Colorado safety Randon Fontenette felt the Buffaloes' locker room change after the Utah loss, and he did not need long to explain why. Colorado coach Deion Sanders had broken his own habit by telling the Buffaloes he was proud of them after a defeat, and the veteran defensive back said the message hit at the right time.
"Yeah, I definitely felt the shift, especially with the way Coach Prime approached us," Fontenette said during Colorado's media availability this week. "It was definitely different, and I felt like, in this moment that we're in, we definitely needed that as a team."
Sep 3, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Colorado Buffaloes defensive back Randon Fontenette (7) reacts after the game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Sanders admitted in his own postgame comments that he never does that after a loss, which explains why the players noticed it so quickly and why it stuck with them days later.
Fontenette then got honest about the danger Colorado was facing.
"So that really gelled us together and kind of brought us closer to each other because we're two and four; it's easy to fall apart right now," he said. "So that really helped us really gel together even more."
He is right to say it out loud. Colorado has lost four consecutive games and sits at the bottom of the Big 12 standings alongside Kansas, and seasons like that tend to split locker rooms into groups that blame each other.
Oct 25, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Colorado Buffaloes wide receiver Omarion Miller (4) runs against Utah Utes defensive back Rock Caldwell (11) during the second half at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Fontenette is also speaking from experience as a player who has seen more than one program. He started at TCU, moved to Vanderbilt and landed in Boulder , so he has been in enough locker rooms to know when one is about to crack.
Cohesion is a bigger deal for this group than most. Colorado returned no full-time defensive starters this season, which meant players were still learning to work together during spring practice.
A defense built that quickly needs trust more than anything, and trust is hard to hold onto during a losing streak. Sanders seemed to understand that, which is why one change in tone after the Utah game carried so much weight with players like Fontenette.
Fontenette did not stop at describing the moment. He made it clear the locker room still believes a turnaround is possible.
Sep 20, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Vanderbilt Commodores linebacker Randon Fontenette (2) deflects the pass of Georgia State Panthers safety D-Icey Hopkins (4) during the first half at FirstBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
"So I'm very confident in these next six games to win," he said. "Yeah, definitely."
Coming from a former four-star prospect who played quarterback and safety in high school at Brazosport, the confidence sounds like an honest read on his teammates. He watched this group take a gut-punch loss and pull closer together, and he trusts what he saw.
Sanders made a choice he says he never makes after a loss, and one of his most experienced defenders is telling everyone it worked.
For a 2-4 team with a rebuilt roster, a locker room that still believes is the most valuable thing Colorado took out of the Utah game.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/colorado as Randon Fontenette Identifies How Utah Loss Changed Deion Sanders' Demeanor .
