Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders took to the podium for his weekly press conference on Tuesday to preview the Buffs' upcoming game against the Oklahoma State Cowboys.
During his presser, Sanders discussed how his team's morale has improved since he released three players midseason; he shared sympathy for Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts' medical condition and much more. Here's a look at everything Coach Prime said in his Week 8 press conference.
What Deion Sanders said:
How releasing players improved team chemistry
“I’ll try to say this carefully. I got rid of that. There may have been that. I got rid of it, so that's why you don't see that, you don't hear that. They don't think like that. They don't operate like that. These guys are united in there together. So if we showed a clip up there of when the play broke down and Isaac rolled out and threw it to JaQuail [Smith], the sideline went crazy because they're fighting for one another,” Sanders said.
“It's all love, it's all support, and I love those types of moments because that shows how unified we are, and nobody's sitting up there anymore going off on the sideline like, ‘the offense ain't doing this or the defense didn't get a stop.’ That that's not in this locker room. This is not that kind of party, and I'm proud of that. I really am proud of that,” Sanders said.
Opening statement
“Eric Morris, first year at Oklahoma State, replacing a darn legend, Mike Gundy. Like, oh my God, if this gets back to Coach Gundy, we love and appreciate you. You are, not were; you are still the man. Anytime you want to fish, let me know. I love it. He’s unbelievable, the run that he had and the man that he is. Coach Morris has been doing a great job. I mean, a great job. You know, coming from my old stomping grounds in North Texas, he’s been phenomenal,” Sanders said.
“Brought a ton of guys over with him, cleaned out the house a little bit, and got really what he wanted. The right guys in, doing a phenomenal job. Got a quarterback that can flat out spin it. Defense, they're coming. They're coming. They're going to get there. But I'm proud of him, I really am, because I root for all the guys in the Big 12 except when they play against us. I root for all of them,” Sanders said.
“Students of the week: Rodney Colton, linebacker from Newnan, Georgia. Yo-Yo [Attia], who's my guy, born in Egypt, raised in Australia. Ain't no telling where Yo-Yo come from. He thinks he's a Sanders, and I love him to life. But hats off to both of those guys. Soccer had a good road win. They're 10-4-1 on the season. Volleyball also got a big road win last week, now 13-4, unbelievable,” Sanders said.
“Tennis, big week. Mountain regional. Love my tennis girls, God bless you, girls. Keep on doing your thing. Almost basketball season; JR [Payne] and Tad [Boyle] are in Kansas City today for the Big 12 media day doing their thing. We don't have a we had Emma Morgan for Ralfie Handlers to become the first woman to run one of the front positions in the 59-year history of the Ralfie program, but also our cross country team-they're doing a phenomenal job. I've been hearing that they're setting records. They're doing some great things. So God bless them as well,” Sanders said.
Oklahoma State Cowboys quarterback Drew Mestemaker
“The kid can spin it. He could flat-out spin it. What we want to do is get him uncomfortable, get him off his spot … He's a phenomenal quarterback, man. The kid can spin it. That's why the coach was compelled to bring him over there with him. He's a bona fide leader. We got to get him off his spot and make him uncomfortable. Because if he sits back there, even on the boots, when he gets his feet set, he's extremely accurate,” Sanders said.
“Knows his offense like the back of his hand, and he can get it done. It's one of the best in the conference as well as in college football, to me,” Sanders said.
How his offense’s second-half performance against the Utah Utes can carry over
“Tremendous because it builds confidence, and that's what you saw when the sideline erupted, and they began to be confident. They start being like the little engine that could, ‘I think I can. I think I can,’ and they start believing that they could, and they got some things done,” Sanders said.
“We still got a ways to go offensively, to me, as well as defensively and especially this team as a whole. But it was a good sign that we can score. When we can score, we could beat anybody in the country. We just got to score the football,” Sanders said.
