What Deion Sanders Said After Colorado Buffaloes' Loss to West Virginia

On Saturday, the Colorado Buffaloes' future glimmered with gold, but their present faded to black.

Colorado is officially out of bowl game contention after a rough loss to the West Virginia Mountaineers. Freshman quarterback Julian Lewis dazzled in his first career start, but it wasn't enough to overcome a hampered offensive line's seven sacks surrendered and sketchy interior defense.

Coach Deion Sanders reckoned with his second losing season in Boulder during Saturday's postgame press conference.

On Julian Lewis's First College Start:

Nov 8, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Julian Lewis (10) warms up prior to their game against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

"He played a good game. [In] his first start, he did some wonderful things that you can see he's going to be special. Did some things that you can see his youth. but overall, to me, the kid played well. He played well enough for us to win the game."

"He's got to get the ball out, a few times that you see him coming. We got the checks, just get it out. But he's young. I think he did a phenomenal job for his first start. I really do."

On The Team's Start:

"I think they started off pretty good. We didn't start off offensively good at all, but defensively, we started off pretty good. We were out there flying around. We made some plays to give the offense opportunities, we just didn't cash in on them. And, a blocked punt is tremendous. Usually when you get something tragic on a special teams, you usually don't win the football game. I'm thankful that we were still in it and had an opportunity after giving up a blocked punt.

On Calling A Timeout Down Two Possessions Late:

Nov 8, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Colorado Buffaloes kicker Alejandro Mata (16) kicks a field goal during the second quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

"You're thinking about taking a shot, trying to get it, but nah, you say, nah, mathematics don't add up. Let's give Mata a shot. But you've got to understand. . . [earlier] he missed it. He was in his head a little bit as well. So, you've got to take all that stuff into consideration. Like, where is it? It was on the right hash. I don't know if that's his best hash.

"You think about all these things that I know. I've been with him since he was a darn freshman for four years, so I know him, and I know where his strong points are and his pressure points, but he forgot the extra point, went at it and nailed two field goals back-to-back."

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On What Made West Virginia's Defensive Line Difficult To Handle:

"Just movement, movement, moving, moving late. You get your calls, you get your checks, you move late, now you've got to make another call. You've got to do it on the fly. But we didn't do a bad job. We've got a freshman quarterback, and he hadn't seen some stuff. He was a little nervous early on until he got right, but he got out of the pocket, scrambled, did some good things with the ball, threw the ball away. That's some of the best things that he did, so the kid is going to be alright."

On Jordan Seaton's Status:

Nov 1, 2025; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes offensive lineman Jordan Seaton (77) reacts to a penalty called during the second quarter against the Arizona Wildcats at Folsom Field. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

"I think he'll be available after the bye. I don't think he's gonna shut it down whatsoever. I don't think his injury deserves that. I'm talking out of my head, though. I don't know the severity."

On Colorado's Admirable Urgency:

"These guys hadn't quit. Contrary to what people may write, what they may say, these guys are still fighting. They still want it. They're still coming over the sidelines, saying things to me, you could tell they're upset. They're holding themselves and each other accountable. The coaches are holding them accountable, and I'm holding the coaches accountable, and I got a few people holding me accountable."

On Play-Calling:

Nov 8, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Kam Mikell (18) runs the ball during the second quarter against the West Virginia Mountaineers at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

"It's too easy to try to shoot at [offensive coordinator] Pat [Shurmur] or try to shoot at somebody, that's too easy of a target. It's not Pat's fault. It's not whatsoever. I told you guys the technique, it's not that. We, collectively, have got to do a much better job. And let's start with me. We gotta do a much better job.

"You think I'm happy right now? You think I'm elated? You think this is what I want for these young men, for this university, for Rick [George]?. . . We're so much better than what we're doing right now. If I could put my finger on one thing, [it's that] you've got to want this thing, man. You've got to have a locker room full of kids that really want this thing, a lot more than they want certain things that they did they enjoy.

"And we did some team bonding. We've done everything you can think of to try to flip it. But unfortunately, we had, but I hadn't seen the fight going out of these young men whatsoever. We just make some stupid mistakes, and we can't capitalize on turnovers. We do think that the game is a whole different tone in here right now."

On His Message To The Fans After The Losing Season:

"This is not who we are. We're better than this, and they deserve better than this. I want better than this. I feel like I coach better than this. I feel like we got players that are so much better than what the production is that we're putting out. So then, you got to identify the coaches, that's us, and that starts with me, because I feel like we got the nucleus inside the locker room that we should be getting it done.

"I don't think we played a team that's this athletically and physically better than us. I really don't, and I'll stand on that."

On Going Forward Into A Bye Week:

Nov 8, 2025; Morgantown, West Virginia, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers linebacker Ben Bogle (32) sacks Colorado Buffaloes quarterback Julian Lewis (10) during the first quarter at Milan Puskar Stadium. | Ben Queen-Imagn Images

"We've done a tremendous evaluation. I wish we didn't have a bye, because I want to keep working. We'll probably work [the team] to Thursday, and then let them go. They probably won't go home, because you're holding them to Thursday. So they'll still be around. But I want to see them study more, prepare more, because you've got to make some decisions.

"They've got to make some decisions in the off-season, which directions are we going with them? Which directions are they going with us? So that's a tremendous from here on out, it's really roster management, coach management, understanding what we're going to do going forward, but I promise you, it'll be some changes."