Colorado’s special teams have stopped making headlines for the wrong reasons, and that’s exactly what Deion Sanders wants.
At his news conference Tuesday, Sanders pointed out a strange new trend. The questions about special teams had disappeared.
“We’ve been consistent, I feel like the last couple of weeks, special teams-wise, I haven’t heard you guys ask any special teams questions,” Colorado’s coach said Tuesday. He told reporters the unit could be fixed, he added. “I guess you didn’t believe it, but we pretty much did.”
That’s a much different conversation than the one Colorado was having at the bye. The Buffaloes’ special teams were sitting at a D-minus in the Camera’s midterm grades, saved from an “F” by the game-winning blocked field goal at Georgia Tech. Elliott Arnold had gone 3-for-6 on field goals at that point.
Since then, the operation has steadied. Arnold has connected on both of his kicks since the bye, including a 32-yard field goal that put Colorado ahead of Utah 17-13 and a 45-yarder that pushed the Buffaloes in front 24-20 late in the first half at Oklahoma State. In Stillwater, all five of his kickoffs sailed for touchbacks.
The shift has also changed how the players around the kicking game talk about their jobs. Tight end Brady Kopetz, who works on the kickoff return, punt and punt return units, said the mindset has become more about creating chances than merely avoiding mistakes.
“You know, a lot of coaches will say, ‘Don’t lose the game on special teams,'” Kopetz said. “You can lose the game on special teams by making mistakes and having errors within special teams, but you can also win games on special teams.”
Now, he said, the goal is to put the offense and defense in position to make a play.
Kopetz has been around Boulder long enough to see the program before Sanders and during Sanders. The fifth-year tight end from Portland, Oregon, redshirted in 2022, played in five games in 2023, appeared in the final five games of 2024 and then all 12 last season, when he wore the “L” - or Leader patch - for the finale at Kansas State. He has been in every game this season.
Punter Damon Greaves said the improvement has come from “the buy-in from everyone.” He also acknowledged the rough early stretch, saying special teams “did sort of impact us there in the early part of the season, not in the way we necessarily wanted it to,” and that those games were a reminder of how important the phase is “to be able to stay in games and win games and be competitive.”
Greaves has been one of the steadiest pieces in the kicking game. On Arnold’s 45-yard field goal, the snap came in high and outside, but Greaves handled it cleanly and got it down in time.
Holding, he said, is “a bit of an underappreciated position,” calling it “the connecting link between the snapper and the kicker.” In practice, Colorado even throws bad snaps at him on purpose. Greaves said the credit still belongs to Arnold, because a bad snap can affect a kicker’s rhythm and confidence.
“So for him to be able to execute such a nice kick and get the points was great,” Greaves said.
Greaves has also carried a heavy workload as the Big 12’s busiest punter. His 33 punts lead the conference, and his 45.2-yard average ranks seventh. He has also downed 12 punts inside the 20.
Off the field, Greaves has become one of the team’s recognized leaders. He said he has earned that respect through his work and by setting an example, not by doing anything different than anyone else.
“It’s no different than any other position on the field,” he said.
With Colorado stacking losses, Greaves said he intends to be “a little more vocal” over the final stretch while still leaning on his example.
For Sanders, though, the larger message is simple: keep it quiet, keep it steady, and keep the special teams questions away.
“We’ve just got to continue and be consistent in that area,” he said.
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