Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes eliminated from bowl contention after loss

It will be another losing season for Deion Sanders as Colorado’s head football coach.

After a 29-22 loss to West Virginia on Saturday, Sanders’ Buffaloes were eliminated from contention and will finish with a losing record for the second time in three seasons.

“That’s not who we are. We’re better than that, and they deserve better than that. I want better than that. I feel like I’m a better coach than that. I feel like we have players that are way better than the production that we’re producing,” Sanders said after the game.

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Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders on Oct. 25 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (AP Photo/Tyler Tate)

“So you have to identify the coaches, it’s us, and it starts with me, because I feel like we have the core in the locker room to make this happen. I don’t think we’ve faced a team that is as athletically and physically better than us. I really don’t, and I’ll leave it at that.”

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Deion Sanders, center, with his sons Shedeur Sanders, left, and Deion Sanders Jr. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

Many critics wondered how Sanders’ team would fare in 2025 after his quarterback son, Shedeur Sanders, and two-way star Travis Hunter left for the NFL.

Shedeur and Hunter were mainstays of Deion’s college coaching career dating back to his first two seasons at Jackson State.

Before Saturday’s must-win game, Sanders named five-star freshman Julian Lewis as the team’s starting quarterback. Lewis threw two touchdown passes in his first collegiate start.

The team had alternated between quarterbacks Kaidon Salter and Ryan Staub in their first nine games.

Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders walks along the sideline Saturday at Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown, West Virginia. (Ben Queen/Imagn Images)

Now, Lewis has officially lost his redshirt status with just two games left in a lost season.

Colorado went 9-4 last year and Sanders signed a five-year, $54 million extension that puts him under contract through 2029.

Colorado Athletic Director Rick George expressed confidence in Sanders earlier this week.

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“I’m proud of Coach Prime. What he’s been through has been a tough year. He’s been a trooper, he’s worked hard, he’s motivating. He’s doing the things I want him to do as a coach. We just need to win more FB games,” George told reporters.

In July, Sanders announced doctors had removed his bladder after discovering a tumor.

Sanders said there has been no evidence of cancer since the surgery.

Doctors said a section of Sanders’ intestine was reconstructed to function as a bladder. Sanders questioned whether he would be ready to coach after his health scare, but he remains steadfast in his commitment to Colorado.

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