Colorado lost to Arizona State 42-17 after a critical fumble by a redshirt sophomore in the fourth quarter.
Coach Deion Sanders took responsibility for the fumble, which led to an 88-yard touchdown run by Arizona State on the next play.
The loss drops Colorado’s record to 3-8, and Sanders promised changes are already in progress for the team.
Colorado football coach Deion Sanders made a curious decision early in the fourth quarter Saturday night with his team down by only four points against Arizona State.
He called on a redshirt sophomore named Ronald Coleman, who had never carried the ball before in a college game.
Sanders liked what Coleman had shown him in practices. So he put him in the game and then saw him rip loose for a 14-yard gain on his first carry before he inexplicably dropped the ball without even being touched. Sanders blamed himself for the lost fumble, which proved to be the turning point in a 42-17 loss at home for Colorado.
“The gentleman who fumbled, that’s on me,” Sanders said afterward. “I put him in the game to try to have a change of pace. I figured he was gonna hit it, and he hit it. And he fumbled. It is what it is.”
Before the fumble, the Buffaloes trailed 21-17 with about 14 minutes left. They were driving inside the Arizona State 20-yard line.
After recovering the fumble, Arizona State throttled Colorado. Running back Raleek Brown exploded for an 88-yard touchdown run on the very next play. It was the first of three consecutive touchdown drives for Arizona State to close the game as Colorado dropped to 3-8 overall and 1-7 in the Big 12 Conference. It ended up being the first and only college rushing attempt for Coleman, who is listed on the roster as a receiver.
“I’m tired of singing the same old darn song to you,” Sanders told reporters afterward. “I really am.”
Deion Sanders promises changes again
Brown of Arizona State finished with 255 rushing yards and one touchdown on 22 carries, which atoned for his own fumble on the series right before Coleman’s fumble for Colorado. Arizona State finished with 580 total yards despite giving up four turnovers, including three fumbles. The problem for the Buffaloes was that they converted those four turnovers into just three points in front of 43,348 at Folsom Field.
“I’m gonna say it’s multiple things that we’ll need to change, and it will,” Sanders said. “Matter of fact, it’s already in progress.”
It was the second career start for Colorado freshman quarterback Julian Lewis, who completed 19 of 38 passes for 161 yards and one touchdown. He led his team to its first lead in six weeks in the first quarter – 7-3. But Colorado also was missing several injured players, including its starting offensive tackles and top defensive player, safety Tawfiq Byard, who left the game with a wrist injury in the second quarter.
“He wasn’t settled, never got settled,” Sanders said of Lewis. “We gotta do better.”
Deion Sanders bested by Kenny Dillingham
Sanders, 58, and Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham, 35, started their current jobs in 2023, both as new head coaches in major college football. But their records are now nearly the opposite after three seasons. Dillingham is 22-15, including winning the Big 12 championship last year. Sanders is 16-20.
Sanders was asked about that afterward.
“I’m not going to compare myself to any other person,” Sanders said to reporters. ‘I’ll let you guys do that.”
Their records are the opposite this year, too. Arizona State is 8-3 while Colorado is 3-8.
“I mean, it’s huge, getting to eight wins,” Dillingham said afterward.
Sanders said he’s happy for Dillingham, whom he considers a friend. To catch up with him next year, Sanders hopes to at least keep a core group of top players instead of losing them to the transfer portal in January. That starts with Lewis, the quarterback, who says he’s committed to the program at age 18.
“Oh yeah, I’m a Buff through and through,” Lewis said when asked if he’s committed to next year. “I’ve got my crib out here. All my guys are out here. I don’t got no reason to go.”
Will Julian Lewis redshirt this year?
He sounded less committed to playing in the season finale at Kansas State Nov. 29. If he plays in that game, it will be his fifth game this year, which would burn a redshirt year for him. If he doesn’t play in it, he’ll have four more seasons of eligibility left starting in 2026. If he does play in it, he’ll have only three. He previously said he wanted to play through the end of the season and not redshirt this season.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Lewis said when asked about redshirting Saturday night. “There’s a lot more into it than just me with the redshirt situation. But I really don’t have any information on that.”
Colorado has struggled since the departure of Sanders’ quarterback son, Shedeur, to the NFL’s Cleveland Browns. Shedeur Sanders is scheduled to make his first NFL start Nov. 23 in a game against the Las Vegas Raiders. The father said as recently as Nov. 20 that he didn’t know yet if he would attend the game in person in Las Vegas.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
This story was updated to change a video.