On Friday Night, the world got its first look at the new look Colorado Buffaloes as Deion Sanders begins his first season in Boulder without his sons Shedeur and Shilo Sanders, as well as Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. The group as a whole looked like they took a step back from last season but, it wasn't a discouraging effort.
The Buffaloes defense was on fire in the first quarter and their three straight takeaways to start the game helped the offense get on the board. The rest of the game, the offense struggled scoring just 20 points total yet, Colorado had a chance to send this game to overtime or win this game on the final drive.
Deion Sanders and Pat Shurmer cost Colorado on the final drive
The issue for Colorado came as the Buffaloes got the ball for the final drive of the game with 1:07 left in the game with a pair of timeouts remaining. The first play call of the drive from Pat Shurmer made next to no sense as the Buffaloes ran a swing pass which not only cost the team two yards but, it took a ton of time off the clock.
Rather than using one of his timeouts, Deion Sanders decided to keep the game and the clock rolling. The next snap was an 11-yard pass to Hykeem Williams, which kept the clock running, and by the time the third play was called, less than 30 seconds were remaining. As the clock was still ticking away, Deion Sanders didn't call a timeout, and Kaidon Salter burned another 10 seconds off the clock with a 5-yard run that took forever, but he did get out of bounds.
From that point on, Colorado was only able to take two shots at the endzone rather than having more time to play with. When the game ended, Deion Sanders was left holding two timeouts, proving that Colorado had significantly mismanaged the game.
Losing a game because the time ran out while going home with a pair of timeouts is a terrible look for any coach. After the game, Deion Sanders gave his take on why he didn't feel the need to call a timeout on the final drive.
"I think we got out of bounds a couple of times. We didn’t have to take ‘em. So that’s what transpired. We got out of bounds, I think, on both sidelines, and that’s what happened. After the first, we had a good play, and we caught the ball with nine yards. We got one yard to go, so if you get the first down, the clock stops. So, it don’t make sense to really use your timeout in that sense, we were really just trying to preserve them until we certainly needed them, so I don’t want to go home with timeouts. They don’t do me no good, but you’ve got to be strategic."Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders saying that you have to be strategic is fine, but to say that after clearly making the wrong decision and losing isn't the right way to approach it. The second the Buffaloes weren't on the ball and set instantly after the swing pass, the team should've called a timeout. Even on the 3rd and 1, it's okay to hold the timeout, but it ended up costing Colorado when the play took so long.
It's tough to fully blame Deion Sanders, as you never know what would've happened if he called the timeouts but, running out of time with two timeouts remaining never gives the team any chance of going out and winning the game.
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