Deion Sanders ‘very’ frustrated after Buffs’ 35-21 loss against TCU

FORT WORTH, Texas — “Are we that stinking, that the flies [are] flying around like buzzards with helmets on?” a frustrated Deion Sanders said after the Colorado Buffaloes lost 35-21 to the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday night.

Sanders’ squad jumped out to a 14-0 lead against the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday night. For the second straight week, it didn’t matter.

“We gotta finish… it’s the same stuff every week,” a frustrated Tawfiq Byard said after the loss.

The Buffs dropped to 2-4 on the season after they let another victory slip out of their hands. Their four lost turnovers were the most in a game in the Coach Prime era, highlighted by three ugly interceptions thrown by quarterback Kaidon Salter and a mishap on a punt return that gave the Horned Frogs the ball in plus territory late in the fourth quarter. In three conference games, the Buffs are -7 in the turnover margin, and they haven’t forced a single one yet.

“I threw three dumb picks… bad decisions by me,” Salter said after the loss.

One of the interceptions came as the first half expired and cost the Buffs a chance at entering the locker room with a lead at the break. Salter looked for Omarion Miller on a short route in the end zone that netted a touchdown earlier in the game, but the Horned Frogs recognized it, jumped the route and intercepted it. Not getting points there turned out to be costly.

INTERCEPTED IN THE END ZONE

The @TCUFootball defense does it again! pic.twitter.com/mkMvePipfi

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) October 5, 2025

After Salter threw an interception on his first pass attempt of the game — his first attempt since ending last week’s loss against BYU with a similar-looking play — the Buffs’ offense found its rhythm with Pat Shurmur’s opening script for the second straight week. Once again, when the script dried up, things got stagnant for Colorado — who dawned the original all-white uniforms with the gold letters and black facemarks that they wore in the victory at TCU in 2023 to kick off the Prime era.

“I’m truly disappointed … it’s one thing to lose, it’s another thing to feel like you beat yourselves,” Sanders said.

Colorado forced three turnovers against Georgia Tech to open the season and lost. They had BYU on the ropes multiple times last week and lost. They had plenty of chances to take control of the game on Saturday and didn’t. These were the types of game that this program was winning last year en route to a 9-3 regular season. Something just isn’t clicking through the first half of the season so far, and Prime put it back on the coaching after the loss.

“For some strange reasons, we’re not preparing these young men to get over that hump,” he said.

It’s the little things for this Buffs team. They are committing bad penalties in crucial moments on defense with the pass interference calls, they aren’t winning the important reps at the line of scrimmage and they aren’t making the important adjustments necessary throughout the game to stay ahead of their opponent. It’s a theme that has popped up in all three Big 12 losses.

What this team needs is leadership. They had an abundance of it last season with Shedeur Sanders, Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig, LaJohntay Wester and others. This year, they haven’t been able to find it on offense or defense.

“It’s leadership that’s needed, that’s warranted, not only in the locker room, but on the practice field that translates to the games, and that’s the search for that leadership. The specialists right now are those guys, because those are the most consistent men that we have right now, and they’ve been doing a phenomenal job,” Sanders said.

The Buffs are looking to get back on track next week in Boulder when the Iowa State Cyclones come to town. That game kicks off from Folsom Field on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. MDT and will be televised on ESPN.

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