Does Colorado have enough momentum to beat Oregon on the road? - ESPN

BOULDER, Colo. — About an hour and a half before the Rocky Mountain Showdown was set to kick off this past weekend, Colorado coach Deion Sanders strolled down the Buffaloes' sideline. Fans were starting to file in the stands, and there was already a large contingent of students who had arrived early to claim spots in their general admission sections.

As Sanders made his way toward the first student section at about the 40-yard line, they started to cheer. Then they started to bow. Both hands up, both hands down. Bend at the waist. Up and down. Up and down. Sanders continued walking toward the end zone — where the rest of the student seating wraps around — and more and more of them started to bow as the wave of worship stayed at his pace.

Colorado would move to 3-0 a few hours later in a double-overtime thriller, but in that moment the team was one of several undefeated teams in the country. One of eight in the Pac-12 alone. Yet here was Sanders, receiving God-like treatment. The whole scene, one that included a pregame visit from Dwayne «The Rock» Johnson and Lil Wayne leading the team out of the tunnel, would have been incomprehensible a year ago.

Sanders' gravitational pull is perhaps unlike anything college football has ever seen.

«Our kids are getting eyeballs, they're getting viewers, getting scouts out every day to watch them do what they're gifted to do,» Sanders said.

This week, the stakes are raised as Pac-12 play begins with a trip to No. 10 Oregon (3:30 p.m., ET, ABC), which ranks No. 2 nationally in scoring (58 points per game), No. 3 in total offense (587 yards per game) and has College Football Playoff aspirations.

As impressive as Colorado has been to start the season, Sanders knows this week's test will