Colorado's Shilo Sanders eager to bounce back at Arizona after being called out by his coach/father

Updated Oct. 15, 2024 4:16 p.m. ET

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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Shilo Sanders got called out by his coach/father for some shaky tackling.

It was just the honest truth the Colorado free safety needed to hear from his dad, Deion Sanders. He's taken it to heart.

In his return from a broken forearm, Shilo Sanders had what he labeled the “worst game of my life" in Colorado's 31-28 loss to No. 17 Kansas State over the weekend. He and the defense saw Wildcats tailback DJ Giddens gallop for 182 yards rushing, along with receiver Jayce Brown catching a go-ahead 50-yard touchdown with 2:14 remaining.

“I’m the Ziploc of the defense, I can’t be going out there, not being on my game,” Shilo Sanders said Tuesday after practice as the Buffaloes (4-2, 2-1 Big 12) prepare for their game at Arizona this weekend. “I need to be even more locked in.”

After the Kansas State game, his dad offered a blunt critique of his son: “I thought he played horrible. I thought he was rusty.”

It was Shilo Sanders' first game back since Sept. 7 at Nebraska, when he suffered a forearm injury that required surgery. And while he had 10 tackles against Kansas State on Saturday, he also missed several opportunities to wrap up the Wildcats.

“I know I played horrible. He knows I played horrible," Sanders said. "That’s what happened.”

This week, it's back to the basics for Shilo Sanders — paying attention to the little details and his technique.

“I know I’m good at football. I know I’ve been doing this for a long time. I know how to tackle,” he said. "I’ve made a lot of tackles in my career. One game, I’m not going to let everybody (be like), ‘Oh, you’re trash. You can’t do this. You can’t do that.’

"You can’t tell me what I can’t do if I’ve done it already, and you probably haven’t done it. I’ve done it. I know what I’m capable of.”

Part of the tackling issues, he conceded, may have been being too amped up in his return.

“I’m trying to just knock somebody’s head off going full speed,” Sanders said. “But I still have to be patient."

While he was sidelined, Carter Stoutmire started in his place alongside Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig. The Buffaloes reeled off three straight wins — allowing a combined 20 second-half points — before losing to Kansas State.

“You work to get back, then you get back, and you have the worst game of your life, man, it’s really disappointing for me," Sanders said. "I’ve been seeing everybody turn on me and stuff like that. But I’m not worried about none of that, because as soon as you do good, they’re going to be right back on your side.

"But I can’t be going out there, not on my game. I’m the free safety. If I mess up, everybody's going to see it.”

At 4-2, the Buffaloes are off to the same start as last season in Deion Sanders' first year in Boulder. The Buffaloes, though, finished last year with six straight losses.

“We've got to keep going with it. We can’t just quit now,” Shilo Sanders said. “I can’t just quit now, just because I had the worst game of my life.”

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