Three days later, and it's clear that the 53-7 loss to Utah on Saturday night is still weighing heavily on the mind of Deion Sanders. Coach Prime called it the worst beating of his career. Colorado fell behind 43-0 at halftime with an offense that finished the first half with negative total yardage.
It's not a loss you can easily flush, though the Buffaloes have to refocus for this weekend's game against Arizona in Boulder. If Sanders has anything to say about it, you're going to see a whole different team this Saturday.
“I feel the worst, and I haven’t been home yet," Sanders told the media on Tuesday. "That’s how much I care, how much I love it, how much I embody this university, this school, and everything they’ve done for us.”
Coach Prime is committed to getting things right, but the root of Colorado's issues aren't likely to be fixable in one week's time. It's likely going to take an offseason of reflection - and staff changes - to get the program back on track.
Will Deion Sanders make the changes necessary to get things right?
Staff changes seem inevitable this offseason, no matter what happens the rest of this season. Even if Colorado wins this weekend and gets to six wins and bowl eligibility, it'll be tough not to look back on this season as a failure.
Coach Prime mentioned that he believes his team has responded well this week at practice. That's not necessarily indicative of a bounce-back performance this weekend at home against Arizona, however, as Sanders was dumbfounded by how poorly his team played at Utah despite seemingly practicing well.
“Last week was a tremendous surprise because of the great practices we had... These young men have responded tremendously and I’m proud of them," Sanders said.
After the season, Coach Prime will have difficult decisions to make. Last season's breakthrough seems further away than ever as Colorado has regressed to look more like the team it looked like in year one of his tenure.
A step back was always expected this year, but this has been a free-fall that wasn't anticipated. There's no doubt that this program is in much better shape right now than it was before Sanders took over in 2023, but the raise and contract extension pays him like the coach of a Top 10-15 program.
That's the next step he must take. Right now, Colorado is nowhere close to that.