Colorado has officially landed in San Antonio for Alamo Bowl week and Deion Sanders and the Buffs are getting ready for Saturday’s contest against BYU.

Colorado will be looking to reach 10 wins for the first time since 2016 and earn some Big 12 bragging rights against a team that it finished tied with in the league this season, so there is plenty of motivation for CU coming into this matchup. Shedeur Sanders, Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and the rest of the squad will be playing, and the Buffs should be firing on all cylinders.

On Monday, Deion Sanders and Rick George opened the week of media availability for Colorado with a brief joint press conference. Here are five takeaways from what they had to say.

One of the big questions coming into the Alamo Bowl was whether Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter and the rest of the Buffs that are entering the NFL Draft would play or would opt out, as many star players have done for non-playoff games in the past.

Deion Sanders has always maintained that everyone was going to play, and now all of the players who are headed off to the pros will have disability insurance in case something happens during the game. Rick George detailed the plan on Monday.

“It was (Deion Sanders’) idea that we should get disability insurance for our student-athletes for this game to ensure that they play,” George said. “If there was some kind of injury that they’ll be well taken care of. So we worked together on that, we’re excited about it. We think it’s great that all of our players are playing in the game and that’s what all bowl games should be like.”

Outside of Shedeur Sanders and Hunter, other players that will likely enter the offseason as draftable players are LaJohntay Wester, Will Sheppard, Jimmy Horn Jr., Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig and others.

Of course, not all of the draftable Buffs are created equal. Sanders and Hunter are both projected to be high first-round picks and the possibility exists that the two could both go in the top two or three picks in April.

According to Deion Sanders, Colorado’s two top prospects have a level of disability insurance coverage that has never been seen before at this level.

“We happen to have two players that are probably going to be the first two picks in the NFL Draft, I think we all know who those two are,” Sanders said. “They have received I think the highest number of coverage that has ever been covered in college football. It far exceeds anyone that has ever played this game of college football. So we’re happy and excited, just wonderful thought process for this wonderful university that we are attending and we’re just thankful that Rick as well as the administration at CU has put his money where his mouth is.”

An official number was not revealed, but Rick George confirmed that it was a record-setting amount.

The start of bowl practices means that some of Colorado’s incoming freshmen have joined the team ahead of Saturday’s game for practice. Top recruits like quarterback Julian Lewis are now working with the team and getting ready for their first official spring at Colorado.

Before the bowl game, Sanders was very complimentary of the youngsters and the work that they have already done in just a few short days.

“We have some young talent here that's going to help this program tremendously,” Sanders said. “I mean, when those guys walked on the field, you felt their presence and they wanted us to know that they belong. And it was phenomenal. I don't want to throw names out, but we got some talent.”

Running back Charlie Offerdahl and special teamer Ben Finneseth both shouted out Alexander McPherson, a three-star defensive end from IMG Academy in Florida, as someone who has been impressive early on.

In wake of Travis Hunter winning the Heisman Trophy, there has been a lot of attention around him, both positive and negative.

Some of the negative discourse is surrounding Travis Hunter and his fiancee Leanna Lenne, but Deion Sanders quickly shot that down on Monday and took the opportunity to lift Hunter up by focusing on the positive things.

“I think everything is great. He has the Heisman Trophy at the crib. He’s projected to be the first or second pick, no later than the third. I don’t know where the bull junk comes in,” Sanders said. “It’s all a blessing. Things that you may be kind of stressing, it’s still a blessing. … I’m always focused on the positive, not the negative. It’s so easy to see the negative when the positive is right in front of you. Why would you focus on that when the positive is right there in front of you. I love this young man. I love what he stands for. I love him like he’s a son.”

It would be easy to see how Colorado would be a little bit distracted coming into this game. It’s Christmas week and the Buffs will surely be celebrating the holidays on top of all of the Alamo Bowl festivities in San Antonio leading up to the game.

Despite all of that, Deion Sanders maintains that Colorado has one singular focus this week, and that is knocking off BYU on Saturday.

“Well the purpose is to win the game,” Sanders said. “It’s the main course. The appetizers are all the other stuff. We’re happy to go through what we need to go through to get to what we need to get to, but the young men know what we’re here for. We’re not here for the festivities. We’re not here for all of the tangibles. We’re here to win this football game.”