Defensive coordinator Chris Marve’s impact
“Even though we doubted him when we brought him over here, right? We felt like he did a phenomenal job at his last stomping grounds, where he was and what he was going to bring to the table, we kind of knew of his expertise when we brought him in. That's the reason we brought him here, and I'm just happy that he's calling it. He's doing a phenomenal job,” Sanders said.
Drew Mestemaker’s skill set
“He always feels like he can do better, and he's going to push the envelope and challenge those young men to do better. We don't want to think that an average of 20 points is good. We want to think that that's progression. We're going to get to where we want to get to in pitching shutouts. But he's doing a phenomenal job,” Sanders said.
“I don't know if we call this kid a running quarterback. This kid, his best attribute is him throwing the football. I don't know about ‘he can run.’ He's shown the ability to run. He's had a tremendous gain in a couple of games. But I don't see him as a running quarterback. I see him as a guy who has a capability, but he wants to throw first,” Sanders said.
An update on wide receiver Danny Scudero
“We want what's best for Danny. We don't want to push Danny out there, and he does something and sets himself back. We care about the whole person, not just the person for this season. You're talking about a great kid that everyone on the team and staff admires, and we want to see him successful beyond Colorado. So we're doing what's best for him, and Danny keeps a smile on his face. He's passionate about getting back out there, and he's doing everything he can to progress that,” Sanders said.
Finding positives in the Colorado Buffaloes’ Week 7 loss
“Well, I think last week was a tremendous advancement on us showing up together, as far as offense, defense, as well as special teams and coaching. I don't feel like there were a lot of blemishes out there; we did some things that we're not proud of, some things we're very proud of that we accomplished last weekend. And you hate to say, okay, we got our butts kicked, but we got better. But we did,” Sanders said.
“We actually believed coming out of the locker room in the second half that we were going to come back and make a run for it, and we did. And they fought their butts off. That's why I'm proud of them, and they've been progressing with every practice. So these young men are not to be counted out,” Sanders said.
“The staff is not to be counted out, and I really hope you don't count me out because I'm going to fight, regardless of whatever is in front of me. That's just who we are and how we're built. I don't think you see quit in 99 percent of the team,” Sanders said.
How Isaac Wilson responded to his interceptions in Week 7
“One of the picks, Isaac, threw a heck of a ball. I mean, I think the ball was taken away from our receiver, so I'm not going to put that totally on him. But it is in his column of interceptions. The other one, he could do better than that. He knows better than to throw a ball like that in that situation, but he played good enough for us to win, and he didn't get down on himself. He didn't cry or bicker or murmur on the sideline,” Sanders said.
“He just fought back and tried to get it done, and that's why we got confidence in Isaac. But it's not just him. I think the whole offense, in its totality, we got to do better. We got to score. We got to score. If we could put up 30 points, first of all, we eliminate them having the football, so time of possession is much better, and it eliminates them from having the opportunity to score as much because of time in possession,” Sanders said.
“At one point I think they had the ball 15 minutes more than we did that last week, and that's not a recipe to win. So we got to do better offensively. I don't think it's just a one-man thing at this point,” Sanders said.
His team’s keys to making a bowl game
“Pivot and understand what they're capable of. You've got to understand these are still young men that are very moved by social, by things that people in this room say, by negativity, they are, and you got to have some positive thinking, some positive thoughts. We watched a tremendous video this morning from Ray Lewis talking about what it takes to get to the next level. We're preaching positivity, not negativity,” Sanders said.
“[We’re quitting] trying to find something wrong and just try to find something right. That's like a world message. That's who we are. We're always looking for something wrong, and we're attracted to that on social, right? You harbor on that one bad tweet or whatever they call it, but you don't focus on all the good ones. There are many more good ones than bad ones. So I think that's what our young men, as well as the staff, should focus on,” Sanders said.
“You know I don't give a darn. So I'm way down the street. I've been hated on since I came out the womb. I think the doctor said something wrong about me. But we good,” Sanders said.
