Deion Sanders just suffered his worst loss as a college coach, but why? 'This is bad'

SALT LAKE CITY – With less than two minutes remaining in Saturday night’s game at Utah, Colorado football coach Deion Sanders put both hands on his knees and bent over on the sideline.

If it looked like he was getting ready to vomit, pardon him for how he felt. He had never experienced anything quite like this — a 53-7 loss against the Utes on a night when almost everything seemed to go freakishly wrong for Colorado .

“This is bad,” Sanders said afterward. “It’s probably the worst beating I’ve ever had since my mama whooped me as a kid.”

He’s right, at least in terms of his college coaching career. It was the worst loss under Sanders in three seasons at Colorado — a span of 33 games. It also was the worst loss in Sanders’ college coaching career overall, including his tenure at Jackson State .

But why?

Colorado was coming off a bye week and its best win of the season in its previous game on Oct. 11- a 24-17 win against Iowa State . Sanders even praised his team’s physical week of practice before the game .

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Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes walks the sideline during the first quarter against the Wyoming Cowboys at Folsom Field on Sept. 20, 2025 in Boulder, Colo.

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Deion Sanders through the years

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Deion Sanders through the years

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Deion Sanders through the years

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Deion Sanders had the same question: ‘Why?’

Utah outgained the Buffaloes by a margin of 587-140 in total yards, helping drop Colorado to 3-5 this season and 1-3 in the Big 12 Conference. To become eligible for a postseason bowl game, the Buffs now need to win three of their final four regular-season games.

“Let’s identify the why first,” Sanders said. “You know, that’s what I want to know — why? OK, what about this play — why? Who was that? What about that play — why? Why can’t we get the ball off? Why? You know? Why? I need to know all these whys before we can move on and even think about something down the street.”

The simple answer to the question is the Buffs got whipped up front on both sides of the ball and even added some bad miscues on special teams .

Utah freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin also outplayed Colorado senior Kaidon Salter as a result. Salter had just 37 yards passing and minus-4 yards rushing after getting sacked five times.

By contrast, Ficklin rushed for 151 yards and a touchdown and passed for 140 yards and two touchdowns in place of regular starter Devon Dampier , who injured his leg last week in a loss at BYU . It was Ficklin’s first career start for Utah, which improved to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big 12 on a cool, breezy night in front of 51,949 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Deion Sanders blamed himself

After the game, a reporter basically asked Sanders what he needs to do now.

“I’m trying to figure that out,” said Sanders, who signed a new contract earlier this year worth more than $10 million per year . “I really am.”

Sanders also said the assessment of what went wrong “starts with me.”

He expressed urgency about it, too.

“We gotta figure this out, like, now,” he said. “Now.”

Salter, the transfer quarterback from Liberty, said what happened “definitely blindsided me.” It was the second time he's been beaten by an opposing freshman quarterback, including a 24-21 loss last month against BYU and its freshman quarterback, Bear Bachmeirer.

“We practiced real hard this week,” Salter said.  He even said he watched over 10 hours of film to prepare.

And then it all blew up right from the start, when Ficklin broke loose for a 63-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game.

How bad was it for Colorado and Deion Sanders?

Before halftime, the statistical comparison between the two teams looked like a batch of computer errors instead of a game between peers in a major college football conference.

∎ Total yards in the first half: Utah 398, Colorado minus-18.

∎ Rushing yards in the first half: Utah 260, Colorado minus-41.

∎ First downs in the first half: Utah 16, Colorado 3.

If that wasn’t freakish enough, Colorado even tossed in a few other bizarre gaffes before halftime — an intentional grounding call against Salter in the end zone for a Utah safety, a shanked punt into the crowd and a punt that was blocked by Utah .

By the time the first half was over after midnight ET, Utah led 43-0, eclipsing the point differential of the previous worst loss in Sanders’ three seasons in Colorado — a 42-point loss at Washington State on Nov. 17, 2023 .

“We just didn’t play fast,” Colorado linebacker Jeremiah Brown said. “We didn’t show up. It’s just as simple as it is. We didn’t come to play. We had a great week of practice. We (were) physical all week in practice. And I guess we got complacent.”

Deion Sanders also said it boiled down to coaching

Sanders was going up against Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, now in his 21 ^st season in charge of the Utes.

“He kicked my butt today,” Sanders said. "It was 1-on-1 with me and him, and he won by a significant margin.”

Salter said what he saw from the Utah defense was “nowhere to be found” on the game film he studied before the game.

“I feel like today they schemed up this… pressure just for us, for this game,” Salter said.

Now the Buffs need to regroup to play Arizona at home on Nov. 1.

“We just can’t quit,” Salter said.

Sanders' record in three seasons at Colorado is now 16-17, including 4-8 in 2023 and 9-4 in 2024 .

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer . Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Colorado's Deion Sanders puzzled by loss at Utah, his worst loss ever