Deion Sanders: 'I don't give a damn about no bowl'
Deion Sanders isn’t worried about the postseason. He’s worried about now. And right now, he has winning on his itinerary. The Colorado head coach wasn’t able to achieve this goal in his team’s 28-16 loss to No. 23 UCLA on Saturday. After the game, he revealed his outlook on the season.
“We don’t give a damn about no bowl, we’re trying to win. Period,” Sanders said. “We’re not saying ‘Oh, we’ve gotta go to a bowl.’ We’re trying to win. Period. And I think we proved that, first half, second half. I know we came back and gave up an explosion as soon as the second half commenced but the young men played a heck of a game. They really did.
“They played their butts off. A lot of the mistakes we made, we know that we can do better than that. They forced them, but we made tremendous mistakes defensively that enabled them to do what they did.”
Colorado’s performance was certainly a step-up from its last outing. In Week 7, the Buffaloes allowed Stanford to mount a school-record 29-point comeback and, ultimately, secure a double-overtime victory.
Colorado looks toward the future
Although Colorado didn’t pull out a win on Saturday, Sanders was happy with his team’s progression.
“Overall, I think that was an improvement,” Sanders said. “What were we penalty-wise? How many penalties? 7-for-60? That’s a tremendous improvement from last game, I mean we harped on that all week long, so I think we made tremendous strides in that aspect.”
Colorado also won the turnover war in the game, committing zero turnovers compared to UCLA’s four. Nonetheless, the Buffaloes struggled mightily in other areas. Colorado gave up 269 passing yards to the Bruins, allowing UCLA quarterback Ethan Garbers to connect on 74% of his pass attempts.
Colorado’s defense wasn’t its only down point. The team only tallied 242 total yards, a low mark for the typically explosive team. The team’s lack of offensive success was largely due to its offensive line, which gave up seven sacks in the outing.
The Buffaloes must continue to mend their issues if they hope to reach a bowl game this season. A team must have six wins to bowl eligible. Colorado is 4-4. Two of Colorado’s four remaining opponents are ranked in the AP Top 25.
In other words, it won’t be easy for the Buffaloes to reach a bowl game. Then again, Sanders claims he isn’t concerned with achievement. Surely, he will be concerned about Colorado’s next game. On Saturday, the Buffaloes will face off against Oregon State at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.