Deion Sanders explains not turning final play vs. Kansas State into the Big 12

Colorado lost to Kansas State in a key Big-12 matchup last Saturday, and the final offensive play for the Buffaloes wasn’t without some controversy. But head coach Deion Sanders is already moved on.

The play, which potentially could’ve been called for a pass interference and extended Colorado’s final drive to tie or take the lead, was simply called incomplete. And while Sanders seems to think there was some pass interference, he wasn’t getting caught up in re-litigating a play that was long done, opting not to send it to the Big 12 officiating office.

“What are they gonna do?” Sanders said on his weekly coaches radio show. “You think it’s gonna make me feel better to get a letter that says, ‘Hey, we missed that one?’ This is over. I don’t want to continue with that foolishness.”

Sanders also didn’t heap on the officials, either, noting they get it right far, far more often than they get it wrong.

And ultimately, upon rewatching the game tape, Sanders knew which group was most to blame for Colorado losing: The coaches and players on their own sideline.

“It is what it is,” Sanders said. “You can’t fault the officials because they’ve done the best they can do. Nine out of 10 times — nine and a half out of 10 times, they’re right. But sometimes, you know, you may question something but you can see it the other way as well. I never thought – officials, coaches, when I played the game, it was us, man.”

Sanders got a dose of criticism for how the loss played out

Some key injuries left the Buffaloes undermanned on the field in the second half. But college football analyst Joel Klatt believes that Colorado’s coaching staff also played a key role in Saturday’s loss in Boulder during crunch time.

“I felt like the coaching staff for Colorado just fumbled the game at the end,” Klatt said. “You don’t play man coverage up four inside of three minutes to allow big plays to happen. You force them to snap it 10, 11, 12 times so you’ve got to create layers to your defense and force them and encourage them to run the football rally up, make the tackle, and then let the clock work on your side.”

An 11-yard touchdown connection between Shedeur Sanders and LaJohntay Wester gave the Buffaloes a 28-24 lead with 3:12 remaining in the ballgame. Which the Wildcats responded to in just three plays, giving up a 50-yard touchdown against a scheme that Klatt viewed as flawed.

“And then 4th & 5, don’t throw a fade,” Klatt said. “This is my pushback on Shedeur. He’s fabulous, he is accurate he is tough. I mean you talk about tough, there’s no one last two years in college football that has been hit more than Shedeur Sanders and he gets right back up there.”

Sanders is projected by some to be the top quarterback selected in the 2025 NFL Draft. But his decision on fourth down with the game on the line to throw a vertical fade route that wound up being incomplete speaks to one of the few flaws in his game according to Klatt.

“They’ve got to drive down to kick a field goal, it’s 4th & 6, he throws a fade. It’s like dude, you got blitzed from the field, the wide side of the field,” Klatt said. “You’ve got an in-breaking route from that side that has inside leverage on the support defender, throw the in-breaking route.”