It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Colorado football team on the field.
On the recruiting trail Tuesday, the Buffs had a win and a loss.
Alex Ward, a four-star recruit in the 2027 class, verbally committed to CU and head coach Deion Sanders. Meanwhile, four-star defensive lineman Emanuel Ruffin decommitted from the Buffs’ 2026 class.
Listed at 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, Ward, from IMG Academy (Bradenton, Florida), recently decommitted from Alabama. He has 13 offers, including from Florida State, Georgia, Michigan, Tennessee and Texas A&M. He is the younger brother of Christian Ward, an IMG Academy receiver who is verbally committed for CU for the 2026 class.
Ward played at Walton High School in Marietta, Georgia, last year as a sophomore, catching nine passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, while adding 18 tackles, a sack and two interceptions on defense. He transferred to IMG this year.
Ward is the first verbal commitment for the Buffs for the 2027 class.
Ruffin, a 6-foot-4, 290-pounder from Bessemer City (Alabama) High School, had committed to CU in September after visiting the campus. In June, Ruffin took visits to blueblood programs Alabama, LSU and Ohio State. Those schools are among the 31 scholarship offers received by Ruffin.
CU has 12 verbal commitments for the 2026 class.
Quieting players
After not making any players available to the media after Saturday’s 52-17 loss to Arizona – something he had done just once before during his three seasons at CU – Sanders elected to not let players or assistant coaches speak to media this week leading up to the Buffs’ game at West Virginia on Saturday (10 a.m. MT, TNT).
It’s the first time in several years, if ever, that CU hasn’t allowed players to talk during a game week. In the wake of consecutive blowout losses – 53-7 at Utah and Saturday against Arizona – Sanders said he’s protecting his players.
“I have a fatherly spirit and I have an overseer spirit,” he said. “I’m trying to shield my guys from certain things that may harm them. I know the temperature of the room. I know if they can’t handle this at this time, certain guys. Certain guys can, certain guys can’t. I can’t differentiate those guys and tell you, ‘You can talk to him but you can’t talk to him.’ I don’t want to do that.
“My job is to protect them and put an umbrella around them until I feel like they’re ready for the attacks and the assaults and ready for the social media gambit, which they’re dealing with right now. So that’s just me being a protector, a guardian, and a father, which we all called ‘coach’ back in the day.”
Changes?
CU hasn’t fired any assistant coaches, and if Sanders has made changes in duties among his staff, he isn’t revealing those.
“That’s up to you to notice them,” he said. “They may have already happened.
“I might have already changed it and you don’t know. I don’t do stuff and blow the whistles and make major announcements. … I do it and I let you guys still take shots. You don’t even know, you may be shooting at the wrong target. So, some things take place that you may not be privy to.”
Notable
Saturday’s game on TNT will be simulcast on truTV and HBO Max. … Saturday will be CU’s second-ever visit to Morgantown, West Virginia. The first came on Oct. 2, 2009, when the Buffs lost 35-24.