Adam Rittenberg
BOULDER, Colo. — Deion Sanders ran onto the field with his Colorado team Friday night, just months removed from having surgery to replace and reconstruct his bladder after a tumor was found this spring.
Sanders, 58, jogged past a portable toilet placed next to Colorado’s bench area for him to use during the game, which was sponsored by Depend, the adult incontinence undergarment company. He slowed near the South end zone and gently tapped his players who were kneeling in prayer.
After the most serious health issue in a series of them the past five years, Sanders said he “felt good,” adding, “I don’t feel good right now, but I felt darn good during the game.”
Sanders was miffed that his team didn’t capitalize on early takeaways, convert several big-play opportunities on offense or make nearly enough run stops against Georgia Tech, falling 27-20 in the season opener at Folsom Field.
Sanders coached his first game for Colorado since undergoing surgery in May. He was away from the team for much of late spring and early summer before rejoining the squad for preseason camp. Dr. Janet Kukreja, director of urological oncology at the University of Colorado Cancer Center, said in a news conference in July that Sanders is cured of cancer.
Upon returning, Sanders focused on getting his third Colorado team, and the first without his sons Shedeur and Shilo and 2024 Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter, to employ a different play style, based on being more physical at the line of scrimmage. Colorado made some strides Friday, as a rushing offense that had been last in the FBS during Sanders’ tenure generated 146 yards on 31 attempts.
But Colorado allowed 320 rushing yards and three touchdowns to Georgia Tech, including the tiebreaking, game-winning 45-yard dash by quarterback Haynes King with 1:07 left.
“Defensively, no, there’s no way you can say you’re physical when you got your butt kicked like that,” Sanders said. “But offensively, you probably were sitting out there saying, ‘Dang, they should keep running the ball’ because you saw the physicality we’ve been talking about.”
Although Georgia Tech committed turnovers on its first three possessions — becoming the first team to do so in a season opener since Florida International in 2010 — and didn’t reach the end zone until late in the first half, Sanders said, “It’s hard to applaud the defense right now.”
After the three early turnovers, Georgia Tech had three drives of 75 yards or more and a 61-yarder in the closing minutes. Colorado linebacker Reginald Hughes said Georgia Tech’s gap scheme “messed with our eyes a little bit” and caused the Buffaloes not to properly fill several holes in the run game.
“We’re at a good pace, inclining to be the defense that we want,” Hughes said. “We’re not quite there yet. It’s really more so execution with us. We play fast, we get after it. It’s just executing situations. Stuff like that, it shows up later in the game.”
Quarterback Kaidon Salter, a transfer from Liberty making his first start for Colorado and replacing the record-setting Shedeur Sanders, threw an early scoring pass and finished with 159 passing yards and 43 rushing on 13 attempts. Deion Sanders noted that Salter could have run even more and been more of a true dual threat.
“Most definitely, I feel like I had those opportunities,” Salter said, “but me being a dual-threat quarterback, keeping my eyes down the field, I felt like I had chances to throw the ball downfield and make some plays.”
Despite Colorado’s significant personnel losses at quarterback and wide receiver, Sanders said the offense doesn’t need time to come together, adding, “We’ve got to go get it and do it right now.”
He said he saw enough good things overall to still expect a strong season.
“We’re definitely going to be fine, I’m not concerned about that,” Sanders said. “We could have won that game. It’s not like we got our butts kicked. They ran the heck out of the ball, they did that, but we had opportunities.”
