Colorado scores dramatic win but Deion Sanders isn't happy. He's 'sick' of team's 'mediocrity.'

TEMPE, Ariz. – Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders flashed a bit of his temper here Saturday in the postgame news conference at Arizona State.

His team survived the game, beating the Sun Devils 27-24. But this was not how he wants to win. Not with another slow start, more poor blocking and a 94-yard touchdown drive from Arizona State to tie the game in the final minute.

“I apologize for my anger today, but I don’t expect mediocrity,” Sanders said afterward.

He said he’s “sick of it.” And he never raised his voice, but he had several things to get off of his chest afterward. He even seemed much more unhappy after this win than he was after a loss the previous week, when his team rallied from a 27-point deficit against Southern California before falling short, 48-41. He blamed himself, too, when asked what he said to his team afterward.

"I’ve delivered every type of message you can fathom," he said. "It’s not just the team. This is all of us. This is me and the coaches included."

What happened in the game?

The Buffaloes (4-2) fell into an early hole like usual before getting more clutch quarterback play from Sanders’ son Shedeur in front of an announced crowd of 54,086 at Mountain America Stadium. Colorado kicker Alejandro Mata then kicked a 43-yard field goal straight through the uprights with 12 seconds remaining to secure the win.

But the Buffs committed eight penalties, gave up five sacks and rarely even kicked the ball through the end zone on kickoffs, which annoyed their coach as well.

"I don’t know how every else’s kickers kick the ball out of the end zone but ours," he said.

Shedeur Sanders still lifted the team on his back to make up for it before finishing with 26-of-42 passing for 239 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed 16 yards for another touchdown in the second quarter to help tie the game 14-14.

"I expect to win, and I expect to win in a better fashion than that," Deion Sanders said. "I'm sick of these consistent holes that we’re displaying and the penalties and things that we’re doing. We’re so much better."

Deion Sanders rattled off these grievances despite pulling the Buffs to within two wins of bowl eligibility in his first year on the job, just one season after they finished 1-11. It’s all part of the portfolio for Coach Prime – increased frustration not from a failure to win, but from a failure to be better than just OK.

What else did Deion Sanders say?

Starting slow has been a sore spot for Sanders, who preached about it in the week before the game. After Arizona State (1-5) went up 7-0 on the first drive of the game, Shedeur Sanders was sacked on his first snap, then again on his third. Colorado punted the ball away on four of its first five possessions and entered halftime down 17-14.

“Played like hot garbage,” Deion Sanders said. “I’m trying to figure this out. Sick of it. I really am. I’m sick of us coming out here and putting forth the effort we put forth in the first half.”

His team responded on its second drive of the game by going 75 yards in 16 plays to tie it at 7-7. Yet when a reporter asked him about that second drive afterward, Deion Sanders didn't want to let go of what preceded it.

"What about the first drive?" Deion Sanders asked. "What about the first two plays? How do you start out a game like that, with a quarterback like this?"

It's all about expectations. His are high after a career as a Pro Football Hall of Famer and former two-sport star.

"I’m sorry with my impatience," he said. "I don’t have patience for too much in life. You ask my kids."

The sacking of Shedeur Sanders

Arizona State rang up five sacks against one of those kids, Shedeur Sanders, adding to the elite-level pounding he’s taken this year despite ranking sixth nationally in completion percentage (74.8) before the game.

Colorado entered the game ranking second nationally in sacks allowed (26), behind only Old Dominion (27).

“He’s upset with hit after hit after hit,” Deion Sanders said. “You think he’s happy being the most sacked guy in … college football, and he’s still doing what he’s capable of doing? He’s sick of it. “

The reliance on Shedeur Sanders

At one point near the end of the third quarter, Shedeur Sanders got sacked again, this time for a 17-yard loss on third down. He then trudged back to the sideline and sat alone on the bench with his head in his hands.

“I’m on the sideline frustrated, and it was like, 'It’s time,’” Shedeur said. “It’s time to do whatever it takes to win and by any means.”

He took charge after that, even lowering his shoulder during one play on his next drive in an attempt to run over the ASU defender and provide a spark for his team. He ended up leading the Buffs 61 yards in seven plays, capped by a 9-yard touchdown pass to receiver Javon Antonio with 14:32 left to help give Colorado a 21-17 lead.

Colorado ended up scoring on three of his final four possessions after that third-quarter sack, enough to hang on for the win in a different kind of atmosphere for the Buffs. It was hot − nearly 100 degrees before it got dark. And it was more quiet than the previous five games, when they attracted huge national audiences on Fox, ESPN or ABC. By contrast, this game against unranked ASU was televised on the limited distribution of the Pac-12 Networks, making it harder for the masses to watch Shedeur's Superman act Saturday night.

“It’s like we (are) waiting on him to put on his cape and do what he does,” Deion Sanders said. “That’s what he does every week. You guys should be accustomed to it by now.”

The defensive lapse

One bright spot for Deion Sanders was his team's defense in the second half, at least until the end, when it cratered at the wrong time. After Colorado went up 21-17, the Buffs even forced ASU to punt it back after three straight plays, putting the ball in the hands of Colorado punt returner Xavier Weaver, who exploded 51 yards upfield to the ASU 25-yard line early in the fourth quarter.

Colorado almost could have put the game away at this point. But another sack of Shedeur put the Buffs in another hole, and this time they needed Mata to bail them out with a 42-yard field goal to put Colorado up 24-17 with 10:13 left.

All the Buffs needed to do from there was hold the fort on defense. But they couldn't.

“First of all, there’s no way a team should drive (94) yards on us to tie the game,” Deion Sanders said. “No way. No way!”

The Sun Devils did just that when they started at their own 6-yard line and took 13 plays to tie the game at 24-24 with 50 seconds left. The drive was led by ASU quarterback Trenton Bourguet, who completed 32 of 49 passes in the game for 335 yards and one touchdown in − a 15-yarder in the right corner to cap the 94-yard march.

Fortunately for the Buffs, they had Mata, the kicker who came with Deion Sanders from Jackson State, along with Shedeur and several others.

'Mata don't miss'

After Shedeur got the ball back with 50 seconds left, he went deep on the next play to Antonio, who had raced several feet in front of his defender near the left sideline. He hauled it it for a 43-yard gain that brought Colorado to the ASU 32-yard line.

"Losing is just not in me," Shedeur Sanders said. "It was like if we got a chance, we’re gonna win. If it’s not too late in the game, we’re gonna win."

Three plays later, Mata got the call to kick the potential game winner with 18 seconds left. Arizona State even tried rattle him by calling a timeout. It didn't work.

"You call a timeout and freeze him all you want," Deion Sanders said. "That don’t mean nothing to Mata. Mata, that’s who he is. And what he always says to me when I walk over to him and give him a hug, he says, `I don’t miss.' And I love it, so I told him to do your thing."

He did. He kicked the game winner, raised his arms and danced. He is now 4-for-4 on field goals at Colorado.

“Mata don’t miss,” Deion Sanders said.

That made him happy, up to a point. Colorado next faces Stanford at home on Friday night. Another week of corrections awaits the Buffs before then, just like last week.

“We’ve flipped practices, we had really diligent meetings, and we trying to figure this out, trying to figure this out, because I’m sick of it,” he said.

Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]