Deion Sanders furious with Colorado players sideline antics after crushing loss at Northwestern
Sanders was angry about turnovers, penalties and the reaction of some players after the 41-7 defeat
Deion Sanders was willing to accept that Colorado had been outplayed. What he wasn't willing to accept was seeing players smiling and laughing after a 41-7 loss.
The Buffaloes were overwhelmed by Northwestern on Saturday night in Evanston, falling to 2-1 after a game defined by turnovers, penalties and failed fourth-down attempts.
Sanders called it a “flat out buttkicking” afterward and acknowledged that the Wildcats had simply been better prepared. Yet his sharpest criticism came when he described seeing some of his players appear too relaxed in the immediate aftermath.
“I also don't understand how guys took joy in a loss because I'm walking up behind you,” Sanders said. “I can't never understand that because I want to win every darn thing.”
He continued: “And I can't understand how, in the world, you can find joy and a laughing matter when I'm walking in. I had to address that.”
Turnovers buried Colorado
Sanders had plenty of football reasons to be frustrated. Colorado committed four turnovers and struggled to sustain drives, while Northwestern repeatedly turned mistakes into points.
Micah Welch and Damian Henderson II both lost fumbles, and quarterback Julian Lewis threw two interceptions.
Lewis finished 19-of-28 for 168 yards and one touchdown, but Colorado never found enough rhythm to threaten a comeback. Sanders said the Wildcats forced the Buffaloes into poor decisions.
“They forced us into bad decisions and doing things that’s not truly who we are,” he said. “They did a better job coaching than we did. But the turnovers and the penalties, there's no way you can win like that.”
Sanders already warned team about standards
The postgame frustration fit a pattern. Only a week earlier, Colorado had beaten Weber State 52-21, yet Sanders still criticized his team’s discipline and overall standard despite the comfortable result.
That message was about refusing to confuse a win with a complete performance, and Saturday’s defeat gave him an even stronger reason to revisit it.
Northwestern quarterback Aidan Chiles added to Colorado’s problems, producing what Sanders described as the best game he had seen him play. Chiles completed 17 of 22 passes for 241 yards and helped Northwestern consistently exploit Colorado’s defense.
The Buffaloes now have to move quickly. Big 12 play begins next week at Baylor, and Sanders made clear there is little value in dwelling on the Northwestern loss beyond fixing what went wrong.
“You've got to flush it because the Big 12 is next week,” he said. That process, though, will apparently include more than correcting turnovers and penalties.
Sanders also wants to make sure his players understand how he expects them to respond when they lose.
