Deion Sanders: Colorado must 'flush the darn toilet' after 53-7 loss at Utah

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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — On the plane ride home from Utah, Deion Sanders had a stern warning to his team.

“I didn’t want to hear a peep,” the Colorado coach said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. “I didn't want to hear laughter or joy, anything, because we got our butts kicked.”

Since that 53-7 loss to the Utes, Sanders has been staying late at the office — re-watching the horror on film, talking to coaches and players — as he and the Buffaloes (3-5, 1-4 Big 12) try to get to the bottom of what happened. They had beaten a ranked Iowa State team and were coming off a bye before the blowout.

It was a loss that seemed almost like a lens into the season — erratic QB play, shaky run game, faulty defense. It was a loss he's trying to quickly put in the rearview mirror.

“Let’s flush the darn toilet and let’s move on,” said Sanders, whose team hosts Arizona (4-3, 1-3) on Saturday. “That’s what we’ve done.”

There's a sense of urgency given the Buffaloes need to win three of their final four in order to become bowl eligible for a second straight season. Not that it needed to be pointed out.

“We want to win every game. We want to win every play. We want to win every down,” Sanders explained. “We’re not going out there saying, ‘Hey, let’s just kick it today. Let’s just get our butts kicked.’"

In the Utah debacle, quarterback Kaidon Salter threw an interception and was sacked five times as the Utes discovered the Buffaloes vulnerability to the blitz. Colorado switched to Ryan Staub, who was sacked two more times. Highly touted freshman Julian Lewis has yet to play since Week 2 against Delaware.

The Buffaloes are near the bottom of the Big 12 in points (22.6), yards rushing (130.1) and yards passing (203.5) under offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur’s direction.

Meanwhile, the Colorado defense allowed Utah freshman QB Byrd Ficklin to rush for 151 yards — including a 63-yard TD run 37 seconds into the game — and throw two TD passes.

It got so intense that Sanders was caught by cameras yelling in the direction of defensive coordinator Robert Livingston. Sanders cleared the air Tuesday, explaining he wasn’t yelling about a particular call but rather a personnel scheme. The Buffaloes are allowing 27.4 points and 427.6 yards per game this season.

Sanders brought up the topic of hobbies to his team, with players mentioning they liked everything from fishing to skiing to hunting to cooking.

It was a way for him to remind them to play for joy.

“I said, ‘Is anybody compensating you for that?’ They said, ‘No, I just like to do it,’” Sanders said of his hobby conversation. “I said, ‘When you do that, do you give it your all?’ They said, ‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘Well, why don’t we do the same thing with this game? Let's give it your absolute all. Make it your hobby.'"

The message resonated.

“We know what we can do,” defensive back Preston Hodge said. “Everybody has to stay together.”

It's nearly November and the Buffaloes are still struggling with consistency.

For that, Sanders is taking a hard look in the mirror. He's also trying to find the right motivational spark.

“You’ve got to get them on that same frequency as well, to want it all and don’t settle,” Sanders said. "I’m not a settler, man.

“When I went for contracts, when I played, I wanted what I wanted. I’m not coming back down to settle. ... I’m going to work my butt off and prove that I’m capable and I’m worth that. So we want that same mentality in that locker room. Do we have everyone in there on that page? No. But I don’t think anyone does. We’re working towards that."

Sanders also wanted to explain why defensive pass rush coordinator Warren Sapp kicks over the end-zone pylons before games. Sanders said it’s a ritual between the two of them. Sapp topples them over and Sanders sets them upright. Social media has been having a field day with the antics.

“That’s our little thing," Sanders said. "Stop trying to make something out of nothing.”

To grow a program, it takes patience, which Sanders said, “no one’s patient in this world.” He called some of his high-profile coaching colleagues getting fired, “unfortunate.”

“How do we exude patience when we could call up right now and get a pizza delivered right here?” Sanders said. “Everything is expeditious in this country. Everyone wants the quick fix, the quick things."

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