Colorado's Shilo Sanders eager to bounce back at Arizona after being called out by his coach/father
By PAT GRAHAM
Posted 10/15/24
Colorado free safety Shilo Sanders got called out by his coach/father for some shaky tackling. It's just the honest truth he needed to hear from his dad, Deion Sanders. He's taken it to heart. In his …
You must be a member to read this story.
Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.
Current print subscribers can create a free account by clicking here
Otherwise, follow the link below to join.
To Our Valued Readers –
Visitors to our website will be limited to five stories per month unless they opt to subscribe. The five stories do not include our exclusive content written by our journalists.
For $6.99, less than 20 cents a day, digital subscribers will receive unlimited access to YourValley.net, including exclusive content from our newsroom and access to our Daily Independent e-edition.
Our commitment to balanced, fair reporting and local coverage provides insight and perspective not found anywhere else.
Your financial commitment will help to preserve the kind of honest journalism produced by our reporters and editors. We trust you agree that independent journalism is an essential component of our democracy. Please click here to subscribe.
Need to set up your free e-Newspaper all-access account? click here.
Non-subscribers
Click here to see your options for becoming a subscriber.
Register to comment
Click here create a free account for posting comments.
Note that free accounts do not include access to premium content on this site.
I am anchor
Colorado's Shilo Sanders eager to bounce back at Arizona after being called out by his coach/father
Kansas State tight end Garrett Oakley, back, looks for room to run after catching a pass as Colorado safety Shilo Sanders prepares to make the tackle in the second half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Posted
By PAT GRAHAM
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.”