U.S. LBM Coaches’ Trophy on hand at Oklahoma-Michigan
The U.S. LBM Coaches’ Trophy was at Michigan on Sept. 12 for fans to see and interact with as part of Fan Fest before Oklahoma played Michigan. The trophy is on a weekly tour of college football sites, as it celebrates 40 years.
- The Colorado Buffaloes are undefeated at 2-0 after a decisive home-opener victory against Weber State.
- Quarterback Julian Lewis had a career-best performance, throwing for 366 yards and four touchdowns.
- This is the first time Colorado has started a season 2-0 since 2023 under coach Deion Sanders.
- Despite a 52-21 victory over Weber State, Colorado coach Deion Sanders expressed dissatisfaction with his team’s performance.
- Sanders was frustrated by the team’s 13 penalties for 112 yards and a lack of overall dominance.
- The 2-0 start marks the first time the Buffaloes have done so since 2023, despite low preseason expectations.
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders opened his postgame news conference in Boulder on Saturday, Sept. 12, by expressing frustration and downright restlessness. He even said he needed to “calm myself down” after his team beat Weber State 52-21 in Colorado’s home opener at Folsom Field.
“I need stats, I need stats, I need stats, I’m sorry,” Sanders said before taking questions from reporters.
The game statistics he was given in response to this plea didn’t give him much comfort, either, even if the Buffaloes won easily and are now 2-0 for the first time since his first season at Colorado in 2023.
“We didn’t get it done what we wanted to get done,” Sanders said. “There’s no way we’re satisified with the outcome. We’re not.”
The Buffaloes still dominated. They launched a 66-yard touchdown pass on their first play from scrimmage and scored five explosive touchdowns on their first 26 plays – the 66-yarder, followed by scores from 63, 48, 55 and 32 yards.
Colorado second-year quarterback Julian Lewis even had his best performance for the Buffaloes, completing 17 of 23 passes for 366 yards and four touchdowns in front of an announced crowd of 49,363. So why was Deion Sanders so frustrated after the game?
Why Deion Sanders was a little testy after the win
Sanders cited penalties and a lack of greater dominance. The Buffs committed 13 penalties for 112 yards, including a holding call that nullified a 73-yard touchdown run by walk-on running back Titus Bautista in the fourth quarter.
Sanders also said that offensive coordinator Brennan Marion told players on offense that if they didn’t score 70 points, he was going to “run ’em” with extra conditioning drills for punishment.
“We only scored 52 points,” Sanders said.
He wanted more. Allowing two touchdowns on defense before halftime didn’t please him, either, especially against a team from the lesser-resourced Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
“We’re trying to win a championship. We’re not just trying to win a game,” Sanders said. “Maybe you’re comfortable with that. I’m not comfortable with that. I’m a bona fide winner. Like, in my life, I’m a winner. I’ve always won, and I wanna win. That, that don’t sit well with me. I’m sorry.”
How Colorado improved to 2-0 for first time since 2023
The Buffs won Saturday by overwhelming the Wildcats on a partly sunny afternoon at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Colorado led 42-14 at halftime and got a big first half from Lewis and receiver Joseph Williams, who caught four passes for 123 yards and two touchdowns before intermission.
The Buffs were a five-touchdown favorite entering the game, but experts and oddsmakers otherwise have predicted them to finish near the bottom of the Big 12 Conference after a 3-9 season in 2025.
Colorado players still echoed Sanders’ attitude after the game.
“Our goal for the season isn’t to win two games,” Colorado linebacker Tyler Martinez said. “It’s, you know, we want to win the whole thing. You can’t win the whole thing with some of the stuff that we had going on today. So we just gotta get that fixed.”
Last week, Colorado beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 14-13, after blocking a 45-yard field-goal attempt by the Yellow Jackets that would have won the game on the final play.
Now the Buffs go on road for two consecutive games at Northwestern Sept. 19 and at Baylor Sept. 26. How they perform in those two games will show whether the Buffs are for real or not.
Weber State dropped to 1-2 with the loss.
Big day for Colorado quarterback Julian ‘JuJu’ Lewis
This was the best game yet for Lewis, who doesn’t turn 19 years old until Sept. 21. He was all over the television before halftime, including commercials featuring him for Taco Bell and Meritrust Credit Union.
He played less than three quarters Saturday, having left the game in the third quarter with Colorado leading 45-14. In the first half, he completed 15 of 18 passes for 331 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He has yet to throw an interception at Colorado after 144 passing attempts – a school record to start a career. Lewis also added a 3-yard rushing touchdown to cap the scoring before halftime but joined the chorus after the game about wanting more.
“Nobody’s satisfied with where we’re at,” Lewis said. “We all understand , like, hey, 2-0 is not, it’s not the end goal. Ultimately, we all want to be Big 12 champions and national champions.”
The Buffs even had their first 100-yard rusher in Sanders’ four seasons in Boulder. Running back Micah Welch had 11 carries for 106 yards, including a 55-yard run for a touchdown to start the second quarter.
“He’s the first 100-yard rusher?” Sanders asked afterward. “Dang, dang. We were that bad?”
Sanders added he was “happy” about that.
“Micah’s my dawg, man,” Sanders said. “He is my guy. And he knows that.”
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com