Three Things That Disappointed Deion Sanders Despite Week 2 Win

Coach Deion Sanders has plenty that he wants to see the Colorado Buffaloes improve on after beating the Weber State Wildcats.

Sep 12, 2026; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders reacts to a touchdown in the first quarter against the Weber State Wildcats at Folsom Field. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Colorado Buffaloes blew out their FCS opponent, the Weber State Wildcats, 52-21 on Saturday. However, coach Deion Sanders wasn’t remotely satisfied with his team’s performance.

Sanders sounded off on the effort of his players in his postgame press conference and in his locker room speech. Here’s a look at three things that left Sanders unsatisfied with Colorado’s Week 2 win.

Special teams effort

Sep 12, 2026; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders reacts to a touchdown in the first quarter against the Weber State Wildcats at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Buffaloes’ special teams has been one of the biggest talking points surrounding this team, but for all of the wrong reasons. That unit was anything but special against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets until the final minute when Boo Carter blocked a field goal to seal the game. It allowed a blocked field goal of its own, as well as the only touchdown of that game.

That unit struggled again against Weber State, and given the competition Colorado will face in comparison to the Wildcats, it was certainly worrying. Sanders called out what he disliked about the effort on special teams in his postgame presser.

“I think everybody chipped in on some of the nonsense,” Sanders said. “And when we're trying to kick a field goal late, and the guy's over there in a good conversation, not even running on the darn field, that bothers me. And the multiple penalties on special teams bother me. And we got to do a better job.”

Supporting the backups

Apr 19, 2025; Boulder, CO, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Kaidon Salter (3) hands the ball off to running back Titus Bautista (34) during the spring game at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Sanders and the Buffaloes also came into their Week 2 matchup with the established goal of giving their backups significant playing time. While the Buffaloes’ second and third-stringers took the field in the fourth quarter, Sanders said he had hoped for more playing time for that group.

“I wish they could have played a little more. I mean, that was our goal. We talked about that in the meeting room. You should want your little brother to play,” Sanders said. “You should want the youngster, the freshman, to get in and get his reps. You should want that, so that should drive you to play with that much more emotion and tenacity to get those guys in.”

But even when the backups were in, some of Colorado’s starters let them down. In the Buffaloes’ final drive, walk-on running back Titus Bautista broke free for what would’ve been a 73-yard touchdown, the first score of his career. However, a holding call wiped it off the board.

It was disappointing for Bautista and Buffs fans, as explosive plays like that are exceedingly rare for scout-team walk-ons.

“It's hard to even look the kid in the eye because he's been busting his butt at practice, getting his opportunity. Finally got his opportunity,” Sanders said. “He hit it like he was supposed to, and he outlasted the guys scoring a touchdown. And he gets the call back because someone wants to hold on a particular play because they're not getting their feet where they need to be to do the job.”

The Colorado Buffaloes’ penalty total

Dec 28, 2024; San Antonio, TX, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders reacts with an official after a play during the second quarter against the Brigham Young Cougars at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

The Buffaloes were penalized 13 times for 112 total yards against Weber State. After a pretty clean Week 1 performance in terms of penalties, the lack of integrity in the Buffs’ home-opener was deeply upsetting to Coach Prime. 

“Yeah, it's not good. It's not good at all. That kind of happens when you get up, and you get kind of lackadaisical. I'm not happy with that,” Sanders said. “We're going to take care of that. We're going to take care of that tomorrow. The message has been sent. We're gonna take care of those penalties. I think there was half the output of production that we had the first week, right? And we doubled it. We can't win consistently with those types of penalties, and they're mindless penalties.”

Colorado was able to recover and not feel the impact of those penalties in the final score. But as the Buffs approach a difficult Big 12 schedule and two straight road tests, that likely won’t be the case in the future.

“It don’t make sense, you know. Hitting a guy out of bounds, I think unnecessary roughness was three of them,” Sanders said. “It don't even make sense. We're better than that. We're much better than that.”

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