SAN ANTONIO >> In the moments after it was announced on Dec. 14 that Colorado’s Travis Hunter had won the Heisman Trophy, Buffaloes offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur was struck by a scene with head coach Deion Sanders and quarterback Shedeur Sanders both congratulating the junior.

“Those are the three most influential people that have helped re-establish winning back here at Colorado, and so to see that visual, I thought was a great deal,” Shurmur said.

Indeed, Coach Prime, his quarterback son and the dynamic Hunter have led the charge in restoring some glory at CU. The 20th-ranked Buffs (9-3) are enjoying their most successful season since 2016 and will take on No. 17 BYU (10-2) in the Valero Alamo Bowl on Saturday.

Saturday will be the last time Buff Nation will see Shedeur and Hunter play for Colorado, as both will head to the NFL Draft, where they are projected to be among the first few players selected.

Although it’s been just two short seasons in Boulder, it is the end of an era of sorts, with not only Shedeur and Hunter but several other transformational seniors moving on.

“A bunch of guys that just want to go get it,” receiver Will Sheppard said of the senior class. “Everybody here has the same common goal, so I think that’s why the season has been what it’s been. Everybody’s looking forward to the same things and trying to get to the same place.”Following a dismal 1-11 season in 2022, CU athletic director Rick George hired Coach Prime, which kick-started the resurgence. Shedeur and Hunter were the most important players to come with Coach Prime from Jackson State, but certainly not the only ones.

The foundation was also built by LaVonta Bentley, Tyler Brown, Shane Cokes, Jimmy Horn Jr., Shilo Sanders, Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and Mark Vassett, who are all seniors this season after two years with the Buffs.

This year, BJ Green, Kameron Hawkins, Preston Hodge, Justin Mayers, Chidozie Nwankwo, Sheppard and LaJohntay Wester joined the mix to play their final seasons in Boulder, and all have been key players.

“They’re the ones that changed the game for us,” Coach Prime said of the senior class and Hunter, a junior playing in his final game Saturday. “They’re the ones that impacted this wonderful learning institution. They’re the ones that are responsible for the recruits that you’re seeing commit.

“They’re the ones who put us on the map. They’re the ones who have the multitude of these camera men and women and wonderful reporters in this room right now.”

Coach Prime began his journey in coaching to mentor his sons, Shedeur and Shilo, but he’s also known Silmon-Craig and Green since they were youth players. And he’s taken others, such as Brown, Horn, Nwankwo and Vassett, under his wing.

“I don’t want to think about it too much because I get emotional,” Coach Prime said after the Buffs’ 52-0 win against Oklahoma State on Nov. 29. “I don’t just coach these young men; I love these young men. They’re family. I just want them to soar, not just from the football aspect, but as young men in life.”

As a group, the seniors have defied the odds and brushed aside the naysayers, who claimed CU couldn’t win like it has and couldn’t possibly build team chemistry with massive turnover in the transfer portal.

Instead, this might be the most tight-knit senior class in several years at CU.

“I say the chemistry,” Bentley said when asked what is special about the senior class. “Everybody’s just close. Last year we didn’t have that. Everybody’s just leaning on one another and having fun, like we be joking and everything. It’s a real deal family here, and we built that.”

This class came together for the common goal of winning, but they didn’t come here just to win and move on. Leaving a legacy is important to this group.

Silmon-Craig grew up in Alabama and watched the 2009 Alabama squad that won the national title. It was the first title in 16 years for the Crimson Tide, and it kick-started a run of six championships in 12 years.

“I remember the ‘09 Alabama team that kind of struck the match for the run that Alabama went on, so I always wanted to be the standard,” Silmon-Craig said. “I wanted to come in here and set a standard for us to live by years and years on hand. When (players) come back next year, they know the standard. When we bring guys in here, freshman guys in here, we have a standard set.

“When I came here, we didn’t have a standard. So that was the biggest thing for me; I wanted to set the standard. Our standard is to dominate, our standard is to win, our standard is (9- to 10-)win seasons. That’s the standard.”

Only time will tell if this year lights the match for a run of dominance, but the impact of this senior class will be felt for a while at CU.

“It meant a lot to, you know, just seeing all the talent in front of me,” freshman receiver Drelon Miller said. “Just learning the little things from them, see how they go about their day, see how they go about football, just being the man they’re becoming.

“I learned a lot from them. I’m gonna miss them a lot.”