Deion Sanders and Colorado failed to make the best of their season opener against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets last Friday. While the Buffaloes managed to quickly get on the board during the first quarter and held the Yellow Jackets to no points, from the second quarter on, it would be all Haynes King and Georgia Tech.
While Georgia Tech scored 13 points in the second quarter and one touchdown in the third and fourth quarters, Colorado didn’t manage more than a field goal in the second and third quarters. They would score another touchdown until the fourth quarter, by which point their opponent had the game well within hand.
Some have started wondering if offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur wasn’t as aggressive as he could’ve been. In his most recent press conference, Sanders made it clear he won’t allow such a conversation:
“After reviewing the film, what have your conversations been like with Coach Pat Shurmer in improving some elements of the offense?” Deion Sanders was asked by a reported, to which Sanders replied, “Um it’s funny that you start out with coach Shurmur. and we gave up over 300 yards darn 400 yards rushing. This is it’s it’s ironic to me. It seemed like you guys just pick and choose who you want to target. That’s cool. Um we didn’t lose the game because because of coach Shurmer, uh Coach Livingston, um or one specific thing. Um I got to do a better job and preparing my team. Um challenging my coaches to go to the next level. That’s on me.”
Deion Sanders is blamed for poor time management against Georgia Tech
Deion Sanders and Pat Shurmur were criticized shortly after the game against Georgia Tech finished for only using one timeout in the fourth quarter. According to ESPN’s Dusty Dvoracek, who called the game, the decision was very poor coaching on the side of Colorado. He said that this was a lesson for Sanders, Shurmur and quarterback Kaidon Salter.
Deion Sanders also addressed the situation shortly after the game ended. He explained to the media that in his mind, the team didn’t need to call any timeouts. They managed to stop the clock on several occasions by stepping out of bounds.
But it’s difficult to see how the timeouts wouldn’t have made some kind of difference. With 1:07 left on the clock, and while down 27-20, the Buffaloes wasted 43 seconds in two plays, and then they rushed to complete four more plays, including two Hail Mary passes. Had they used their remaining timeouts before, they would’ve been in a very position to try to send the game into overtime.
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