Deion Sanders and Colorado football suffered a historic second-half loss to Stanford on Friday night. The Buffaloes were up 29-0 at halftime. They lost by three in double overtime.
Cardinal defenders immediately threw Shedeur Sanders’ signature watch celebration right back in his face after he threw what became a game-losing interception. Brutal.
Following the game, Coach Prime mostly questioned his players during his postgame media availability. He called them out for not being in love with the game like he is.
Although his message was actually pretty profound, there wasn’t much accountability.
They gotta make up in their mind are they in love with this game or in like with it? […] I’m truly 100% in love with this thing and I just want people to match me.
— Deion Sanders
Although Sanders put much of the blame on his team, there are a lot of lingering questions surrounding the coaching as well. Colorado scored just seven points during the entire second half. It allowed Stanford to score 36 points during that same timeframe. That is on more than just the players.
Especially when you look at the sequence down the stretch.
Questions loom over Deion Sanders.
Defensive back Carter Stoutmire was a consistent target of the Cardinal during the third and fourth quarters. Especially late in the game and into overtime. He kept getting cooked over and over again.
Things got so bad that Sanders chewed him out on the sideline, after giving him a lot of praise earlier in the week. Stoutmire was not happy with his coach’s response and things got chippy!
Meanwhile, five-star freshman cornerback Cormani McClain and junior corner Omarion Cooper stayed on the sideline. With the return of Travis Hunter Jr., Coach Prime moved them down the depth chart. Neither DB saw much playing time against Stanford.
McClain, who had a big game against USC after getting called out publicly by Sanders, turned right around and had a very bad game in his first start. It landed him on the bench early in the first half last weekend. It apparently kept him on the bench on Friday.
Sanders did not give him the chance for redemption. Even though Stoutmire was getting burned all night.
The same can be said for Cooper. Cooper had seven tackles in the win over Arizona State and five tackles in a close loss to USC. He was crucial for Colorado in both games.
And yet, Stoutmire stayed on the field on Friday. Cooper had just one tackle all night.
Why did Coach Prime choose to keep them on the sideline? Was he proving a point to McClain? Did he truly believe that Stoutmire gave him the best chance to win?
Whatever the reason, even if Sanders wonders whether his team loves the game like he does, there are a lot of questions to be asked of the coaching staff. Friday’s loss is not only on the players.