Colorado’s loss to Utah did more than deepen the Buffaloes’ slide. According to safety Randon Fontenette, it also changed the mood inside the locker room.
The biggest reason was Deion Sanders himself. After the defeat, Sanders told the team he was proud of them - something he said he never normally does after a loss - and Fontenette said that message landed in a real way.
“Yeah, I definitely felt the shift, especially with the way Coach Prime approached us,” Fontenette said during Colorado’s media availability this week. “It was definitely different, and I felt like, in this moment that we’re in, we definitely needed that as a team.”
Fontenette said the reaction went beyond the moment. In his view, it helped the group pull tighter together at a time when things could have gone the other direction.
“So that really gelled us together and kind of brought us closer to each other because we’re two and four; it’s easy to fall apart right now,” he said. “So that really helped us really gel together even more.”
That’s not an empty warning. Colorado has dropped four straight and sits at the bottom of the Big 12 standings with Kansas, the kind of stretch that can start turning teammates against each other if the room isn’t steady.
Fontenette has seen enough programs to recognize the difference. He began at TCU, transferred to Vanderbilt and then ended up in Boulder, giving him a clear feel for how quickly a locker room can splinter when results go south.
This Colorado defense has had its own chemistry project from the start. The Buffaloes brought back no full-time defensive starters this season, which meant the unit was still building its identity during spring practice.
That kind of group needs trust, and losing makes trust harder to protect. Sanders’ decision to speak differently after Utah appears to have mattered because of that.
Fontenette didn’t leave any doubt about where he stands on the team’s outlook, either.
“So I’m very confident in these next six games to win,” he said. “Yeah, definitely.”
That confidence carries some weight coming from a former four-star prospect who played quarterback and safety in high school at Brazosport. He’s seen enough football - and enough locker rooms - to know when a team is fraying and when it’s still hanging together.
After Utah, Sanders made a rare call in the aftermath of a loss. One of Colorado’s most experienced defenders says it brought the group closer, and for a 2-4 team with a rebuilt roster, that belief may be the most important thing the Buffaloes walked away with.
In Other News...
Utahs Unbeaten Start Faces Its Biggest Test Yet Against Houston
Utah gets a chance to answer a lot of early questions Saturday when Houston comes to Salt Lake City for a top-15 Big 12 matchup that suddenly carries real weight in the league race. Both teams have put up strong offensive numbers, but the Utes have not looked as clean lately as they did in the opening stretch, and quarterback Devon Dampier has been part of that unevenness.
Houston brings a different kind of problem, with Conner Weigman operating at a high level and finding the end zone through the air. The Cougars also arrive with history on their side in this series, and with Big 12 title implications already in the mix, Utah is staring at more than just another ranked game at home. [Read more 🡒]
Utahs College GameDay Spotlight Could Get Even Bigger Soon
ESPNs College GameDay stop at BYU last weekend didnt just go well for the state of Utah, it set a benchmark. The broadcast drew 3 million viewers, making it the most-watched GameDay of the season and the third-most-watched regular-season episode ever, a sign of how much national attention is building around football in the state this fall.
Now the spotlight shifts to Salt Lake City for Utahs game against Houston, and theres already a natural next chapter waiting down the road. The highly ranked BYU-Utah matchup on Nov. 7 has the kind of profile that could draw the show back, though ESPN says it evaluates each week on its own merits, with plenty of other top-10 games in the mix. Utah athletic director Mark Harlan has already pointed to the significance of having two elite teams in one state, and it is easy to see why GameDay keeps circling back. [Read more 🡒]
Utah Defense Suddenly Has Something To Prove Against Houston
Rabbit Evans knows Utahs defense is entering a week with some questions attached to it, and hes not pretending otherwise. After a run of close games, the Utes are using the time before Houston to clean up the details that have made the margin for error feel thin, with Evans pointing to the importance of technique, tempo and finishing plays the way Utah expects to.
Houston brings a different kind of test, and Evans made it clear the Cougars force a defense to be ready for every part of the field. Their speed and skill show up in the passing game and beyond it, which means Utahs secondary is being asked to carry over the lessons from recent adversity and make sure the Utes are prepared for another fast-moving challenge. [Read more 🡒]