Deion Sanders evaluates Colorado defense against Nebraska
Colorado‘s offense has taken center stage throughout their 2-0 start to the season under new head coach Deion Sanders, led by his son Shedeur Sanders at quarterback receiving national recognition and early Heisman Trophy hype.
But the Buffaloes defense stepped up big in their latest win over Nebraska, showing improvement from their Week 1 victory over TCU, which Sanders reflected on following Saturday’s win.
“They’re not happy or satisfied with how they performed last week, that’s not indicative to who they were,” Sanders said. “Coach Kelly called an excellent game, I’m hearing it on the headset and guys got out of their gaps, missed tackles. They just didn’t do what they’re capable of doing.”
Colorado gave up 42 points and 541 yards to the Horned Frogs in their Week 1 shootout win. But in Week 2 they stifled the Cornhuskers, allowing just 14 points total in the game and keeping Nebraska off of the scoreboard for the entire first half.
“But today early on, I mean, just starting out the game the way they started was phenomenal. And they truly believed that they could be a dominant force. Mix in a few more sacks and pressures and keep the quarterback in the pocket,” Sanders said. “Coach Kelly went crazy when that guy slipped out of the pocket, I wish you could’ve heard him on the headset about to lose his mind.”
The dual-threat abilities of Nebraska quarterback Jeff Sims may have caused headaches to Colorado defensive coordinator Charles Kelly at times, as he rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown against the Buffaloes on Saturday. But Sims also played a crucial role in Colorado’s turnover success on Saturday, recovering three fumbles and an interception on the day.
The Buffaloes had numerous stand out performances on the defense, including one from Arkansas transfer Jordan Domineck who recovered one of those fumbles and added four tackles and 2.5 tackles for loss to his stat line.
West Virginia transfer Taijh Alston also had a strong showing on the defensive line with 1.5 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss, but Coach Prime knows there’s still room for improvement for his defense as a whole.
“But overall they really played well and we’re proud of them, but we still have to fix some things if we want to be who we want to be,” Sanders said.
Colorado stays in Boulder again this Saturday as they host Colorado State at 10:00 p.m. ET in a matchup airing on ESPN.