What Deion Sanders said after Colorado football's loss to Kansas State

Deion Sanders and the Colorado football team suffered a heartbreaking loss on Saturday night.

No. 18 Kansas State came to Boulder and defeated the Buffaloes 31-28. Avery Johnson's 50-yard touchdown pass to Jayce Brown with 2:14 left gave the Wildcats the win.

Here's what Sanders said after Colorado's first Big 12 loss of the year.

Opening statement from Deion Sanders after loss to Kansas State

“(Kansas State) is a well-coached team, a very disciplined team. They really ran the football. That was the goal, try to stop the run, but we didn't manage that at all. They had 224 yards. “They were very rushing and ended up dominating time of possession, which is not good because now we can't go on the field and do what we're capable of doing.

“Coach (Chris) Klieman is wonderful. I have great respect and admiration for him coming from FCS. He's incredible, his team was really prepared and ready to play this game. At the end of the game we had a chance. “We tried and the game is not over.

“The drive before that, on defense, messing up the coverage, we screwed up a few things because the running back should never be wide open, running up the sideline in a situation like that, then they take a shot and hit us deep , which is not the case.” an indication of who we are.

“The loss of Jimmy (Horn Jr.), Travis (Hunter) and others was certainly huge because they are an important part of our team, an important part of our identity, an important part of who we are. That took a lot of us. “But other guys had the opportunity to step up and I’m proud of them.

Deion Sanders on injury updates from Travis Hunter, Jimmy Horn and more

“No, not one. I saw Omarion Miller in a boot, some kind of cast. I thank God that we have everything we need here on the second floor in this wonderful building.”

“But I have not yet received any information about these young men. Hopefully they can do it, but we won't rush them. Their safety and their health are much more important than this game.”

Deion Sanders on Colton Hood's late interception

“Huge. It was a natural climax. That was phenomenal. Great game. I mean, the defense came up with the play when they needed it and that's what happened. And, you think, and well, you.” You know, we'll score when the ball is in Shedeur's hands. And we went ahead and did what we had to do. I don't think coach Rob (Livingston) had as intense a game as Pat (Shurmur), we just came up short.”

Deion Sanders talks about Hunter coming back into the game

“No, not at all. He was just there to support his team and he did a good job of that.”

Deion Sanders on Colorado's offense, Kansas State's DJ Giddens

“He is phenomenal. He is one of the best in the country. I mean, its maneuverability is incredible. We didn't tackle well at all today. We didn't get to the ball as a unit at all today. We had some misses.' And a couple of things I'll tell you, I heard the calls and Coach called a heck of a game and we just have to make the calls.

Deion Sanders on the most disappointing part of the loss

“The big plays and giving up 224 yards rushing. Come, because this is also time. That keeps our offense off the field. And they need opportunities. We need opportunities.”

“I’m proud of her, man, I’m always proud of her. This is a completely different team. This team has heart. They have integrity, they are tough and they love playing this game. We just came. “We just had to learn how to win these games. We did that this year too.

Deion Sanders on the Colorado running game

“We didn’t execute it. I mean, the play calls are there, but we didn't execute. We missed a block here, we missed that one there, we just didn't execute. Play calls were definitely enough. We didn't do it. We didn't get it done and I think we gave up six sacks to their four, which wasn't bad compared to that, and Shedeur has to get the ball out sometimes too. But we are better. “Overall, we are better than what we showed tonight.”

Deion Sanders on Shilo Sanders

“I thought he played terribly. I thought he was rusty. I thought he didn't have the support he needed. I thought he wouldn't collapse. He's trying to make the play, but open field, one-on-one tackling with that style. “Of course it's not an easy task, but he'll do better.

Deion Sanders on players stepping up with injuries

“Shows tremendous resilience. It shows you depth. It shows you that the recruiting was successful in depth for this position. It shows that Pat did a wonderful job. He didn't change the distribution of the ball and that. “We still had some great guys out there that could play too, so let's not forget that because that's the reason we were late in the game. But I pray.” for him too. I don't know what happened to him either.

Deion Sanders in the Colorado reception room

“We are deep. I mean, this space is deep. These guys are making tremendous progress. And we have freshmen who are capable of moving up. And Drelon (Miller) did a wonderful job. He did a wonderful job getting in there and making plays. So I'm happy with who they are, what they are and how they work.

“They do a great job in practice, they're led by LaJohntay (Wester), he's probably their vocal leader there, but we're deep in that position.”

Deion Sanders on BJ Green

“I haven't seen the film, so I don't really know how they did, but he had a couple sacks that came at crucial moments. I don't know how many tackles he had, but I didn't make it.” So far I have to watch the film to see who actually did what and how they did it, but from a pure perspective he had a few Sacks, which I think is impressive on every play, and that’s what we want.”

Deion Sanders on Shedeur Sanders' on-field communication

“I can't tell you everything that happens, but you would never guess that some things happen and then happen. That's why you have to hear from a quarterback because I might get upset and get involved with him. Then he will tell it.” He tells me what really happened. I've learned not to be emotional when it comes to seeing what a quarterback sees. We feel like if the ball is in his hands at the end, we have a chance.

“And I don’t know what happened at the end, and to me it looked like pass interference. But it was like that, it was hard. I didn't want it to end like this. Do you know? I just saw us fighting down the field, and then I know it's mata time once we get past 50, so I felt like we were going to be fine.

Deion Sanders on his postgame message to the team

“Self-reflection. Tell them to self-reflect. Everyone wants opportunities to be that guy, and often you get opportunities to be that guy and you're upset that you didn't rise to the occasion. So just reflect on yourself. Sometimes when you lose in life, you get a kick in the butt and you just have to take it. But sometimes you lose, damn, we should have won games.

“It doesn’t take anything away from our opponents because they worked their asses off and they’re in the locker room right now having fun and they deserve that. But we just felt like we let that happen. “We were able to take better advantage of the chances we had to win this game because we had several.”

Deion Sanders on the chances of Colorado making a bowl game

“It’s not part of our thought process at all, we take it one game at a time. Really, one game at a time. We definitely want to, you know, the goal is to get Miss Peggy to a bowl. You know that. But we are one game at a time. You hate to drop these games, but you can see that we have some capable players We have a few people who can play this game flat out. We didn't show up together today.

Deion Sanders on Omarion Miller, Drelon Miller

“Omarion can just play. I mean, you could just flip a coin and he could start if you wanted. It's just that the chips are falling for him, but he's just like a starter. Drelon, I mean, it's phenomenal to be a true freshman and contribute as much as he does. You think you're going to make these rookie mistakes and he fights for it. I mean, if Shedeur can trust him in critical moments, that says a lot about who he is and how he rises to the occasion.

“But you have to understand that when you lose Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn in ten minutes it hurts tremendously. But look, nine receivers caught passes today, which is phenomenal. This also makes your space happy.”

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