TEMPE, AZ – With his boss standing in the corner of the room about 12 feet away, Colorado football coach Deion Sanders fielded a sensitive question from a reporter after his team got beat by Arizona State on Saturday night, 20-10.
“Do you feel your job is on the line in these final three games?” a reporter from USA TODAY Sports asked.
“I don’t think about that, man,” Sanders replied as Colorado athletic director Fernando Lovo stood nearby. “I’m not here for my job. I’m here for these young men. I’m not, I’m not built like that. Like, like, I’m really not. I'm really, really not. Like, I want these kids to graduate, to provoke change in their communities and their lives and their families. I ain’t worried about me. I’m good, my brother. I’m not worried about me. I worry
about others. That’s who I’m called to be.”
Colorado fell to 3-6 this season with the loss, its 10th consecutive defeat away from home against a Big 12 Conference opponent. Sanders is 3-16 in his last 19 games against Power Four conference opponents and has a 19-27 record overall in four seasons at Colorado.
After the latest loss, Sanders appeared somewhat somber at his postgame news conference but also graciously faced the music about what just happened. He called for several more questions from reporters even after a Colorado staffer tried to get him out of there sooner.
“This is not how it’s supposed to be, and we could apologize a thousand times to the fan base, to you all,” Sanders said. "But unless we get it together, it's gonna be the same ol' same ol'. And that's pathetic because … the fan base deserves better."
How did Colorado lose this time?
The Buffaloes fell behind 17-0 at halftime after the Buffs went three-and-out on their first four possessions and had a 74-touchdown bomb nullified by a penalty in the first quarter.
On the latter play, Colorado quarterback Isaac Wilson found receiver Ernest Campbell racing down the middle of the field for an apparent scoring catch, but it was called back because Colorado had an ineligible receiver downfield.
😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 bro pic.twitter.com/UvQJTn7BMP
— BuffBoy 🦬 (@skobuffss) November 8, 2026
Such is how it went for the Buffs. They didn’t score their first points until they kicked a 39-yard field goal on the final play of the third quarter, cutting the Sun Devils’ lead to 17-3. It was too little, too late, but it’s not like this team gave up.
Colorado’s defense in particular hung in there, as it often has this season.
“We’re playing for the team, you know,” Colorado linebacker Gideon Lampron said. “I’m playing for him (Sanders). He brought me here. I know all of us are.”
The loss wasted a heroic performance from Lampron, a transfer from Bowling Green. He had 14 tackles in the first half and finished with 18, including 10 solo tackles in front of 54,166 at Mountain America Stadium.
Deion Sanders: 'You think I’m happy?'
Sanders was bested again by Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham, who started the same season as Sanders in 2023. By contrast, Dillingham’s record in four seasons is 27-21 with two bowl games, including a College Football Playoff appearance. He makes about $7.5 million this year compared to more than $10 million for Sanders.
Sanders has been to one bowl game at Colorado and needs to win his final three games this season to be eligible to play in another one.
The season “don’t look good,” Sanders said when asked about making a bowl game. “I’m not crazy, man. I’m not. I can see. I can see clearly. Yeah, you think I’m happy? I’m not happy with 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 tremendously.”
Another freshman QB beats Colorado
The fact that several freshman quarterbacks have beaten Sanders’ team the last two seasons shows just how deficient the Buffaloes have been at football’s most important position since the departure of Sanders’ quarterback son Shedeur.
In other words, even the most inexperienced quarterbacks on opposing teams are good enough to beat the Buffs while they search for an answer at that position.
▶ BYU and freshman quarterback beat Colorado in Boulder last year, 24-21.
▶ Utah and freshman quarterback Byrd Ficklin beat Colorado in Salt Lake City last year, 53-7.
▶ This time it was Arizona State quarterback Jake Fette, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 187 yards with no interceptions. Fette caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from running back Cardae Mack in the first quarter and then threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to receiver Reed Harris with 2:54 left in the second quarter to help put the Sun Devils up 17-0.
By contrast, Colorado’s offense struggled early and finished with just 64 yards rushing on 34 carries.
“We’ve gotta, you know, excuse my language, but drop our nuts at some point, because we’ve gotta win three games in a row to get to a bowl game,” Colorado receiver Joseph Wiliams said.
Colorado now faces Houston at home Friday night
Williams had seven catches for 121 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown with 8:14 remaining to help cut the lead down to 20-10. His scoring catch came one play after Colorado benefited from a roughing-the-kicker penalty against Arizona State that gave the Buffs new life after missing a 33-yard field goal wide right.
“They weren’t really that good on defense,” Williams said of Arizona State.
Colorado still only got one touchdown against it. Now the Buffs return home for a game Friday against Houston.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Deion Sanders addresses job security after latest loss to Arizona State
