Danny Scudero made sure to soak in the atmosphere Saturday afternoon at Folsom Field.
“I truly thank God every day that I’m here because it’s truly a blessing to be a part of such a fun culture and in a beautiful place,” the Colorado receiver said after the Buffaloes’ annual Black & Gold Day at Folsom Field. “Colorado is a beautiful place, and Folsom Field is … I couldn’t get enough.
Deion Sanders, left, high-fives punter Daniel Gerlach during Saturday’s scrimmage at Folsom Field. (Joel Solis/Staff Photographer)
“I had to take a moment and just kind of look around and kind of be proud of myself for where I was and where my feet were. So, it was definitely a blessing to be here.”
A senior transfer from San Jose State, Scudero provided one of the few highlights in a spring game that was vanilla by design. His 13-yard touchdown reception from quarterback JuJu Lewis was the only touchdown of the abbreviated scrimmage, won by the Gold team, 7-6.
It was a scrimmage, however, that got the job done, in terms of completing a session of 15 spring workouts that sets the table for the 2026 Buffs.
“You accomplish things, and we need to better ourselves in a multitude of aspects,” CU head coach Deion Sanders said. “We got some good things going on. I think you can see the fruit thereof.”
Offensively, there weren’t many fireworks, other than Lewis’ sensational pass to Scudero for the lone touchdown, but there were some efficient and productive plays.
Lewis, projected as the starter at quarterback, unofficially completed 6-of-11 passes for 60 yards. The redshirt freshman looked more comfortable than he did in last year’s spring game.
“He was a lot better,” Sanders said. “And I think that’s very easy to obtain when you got Danny Scudero on your side. He is a dawg, and having a comfort level with the playbook and the way (offensive coordinator Brennan) Marion communicates on the set. You gotta understand that was the first time that all the coaches got an opportunity to communicate (on the headsets).”
Isaac Wilson, who is competing for the job as well, was unofficially 6-for-12 for 65 yards and was intercepted by freshman cornerback Mojo Williams Jr. on the last play.
Scudero had two catches for 25 yards, running back Damian Henderson had 39 rushing yards on five carries, and Quentin Gibson caught four passes for 38 yards.
Defensively, end Toby Anene had a sack and batted down a pass, defensive tackle Santana Hopper made several plays at the line of scrimmage and defensive back Boo Carter was active all day.
“The hardest thing to measure when you’re measuring the spring game is if the offense does well, that means the defense is not doing well. And vice versa,” Sanders said. “You hope to see the quarterbacks not throw interceptions like we did on the last play. You hope that they move the ball down the field. You hope that defensive backs are aggressive and physical.
“It’s a multitude of things, but the main thing is you don’t want to get anybody hurt.”
Sanders said two players suffered “strained MCLs,” but not tears, so he said, “We’re going to be OK with that.”
Coming off a disappointing 3-9 season in 2025 and rebuilding with 59 new players this spring, CU didn’t draw a lot of buzz for this year’s spring game.
It was the first of Sanders’ four spring games to not be televised, although it was streamed on YouTube.
Unlike the previous three years, CU didn’t charge for tickets. Officially, 27,772 tickets were claimed, which would make it the third-most “attended” spring game in CU history, behind the 2023 and 2024 games. However, BuffZone estimates that roughly 10,000 tickets were used.
Around the country, many programs have cancelled spring games and Sanders said that plays a role in the decreased interest in CU’s game.
“No one’s valuing spring anymore,” he said. “The only thing that would bring that back is we compete against another school, and I’ve been saying that for the last several years.”
CU’s disappointing season in 2025 played a role, too, though.
“Winning also helps increase that, but people get tired of the same old, same old at a certain point and you want more,” he said.
He also acknowledged it’s tough for fans to get to know players when there’s so much movement in the transfer portal every year. Yet, he was appreciative of the thousands of fans who did show up to watch and enjoy Black & Gold Day.
“I understand (the other factors) wholeheartedly, but we have a tremendous fan base,” he said. “We have a tremendous student body and we still have a lot of people out there that’s crazy about CU football. And I’m excited about that.”
