Deion Sanders is happy because he sees how close CU Buffs are
Oct 28, 2023, 10:26 PM | Updated: Oct 31, 2023, 3:21 pm
Deion Sanders’ team might be battling and struggling as of late but Coach Prime wants it known that, he nor the Colorado Buffaloes are going through a tough time. Despite dropping to 4-4 on 1 28-16 loss to the ranked UCLA Bruins, the former two-sport star and now Buffs coach was smiling with hope about the future in Boulder.
“What about me looks like it’s a tough time. Does this look like a tough time to you all,” Sanders asked postgame as he answered questions from the media postgame, sitting up and smiling. “I would love to win, I’m accustomed to winning, and we will win. We will win. Just put on your seatbelt and hold on and we will win and you you got to see what could possibly happen with with the team that we have. I mean shoot we really only got our butts kicked once and that was in Oregon. We got our butts kicked wasn’t no winning that, all the other games, you could see how we could have won those games. We could have done it so that’s called hope.
And I’m thankful and happy for that.”
Sanders is in his in second college coaching stint, he took a 4-8 Jackson State team to 4-3 in his first season at his last stop. Then the Tigers exploded to an 11-1 and a 12-1 season earning Coach Prime the Colorado job. The Buffaloes only won one game last season and probably hit the bottom of a rocky 20-year stretch for what was a great program in the 1990s and 2000s. Already Sanders has taken that one win to four and has controversially turned over almost the entire roster with seemingly more changes coming.
The Buffs this week headed to Los Angeles coming off a bye after their collapse against Stanford at Folsom Field. They turned UCLA over four times in the first half and scored on their first two drives—but they were held to field goals and couldn’t capitalize on those turnovers.
“We had the best week of practice, man,” Sanders said. “We had the best Friday workout we’ve ever had, and we came out ready and prepared. It was not because of a lack of preparation or of a lack of want and need. We just made some key mistakes at key times. And we’re seven to ten players away from really doing what we want to do in college football.”
Sanders’ Buffs have four games left, the next two at home then two on the road. It was obvious going into the season what CU’s issues were and they’ve shown themselves time and time again—with that being the main issue on Saturday—the line play. Shedeur Sanders needed a pain injection at halftime after being hit so much that his offensive line looked like a turnstile. His father isn’t pleased about how much the quarterback has been hit but sees the bright side in knowing exactly where the Buffaloes can get better.
“Well, we always coach it and we’re always teaching I mean that’s that’s what we do in every game teaches a tremendous lesson every day of life teaches you a lesson so I think they’re learning fast pace, because, unlike many other first year, Coach led teams there’s a tremendous expectation for us. And we would love to meet those expectations. I think we were close. We were close. I mean we did some wonderful things,” Sanders said.
Sanders is right in the sense that CU has been in every game this season but the one against the Ducks. The start to the season itself was the best thing that happened in Boulder in a while.
“You could see what we have and what we’re building and you can see the need. So just like recruits, you don’t think they’re watching TV and they see the needs that we have,” Sanders asked. “It’s very easy to understand this is what we need. And this is the type of quarterback that we have. So I’m happy with what I see for the future. I really am I know we got our butts kick, we lost today, but I’m happy with what I see in the future. Because you can see how close we are to being what we desire to be.”
Sanders is on a five-year deal at Colorado and his manager recently said he plans to stay in Boulder for a long time.
***