The Colorado football team fell to BYU 24-21 in another painful loss on Saturday night. Such close losses are becoming way too common under Deion Sanders during his three seasons in Boulder.
After this loss, the Buffaloes are 2-3 overall and 15th in the Big 12. Unfortunately, they continue making the same mistakes that cost them games last season. This recent loss proves exactly why the fans appear to be losing patience with Sanders.
The BYU game was brutal to watch. Colorado jumped out to a 14-3 lead after the first quarter, but couldn't hold on as BYU chipped away throughout the game. With under a minute left and down by three, Kaidon Salter threw a pick to end a drive that could have tied or won the game.
But the worst part is Colorado still had two timeouts they never bothered using. This isn't the first time either. The exact same thing happened in the season opener against Georgia Tech. Two timeouts with 1:07 left, and Sanders refused to call either one. In that game, the team managed just six plays before time ran out.
Is it time to panic about Deion Sanders? Here are three reasons to be concerned as his third season starts to spiral.
Clock management remains a major issue
It seems Sanders can't figure out how to manage a clock, and it's costing his team wins. The Georgia Tech disaster had analysts calling it coaching negligence. Instead of running a smart two-minute drill, Colorado ended up throwing two Hail Marys because they wasted so much time.
What's worse is how Sanders reacts when people call him out. After the Georgia Tech loss, he defended his timeout usage instead of owning his mistakes. John T. Reed, who wrote a book on clock management, said that Sanders needs to hire a clock management assistant. At this point, that's not a bad idea.
The BYU game had another confusing moment. Sanders used a timeout on fourth-and-six at his own 41-yard line. On the fourth down, Colorado elected to punt. Why burn a precious timeout just to punt? They could have saved that timeout for the final drive when it was going to be needed.
Defense and offense both need work
Clock management gets the attention, but Colorado still has some bigger problems. The defense gets destroyed by any team that wants to run the ball. Georgia Tech ran for 320 yards at nearly seven yards per carry. Haynes King had 156 yards and three touchdowns on the ground by himself.
The offense scores 30 points a game but lacks any clear identity, and has struggled against some of the better defenses on its schedule. Salter ran for over 1,000 yards at Liberty but Colorado barely uses his running ability. The team has also tested different quarterbacks, with Ryan Staub starting against Houston for no clear reason. This constant shuffling has created confusion about what Colorado wants to be offensively.
Execution has also been shaky in key moments. Against Georgia Tech, three first-quarter takeaways led to just seven points. Colorado converted only 3-of-9 third downs against BYU, and penalties keep coming at the wrong times.
Questions about Sanders' approach
The way Sanders handles losing has raised some concerns. After BYU came back and won, he said “sometimes it felt like the moment was just too big for some players.” While players do share responsibility for execution, Sanders rarely addresses his own coaching decisions that also played a role. He'll publicly challenge his team but there's less acknowledgment of the strategic mistakes on his end.
This isn't new territory either. The clock management mess goes back to 2023 when Colorado played North Dakota State. Same mistakes, different year.
Colorado's schedule only gets tougher from here. Sanders needs to address his game management issues, improve the defense, and figure out what the offense should look like. Without these fixes, the Buffaloes will continue losing winnable games. The “Prime Time” hype that got fans excited is starting to wear off. People are now asking if Sanders and his staff can win close games.
The pattern is clear and it's not getting better. Unless something changes soon, this season is headed south in a hurry.
