High above the field at Colorado’s annual Black & Gold spring game were No. 2 and No. 12 adorned on the east side of Folsom Field as CU’s first retired numbers since 2017 and just the fifth in sixth retired numbers in Colorado history.

Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter took Folsom Field for one final time ahead of the spring game, yet instead of participating in the scrimmage, they received the honor of having their jersey numbers retired. Hunter will reside next to Bobby Anderson (No. 11) and Sanders is stamped next to Joe Romig (No. 67) forever. The spring scrimmage ensued shortly after which featured a glimpse of how the quarterback competition between Julian Lewis and Kaidon Salter is shaping up.

Colorado’s defense was able to get to each of the quarterbacks on a handful of plays and CU’s new-look special teams showed improvement with the new talents of punter Damon Greaves (Kansas) and kicker Buck Buchanan.

Head coach Deion Sanders’ third spring at CU came to a close and the 2025 Buffs looked very different without Sanders throwing and Hunter catching passes. Still, the spring excitement at Folsom was present as Colorado was able to draw the third-largest spring game crowd — which was only topped in 2023 and 2024.

Here are the main takeaways from the spring game:

Last season, offensive coordinator Pat Shumur deferred to a 10-personnel set (four receivers) and tight end Sav’ell Smalls was rarely utilized as he finished 2024 with 13 catches for nine yards. However, during the spring game, tight end Zach Atkins emerged as a very useful pass catcher that could add more diversity to Shurmur’s playbook. Atkins was able to get out in space and run through defenders. Smalls still came in to block, but there was a play designed for Atkins any time he was on the line of scrimmage.

Tulsa transfer Joseph Williams also had his share of flashes while catching passes from Salter. Williams almost had the first touchdown of the spring game, but he was unable to come down with the ball after extending his body to make the play.

While Lewis was running with the first team on offense, the players surrounding Lewis were running back Dallan Hayden, Mana Tamani at right tackle, Zy Crisler at right guard, Zarian McGill at center, Zack Owens at left guard and Jordan Seaton at left tackle. Receivers such as Drelon Miller, Kam Mikell, Terrell Timmons and Isaiah Hardge all spent time with the first team as they rotated in.