What Deion Sanders said about his job security after Colorado’s loss in Tempe

The Colorado Buffaloes now have to win three straight games to play in December. A 20-10 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils on Saturday night in Tempe dropped Colorado to 3-6 and 1-5 in the Big 12, and the path to six wins runs through the Houston Cougars at Folsom Field on Friday, a trip to the Cincinnati Bearcats and a home finale against the UCF Knights.

Colorado has lost six of seven since opening 2-0, and the one win in that stretch, a 27-24 overtime result against the Kansas State Wildcats, came the previous Saturday. The Buffaloes also extended a streak that has followed them all season: they have not won a Big 12 road game in two years.

Deion Sanders took up the season as a whole when he sat down with reporters afterward.

"The season don't look good. It don't look good. I'm not crazy. I can see clearly. You think I'm happy? I'm not happy with the outcomes. I'm not a loser by any means, and I hate the fact that we're coming up on the short end of these games," Sanders said.

How the game slipped away in the first half

Colorado did not pick up a first down until about seven minutes remained in the second quarter, and that drive ended with Isaac Wilson taking a 24-yard sack on fourth-and-6 from the Arizona State 34. Arizona State led 17-0 at halftime. Jake Fette threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Reed Harris and caught a 1-yard touchdown pass, making him the first Arizona State quarterback since Jake Plummer in 1996 to do both in one game.

Colorado outscored Arizona State 10-3 after the break. Elliott Arnold hit a 39-yard field goal on the last play of the third quarter, and Wilson found Joseph Williams for a 7-yard score after Arizona State was flagged for running into the kicker.

Colorado's last chance ended on a failed fourth-and-15 near midfield with 2:43 to go.

Wilson finished 20-of-31 for 248 yards, but he was sacked four times and threw an interception, and Sanders measured the night against those numbers.

"You know, on a normal day, I would take that, but not the four sacks and the pick and everything else," he said.

Sanders was also asked about his own standing. Colorado went 9-4 in 2024 and is 6-15 since, and the question has followed him since a losing 2025 season.

"I don't think about that. I am not here for my job. I am not built like that. I am really, really not," Sanders said .

"I didn't see quit. I didn't see anyone being lethargic. I didn't see any giving up by any means," Sanders said of his players' effort. "But it was way too late."