Prime says a bowl game is ‘just the beginning of what Buffs desire’

BOULDER—They say nothing good happens after midnight but a 99-year-old got one of the best phone calls of her life early Sunday morning.

Colorado Buffaloes athletic director Rick George and head coach Deion Sanders gave CU superfan Peggy Coppom a ring from the locker room after the team’s 34-23 win over Cincinnati late Saturday night. The message Coppom got was a celebratory one, an accomplishment from the coach who set out to win at least six games for Coppom and got it done by beating the Bearcats and moving to 6-2 on the season.

“Peggy is fighting COVID Right now, and we wanted to give her love and appreciation and present her with the game ball. So we called her,” Sanders explained after the game. “Rick was gracious enough to call her, and she answered on the first ring in Peggy fashion, with plenty of energy and that oomph that she has, and we told her that she is going to a bowl. Now we want to make sure she goes to the best possible bowl that she could possibly go to, and that means a lot to us, that really does. And she was so appreciative and thankful, but she means so much to this program, so we’re glad that we could honor her in that realm. Now, we just got to get a private plane to make sure she’s comfortable on the way there. Can’t put her on a regular plane, I promise you that, but I’m thankful that we were able to do that for her.”

“I am so happy, thank you. What a turnaround you have done for us,” Coppom said on the phone.

The moment was captured on video from the Buffs locker room.

Coach Prime and Colorado make a call to Miss Peggy after fulfilling the milestone of getting her to a Bowl Game❤️🦬 pic.twitter.com/l8SehaBcJC

— GUCCE🦬🐦‍⬛ (@gucceCU) October 27, 2024

Getting to six wins and a bowl is a big deal for the Buffs, who are now eligible for just the second time in the last 16 full seasons of action.  This will be Colorado’s third bowl game since the start of the 2008 season as the team played in the Alamo Bowl both in the 2016 season and the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The Buffaloes won just five games in the 2021 and 2022 seasons combined, leading to the coaching change that put Sanders in charge. Coach Prime’s first year was an improving 4-8, but the leap has come in his second year at the helm with the Buffs now at 6-2.

“It’s cute. It really is, because we really want that,” Sanders said of getting a sixth win. “But that’s not all we’re after. That’s one of the hurdles that we’re jumping over, that we’re going over. That’s a tremendous hurdle, that we’re happy, we’re excited, but that’s not the end goal for us. That’s the beginning, but we are thankful and appreciative that the hard work is going noticed.”

The Buffs now have a bye before beginning the stretch run where the goal is now to get Peggy to the best bowl game possible. Coming into the week, media outlet projections changed from Colorado going to the Independence Bowl to the Las Vegas Bowl. Where the Buffaloes could roam in late December will change between now and then but the likelihood of the team being ranked in the first College Football Playoff poll a week from Tuesday bodes well for Colorado’s chances at a glitzier event.

“That isn’t the goal. I wanted to do that for Peggy, so that was kind of me. That goal wasn’t about us. That was what I wanted for Peggy because she deserves it,” Sanders said. “We had to have a rally and cry for some rhyme or reason. But we want so much more. We want so much more. That’s why we practice the way we practice, and that’s why we go at it the way we go about it. We want so much more. That was just the beginning of what we desire around here.”

The Buffaloes have a fairly easy schedule the rest of the way but need some help around the conference in order to get to the Big 12 Championship Game which has an auto-bid at stake for the College Football Playoff. While Coach Prime would only hint at that a few players have now publically talked about the conference’s championship game being the goal.

“It’s big for us because it’s big for the fans,” quarterback Shedeur Sanders said. “We look at every game that we play as a possible win. We don’t go into the season or look at the schedule like ‘Oh we’re only gonna win six games.’ That’s not what happened. So the fact that we did, it just trusts the process that we’re using. We’re not even hitting our peak. Nowhere close. We still got a lot of things we got to clean up. We still have a lot of things offensively we have to excel more at. It’s just a great thing. It’s just a great badge of honor for now. But we got bigger aspirations.”

Now it’s on the arm of one Sanders and the whistle of another to plan for Peggy’s private jet itinerary.