondary.

Spotlight on…

Marvin Grant: The Jayhawks’ senior safety who has really functioned as more of a linebacker recorded a team- and season-high 10 tackles, including the game-winning fourth-down stop, against BYU. KU even put him back at safety for nine snaps, compared to just seven in the last seven games. Depending on formational alignments, Grant’s diverse skill set could be deployed in a variety of ways against CU’s potent offense. He’s also established himself as one of the Jayhawks’ top blitzers and has three sacks this year, meaning he might be called upon to test the Buffaloes’ improved but still potentially vulnerable offensive line.

Inside the numbers

1,197: Total number of snaps played by Hunter this year across offense, defense and special teams, per PFF.

74: KU running back Devin Neal needs this many yards to reach 1,000 on the year; no Jayhawk has ever rushed for 1,000 yards in three separate seasons.

5: KU cornerback Mello Dotson’s interception total for the year, which leads the Big 12.

Prediction

Colorado wins 31-27. KU has elite cornerback talent on the outside in Bryant and Dotson but has still been middling against the pass this year. The only other Big 12 team this year with a passing attack comparable to CU’s in terms of overall productivity is TCU, and the Horned Frogs threw for 356 yards and three scores to beat the Jayhawks at Arrowhead in their only two-possession loss of the year, while also eventually wearing down the Jayhawks a bit on the ground late in that game.

The combination of young players beyond the top two at cornerback and safety and an inconsistent pass rush does not provide much optimism that the Jayhawks will be able to stop Sanders and his array of weapons. It’ll be a tall order for KU to keep its bowl dreams alive.