Deion Sanders is known for telling it like it is, and he did not hold back when talking about Colorado’s defense on Friday night.
Sanders’ Buffaloes were facing the Houston Cougars at TDECU Stadium in Houston, Texas, and trailed 10-0 after the first quarter. Sanders was interviewed by ESPN after the quarter and did not sugar-coat things. He called Colorado’s defense “hot garbage” and bluntly stated that Colorado’s defense couldn’t stop Houston on first downs.
“Hot garbage,” Sanders said of his defense. “Can’t stop them on first downs. First downs, that’s when they’re making the big plays.”
https://t.co/PId5FeInDv pic.twitter.com/UR4vKu2ov4
— College Football Report (@CFBRep) September 13, 2025
As of the first half, Houston’s offense had put up 229 yards and scored on four of their five possessions. The only thing keeping Colorado in the game was the Buffs offense putting together consecutive touchdown drives late in the second quarter.
The second half didn't go much better for Colorado. The Buffs offense couldn't keep up with Cougars, scoring only six points compared to Houston's 20. With the 36-20 loss, Colorado is now 1-2.
Colorado entered the game 1-1 with a win over Delaware and loss to Georgia Tech. With a conference loss to Houston, the start of the 2025 season has not looked great for Colorado. The Buffaloes are in their first season without Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders, so some bumpiness was to be expected. That’s exactly what we are getting.
That said, with Colorado failing to handle opponents early in the season and looking bad in the losses, it's fair to wonder if Sanders' team will even be bowl-eligible. The Buffs have bouts against 2-0 Wyoming, 2-0 BYU and 1-0 TCU looming. Then they have back-to-back showdowns against ranked teams — No. 14 Iowa State and No. 20 Utah. Then they close out the season to 2-0 Arizona, 1-1 West Virginia, 1-1 Arizona State and 1-2 Kansas State. Where will five additional wins come from?
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