BOULDER, CO — Colorado entered its 2025 season opener against Georgia Tech dogged by a slew of questions about how it would fare without reigning Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and record-setting quarterback Shedeur Sanders, both of whom are now in the NFL.
By the end of the night, there was another question that loomed much larger.
While trying to mount a last-minute drive to tie the game, the Buffaloes didn’t use their two remaining timeouts. They reached midfield with three seconds remaining, but a desperation heave from quarterback Kaidon Salter didn’t connect with a receiver in the end zone, cementing a 27-20 loss.
The sequence raised criticism of third-year head coach Deion Sanders, who only said so much in his post-game news conference to alleviate doubts about how he orchestrated the game’s final minute.
“I think we got out of bounds a couple of times,” Sanders said. “We didn’t have to take them. That’s what transpired. We got out of bounds I think on both sidelines. That’s what happened. After the first, I think we got a good play and we caught the ball, I think, for nine yards. We had one yard to go, so if you get the first down, the clock stops. It don’t make sense to really use your timeout in that sense.”
Sanders’ recollection of the drive didn’t line up entirely with how it actually transpired.
A Salter pass to running back Micah Welch resulted in a 2-yard loss for Colorado on the first play of the possession, with Welch getting brought down in bounds with 1:02 to play. Rather than calling one of his two timeouts, Sanders allowed the clock to run and the Buffaloes didn’t get the snap of their next play off until only 45 seconds remained.
Though an 11-yard completion to Hykeem Williams got Colorado within one yard of a first down, and an automatic clock stoppage, Sanders again didn’t use a timeout, causing 11 seconds to elapse between the end of one play and the start of the next. A 5-yard scramble from Salter got the Buffaloes a first down at their own 39-yard line with 18 seconds left, but it shaved another 11 seconds off the clock, a chunk of which came from Salter running to the sideline rather than going down in bounds.
Colorado began the drive with a sizable task, trying to go 75 yards in 67 seconds to tie the game, but the precious seconds saved by timeouts could have helped it advance farther up the field and give it more than just a Hail Mary attempt on the final play.
Instead, the Buffaloes fell to 0-1 to start the season — and their coach left the field with two unused timeouts in his pocket.
“We were just really trying to preserve them for when we needed them,” Sanders said. “I don’t want to go home with timeouts. They don’t do me no good. But you’ve got to be strategic, as well. Just burning timeouts just to burn them just so you guys won’t say nothing, that don’t make sense at all.”