What he learned last season; well wishes to Jalen Hurts
“Well, I kind of learned it was hard to fight with cancer. I did. I learned that. That's that's number one. No doubt. That was a tremendous ongoing thing. First of all, let me address a guy from Philly, man [Jalen Hurts]. I know what he's dealing with. I know what he's going through, and I'm praying for him. I'm really, really praying for him, and I pray to God that it's not what I think; it's not what many of us think,” Sanders said.
“But when we see it's out for the season, when we see things like that, I'm just like, please. I pray to God that he's not out for the rest of his career. And hats off to his family and the people around him. I know he's a praying man. He has a tremendous family. He was raised correctly. Tremendous support system, but hats off to them,” Sanders said.
“Back to your question, that's yesterday, man. I can't sit up here and comment about the Shedeur [Sanders] and Travis [Hunter] days and that phenomenal era that we had. It's time to move on and move up, and let's move it forward. We got some guys that I feel like can do the job, and if they can't, that's on us. We brought them in. Nobody else. That's on us,” Sanders said.
How the team has rallied around Isaac Wilson
“It encourages them. It motivates them. It makes them understand that they always have a shot. They believe so much, and we just had situations out there, situational football, that they didn’t advance, and he got on everybody. You know, he just snaps, resets everybody, gets their mind refocused, and he goes. That's just who he is,” Sanders said.
“So you just got to give us credit as coaches that a lot of things you guys don't know, you don't see, you're not there, you're not privy to; there are a multitude of reasons why we got love for this guy,” Sanders said.
Playing a complete game of football
“I don't know if we played a really good quarter, decent quarter, decent half, because you got to score in every quarter for them to really be good quarters. Penalties in the second quarter disarmed us last week. We got it right in the third and fourth, which were our goals. We break down practice in those types of quarters, but that first quarter, second quarter, we can't do what we've been doing this season. We must have a repeat of last week's second half,” Sanders said.
“We did some things differently. We'll do it again to come out to ensure that things would be different in the second half as well as when closing the first half, the second quarter of football. We really got to be more focused and understand the little things that cripple us and prevent us from winning the football games. We can't overcome that. We're not good enough to overcome those adversities,” Sanders said.
Injury update on running back Micah Welch
“He's hurting. He didn't practice today. I have no idea [if it’s long-term]. He's hurting right now. I think he may have broken it. I don't know if he broke it. Yeah. I know that happened, but I don't know the severity of it,” Sanders said.
Lamont Lester Jr. dressing but only playing a few snaps in Week 7
“We don't want that because that's not helping him or helping us. Like, if you're gonna dress out, you got to play, or just don't dress. I'd rather him get the proper treatment so he can get back and be who he is. The kid is phenomenal. He can really play this game of football, but you don't want half of Lamont. You want the whole. So hopefully, he’ll take his time. And I know he practiced a little bit today, but I don't want a little bit,” Sanders said.
“Like, if you're gonna work, let's work. If you're not, take care of yourself so you can get back there and show people who you are in a whole game,” Sanders said.
Injury update on Kam Perry
“I don't know if Kam Perry is doing well. I think he's still hurt or suffering. I don't think he's doing well right now. Didn't see him today,” Sanders said.
Wanting the public to watch game tape
“It would be great for one day to sit up here and watch game tape with the public. I remember I played for the Cowboys, and I think we lost a game or so, and people were critical of certain plays. And I said, ‘I wish we could just sit in the stadium and watch the game tape, so people could really see what's supposed to happen and what's supposed to go on, so you can understand really where it comes from and where it is,’” Sanders said.
“But that'll be a little harsh because college kids ain't really built like that. Pros, you get compensated, and college kids do get compensated, but pros have an expectation that they're going to get attacked by you guys [the media]. College kids, they're a little iffy now. You guys are starting to go at them really hard, but they're not built like that at this time to handle that kind of criticism, and financially based criticism,” Sanders said.
“One of these days they're going to allow you to really know what everybody makes, and it's really going to get detrimental to their mental health. Other than that, I wish we could do that together as one,” Sanders said.
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