Deion Sanders Calls Out Colorado After Nebraska Loss: 'Not Indicative of Who We Are'

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders insisted after the game his team's 28-10 loss to Nebraska isn't an accurate portrayal of his team's true level.

The Buffaloes trailed by 28 points at halftime, with Sanders telling reporters the start was "just not indicative of who we are" and that "we just never got it together."

Others will counter the performance was fully representative of Colorado because many of the same issues from 2023 remain in Year 2 of the Coach Prime era.

Most notably, quarterback Shedeur Sanders faced steady pressure and was sacked six times before exiting the game late in the fourth quarter.

Shedeur finished 23-of-38 for 244 yards, one touchdown and one interception, which was returned for a Nebraska score in the first quarter.

Deion Sanders said in his postgame press conference he had "no idea" on what led the Buffs offense to struggle so mightily and singled out the pass protection.

"It seemed like we just never got it going until it was too late," he said. "Seemed like we just never got it going. Protection was a problem. I'm trying to be polite and say it because I can say the same thing you're thinking but if I say it, you'll say I'm throwing my guys under the bus. I'm not doing that whatsoever. Protection was a problem. We have to figure out a way to prevent that and do a better job with that."

Colorado, which averaged the fewest rushing yards in FBS last year, also had a nonexistent running game. Dallan Hayden, Isaiah Augustave and Charlie Offerdahl combined for 42 yards on 11 carries.

And while the Buffs defense held Nebraska scoreless in the second half, that might have been a mix of the Buffaloes getting better up front and Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule going more conservative to protect a sizable lead. The home team operated with little urgency after halftime.

In addition, Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola wasn't sacked once throughout the contest. He enjoyed a clean pocket and a lot of time to throw all night.

Sanders got the benefit of the doubt to some degree when his team lost eight of its final nine games a season ago. Going 4-8 was an improvement over what the program did in Karl Dorrell's final year.

Through two games in 2024, however, Colorado isn't showing much improvement on the field.