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CU FOOTBALL

Prime gets brutally honest about his son’s game against KSU

The Buffs defense has come alive in recent weeks, showing that the team was gritty as well as flashy but Shilo Sanders had a horrible game

Watch: The good, the bad and the UGLY from Broncos Preseason Game No. 2 | 11 mins

Robert Livingston’s Colorado Buffaloes defense has come alive in recent weeks, showing that Deion Sanders team was gritty as well as flashy and the stifling efforts came with a banged-up unit.

On Saturday the Buffs were fully healthy on that side of the ball and yet they were gashed by Kansas State. The Wildcats got 182 yards on the ground from DJ Giddens alone and got two scores on the ground from quarterback Avery Johnson and former Buffs runner Dylan Edwards. Giddens was the first player to hit the century mark rushing or receiving this season against CU.

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So what went wrong? Why was a defense that allowed just 54 points over the last seven halves was taken for 31 in two in a three-point Big 12 loss?

Part of it is the Wildcats, No. 18 in the country, are the best team the Buffs have played this season. Another part? Sanders’ son and Colorado starting safety Shilo Sanders was awful. In his return from an arm injury, Sanders’ play was a standout negative for his father.

“I thought he played horrible,” Coach Prime said about Shilo. “I thought he was rusty. I thought he didn’t have his footing. I thought he wasn’t breaking down, he was coming up trying to make the play, but open field, one-on-one tackle with that kind of back is not an easy task, but he’s going to do better. I know what he has in him.”

Sanders did make seven tackles, six of which were solos. But the lasting image of him for many from the game will be him getting juked by Giddens.

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And that wasn’t the only time the Buffs safety looked bad. He got beat both on the ground and through the air.

When Sanders was out Carter Stoutmire started in his place. He made a solid team with Cam Silmon-Craig, who missed most of the season opener due to a head injury. Thus Stoutmire has played a ton. The sophomore has made 13 tackles and was listed atop defensive coordinator Livingston’s chart—though Sanders played a lot more despite being “horrible.”

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Deion’s other son, the starting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, was much better. He threw for 388 yards and three touchdowns on 34-of-40. At one point, he hit 16 straight passes—setting a new school record. But his one interception in the second half wasn’t near a single black-and-gold player and it may have done CU in.

Jake Shapiro Denver Sports Analyst

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