Deion Sanders vows Colorado will improve on both sides in Week 2
Deion Sanders let out an audible “Oh Lord” followed by a deep sigh as the third-year Colorado head coach began his postgame press conference following last week’s season-opening loss, 27-20, to visiting Georgia Tech. It marked the first time the Buffaloes opened a season 0-1 under Sanders’ tenure.
But after rattling off all the ways his team was outplayed by the Yellow Jackets last Friday, including praising Tech quarterback Haynes King for bouncing back from a rough start to “lead his team to a victory,” Coach Prime pledged Colorado would be much improved offensively and defensively. That will be at the test in Saturday’s Week 2 game vs. Delaware (3:30 pm ET, FOX).
“Special teams were special, but we’ve got to do a better job offensively and defensively,” Sanders said to close his opening statement Friday. “And I will take the onus on that. We will do better next week.”
Colorado was outgained by Georgia Tech 463-to-305 in total yards on Friday, including more than doubling up the Buffs with a 320-to-146 rushing yard advantage. King led all players with 19 carries for 156 yards and three scores on the ground, in addition to throwing for 143 yards on 13-of-20 passing.
Meanwhile, Colorado running back Micah Welch led his team with just 64 yards on 11 carries. Veteran QB Kaidon Salter added 43 rushing yards on 13 carries to go along with his 159 passing yards in the game.
Deion Sanders calls for Kaidon Salter to run with the ball more
After falling behind 20-13 with 13 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter led his team on a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive. It was capped off by a seven-yard rushing touchdown with 8:25 remaining.
Georgia Tech‘s Haynes King, however, put his team over the top with a 45-yard rushing score with just over a minute remaining to secure the win for the Yellow Jackets. Salter rushed for 43 yards and one touchdown on 13 carries in the game. But Coach Prime revealed postgame that he wants to see even more production on the ground from the dual-threat quarterback.
“Kaidon played well,” Sanders said. “A couple of times I think he should have ran. He threw, but I don’t need him to prove to us that he can throw the ball. We know he can throw the ball. We wanted him because he’s a dual-threat and we want him to be a dual-threat. But I don’t think we lost the game because of Kaidon Salter by any means. He put us in a situation to win.”
Salter will have a prime opportunity to have a better game on the ground in Colorado’s game against Delaware on Saturday. Sanders revealed that backup quarterback Julian Lewis will also see some snaps in the game, so it is currently unknown how much run Salter will get against the Blue Hens.
— On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to this report.
