Colorado’s trip to Northwestern turned into a long afternoon almost immediately, and Deion Sanders didn’t sugarcoat any of it afterward.
The Buffaloes coughed up two fumbles and an interception in the first half, and Northwestern made them pay every time. By the end, the Wildcats had a 41-7 win and handed Colorado its first loss of the season.
Sanders, who had gone viral for his fiery reaction after Colorado beat Weber State 52-21 on Sept. 12, took a much more blunt tone after the Sept. 19 defeat in Evanston, Illinois. He described the game as a “Flat out buttkicking.
I'm going to try my best to explain everything that I need to explain to you in the most polite manner at this point. I think we went right down and scored.
But it wasn't enough because they played some really good football. So hats off to them.”
He also pointed directly at the mistakes that swung the game. “They forced us into bad decisions and doing things that’s not truly who we are.”
From Sanders’ view, the issue wasn’t just the turnovers. He said Northwestern was sharper on the sideline, too.
“They did a better job coaching than we did. You could've never told that this was going to be what it was.
Especially with the way we prepared because we were ready for this one. But the turnovers and the penalties, there's no way you can win like that.
But we've got to flush it because the Big 12 is next week. You've got to take the good with the bad, and dress it up, put it in a suit and kiss it."
He zeroed in on specific breakdowns as well. “How many times did they wheel route us?
We’re calling it on the headset. We have to do a better job preparing.”
Colorado’s offense and defense never settled in, and Sanders made that clear, too. “We didn’t play the type of offensive and defensive football we’re capable of playing, we didn’t.
And hats off to them for forcing us into that. They did a great job of coaching over there, better than we did.”
He also addressed something that bothered him on the sideline after the loss. “I also don't understand how guys took joy in a loss because I'm walking up behind you.
I can't never understand that because I want to win every darn thing. And I can't understand how, in the world, you can find joy and a laughing matter when I'm walking in.
I had to address that.”
On the Northwestern side, Sanders singled out the quarterback’s performance. “That’s the best football game I’ve ever seen him play.
No disrespect.” He added, “We wanted him to sit in the pocket and throw, we wanted to force him into tough throws and that’s what he made.”
Even with the defeat, Sanders said Colorado still had moments moving the ball before the mistakes piled up. “We've got to do better with the ball. We were moving the ball but ran into some speed bumps.”
He finished by stressing the need to move on quickly, especially with Big 12 play coming next week. “The way he rebounds and recovers from that, we just don't want him being afraid to go out there and let it hang out.
Just go and do your thing. If it happens, it happens.”
“It just like a cornerback getting beat. You've got to flush it and let's go."
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