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Late-night record 9.3 million ESPN viewers watched Deion Sanders' Buffaloes defeat Rams

Henry Blackburn of Colorado State Rams receives death threats
Henry Blackburn of Colorado State Rams receives death threats 02:58

The Colorado Buffaloes double-overtime victory against the Colorado State Rams, which ended in the early hours of Sunday in most of the country, drew 9.3 million viewers to make it the most-watched late-night college football game ever on ESPN, the network said.

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Deion Sanders coaches on Saturday night at Folsom Field. CBS

Coach Deion Sanders' Colorado team did not kick off until after 8 p.m. (Mountain Time) and did not secure the victory until about 12:30 a.m.

Still, it was ESPN's fifth most-watched regular-season game ever on the network for any time slot. That broadcast window for ESPN college football averaged about 1.7 million viewers last year, the network said.

No. 19 Colorado's first two games under Sanders were carried by Fox, with both slotted into the network's Big Noon game. The Buffaloes' victories over TCU and Nebraska averaged about 8 million viewers for Fox.

Colorado faces No. 10 Oregon on Saturday in a game scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on ABC.

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