College Football

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders: We need to 'go get new linemen'

Published Oct. 29, 2023 11:52 a.m. ET

It has been tough sledding of late for the Colorado Buffaloes, who dropped their fourth game in five tries on Saturday night, this time against the No. 23 UCLA Bruins.

To make matters more tense, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders dropped a blunt suggestion after the game on what needs to happen for the program to improve.

"The [offensive] line has to improve," Sanders said after Colorado's 28-16 road loss. "It's a struggle to run the ball, and we got to figure that out because now you're one-dimensional, and it's easy to stop a team when they're one-dimensional. And that's who we are at this point in time. … The big picture, you go get new linemen. That's the picture, and I'ma paint it perfectly."

Colorado finished the game with just 25 rushing yards on 24 attempts, while quarterback Shedeur Sanders was sacked seven times. On the whole, UCLA out-gained Colorado 487-242 in total yards. Sanders was held to just 217 passing yards.

The junior quarterback — thought to be a potential Heisman finalist early on in the season — has totaled 2,637 passing yards, 22 passing touchdowns, three interceptions and a 154.4 passer rating, while completing 71.1% of his passes this season. Sanders has also rushed for three touchdowns.

On the other hand, the Buffaloes are last in the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game (78.6).

The loss dropped Colorado to 4-4 overall and 1-4 in Pac-12 play. Its lone conference win came against 2-6 Arizona State.

Colorado began the season 3-0 before being blown out by No. 8 Oregon, 42-6.

Next up for Colorado is a home matchup against No. 11 Oregon State (6-2 overall, 3-2 in Pac-12 play) in Week 10.

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