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The Colorado Buffaloes got back into the win column on Saturday night against Arizona State.
Though it was anything but a straightforward victory, and coach Deion Sanders laid into his team after the game.
After consecutive losses to Oregon and USC, the Buffs traveled to Tempe in search of their first Pac-12 win of the season.
But the Sun Devils, under the direction of first-year head coach Kenny Dillingham, weren’t going down without a fight.
Arizona State took a 17-14 lead into the halftime break and took that lead into the fourth quarter.
Colorado appeared to figure things out in the final frame, going up 24-17 with just over 10 minutes remaining. But ASU marched down the field for a 13-play, 94-yard drive to tie the game at 24-24 with under a minute remaining.
That’s when Buffaloes star quarterback Shedeur Sanders showed why he’s a project first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Sanders needed just one play to get to the Arizona State 32-yard line. Moments later, Colorado kicker Alejandro Mata drilled a 43-yard field goal to give Colorado the 27-24 victory.
It’s the fourth win on the season for a Buffaloes team that went just 1-11 a year ago. But Deion Sanders was far from happy with his team’s performance against the now 1-5 Sun Devils.
Deion Sanders is very upset with how his Colorado team played against Arizona State.
“Played like hot garbage.
“Sick of it… I don’t accept mediocrity.” pic.twitter.com/qwKYScEwSr
— Trevor Booth (@TrevorMBooth) October 8, 2023
“Wonderful win. We played like hot garbage,” Deion Sanders said in his postgame press conference. “We got to figure it out. I’m sick of it. I really am…Us coming out here in the fourth, the effort we put forth in the first half…through practices, we’ve had really diligent meeting, and I’m trying to figure this out.
“I’m trying to figure this out. Because I’m sick of it. I’m sorry. I’m happy about the win. I’m not happy (with) the fashion that we won. We’re better than than. We really are better than that, and we’ve got to start showing that. I expect to win. And I expect to win in a better fashion than that.”
Sanders’ first season in Boulder is already an undeniable success. But it just goes to show how high his expectations are for his football team.