Since he was named Colorado’s head football coach on Dec. 3, Florida guy Deion Sanders has consistently lauded the weather at his new home, even during the coldest days of winter.

Of course, those familiar with Colorado’s quirky winters understand there are just as many beautiful days in the winter and early spring as there are miserable ones. Yet for whatever reason, the national perception often erroneously casts Boulder as some frigid wasteland.

And so, naturally, with the college football world improbably fixated on the spring game of a program that completed a 1-11 season just five months ago that somehow was even uglier than the record, Mother Nature didn’t cooperate.

That, however, was the only glitch on a festive day at Folsom Field. The slick and snowy conditions scuttled Ralphie’s pregame run but little else at Black & Gold Day, as the Buffs went through a dress rehearsal for the 2023 season in the unofficial debut of Sanders in his new home stadium.

“When we were running out there it was unbelievable. Even with the weather, it was unbelievable,” Sanders said. “I’m always thinking way down the street, so I’m thinking recruiting. I’m thinking OK, national TV, they’re showing snow in the spring, that’s not good. People will use it to recruit against us.

“But with the fan base and everybody that was there, I’m pretty sure they said this is all right. Then it’s going to be 50 (Sunday). I can’t wait to send everybody in the country over social a picture of the field (Sunday) with the sky in the background.”

Ultimately the weather was a non-factor, as the afternoon slowly cleared and the Buffs avoided any knee-buckling slips when the turf remained slick. Certainly the conditions didn’t bother CU’s No. 1 offense.

If there was reason for the mind-boggling crowd of 47,277 to go home encouraged by the glorified exhibition, it was the play of the Shedeur Sanders-led No. 1 offense. Sanders was sharp during each of his turns behind center, dealing precise passes to the likes of Travis Hunter, Kaleb Mathis, and Montana Lemonious-Craig, who showed there might yet be room for a few of the 2022 holdovers with a 98-yard touchdown catch that provided one of the day’s most electric highlights. Running back Dylan Edwards showed why he was a Notre Dame commit before flipping to CU with a couple of long runs early.

However, now comes the hard part for Sanders and his staff. The defense hardly instilled confidence on Saturday. That hardly was unexpected, particularly in the wake of this past week’s mad dash to the transfer portal that included four defensive linemen in addition to former starting cornerback Nikko Reed. The offense has been able to retool with an impressive array of talent. The defense remains a work in progress.

Coach Prime himself has said the team on display on Saturday won’t be the same team that eventually hits the field at TCU for the season opener on Sept. 2. Defensively, that will be a good thing.

Still, it wasn’t hard to note the palpable sense of a changing of the guard at Folsom, from Coach Prime’s gingerly strut on to the field that stirred a rabid ovation to the sight of Sanders dancing to the beat of the pregame music at midfield during warm-ups. Before the scrimmage even started, Sanders exuded more emotion and fun than Buffs fans witnessed in two-plus seasons under Karl Dorrell.

Saturday’s attendance would have been the third-highest of the regular season last fall, and even Sanders afterward proclaimed it was the “Genesis of a new era.”

Long-starved CU football fans certainly hope so. Given the unprecedented level of fever-pitch anticipation for a spring game, it would have been difficult for a scrimmage to live up to the hype. This one did, even with the early snow.