Deion Sanders laments 'horrendous call' ejecting Shilo Sanders for targeting

Targeting is one of those penalties that completely changes the complexion of a game. On Saturday night against UCLA, the Colorado Buffaloes were on the bad end of a targeting penalty, when star defensive back Shilo Sanders was ejected for targeting when he absolutely leveled Carsen Ryan after he caught a pass.

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders felt the ejection wasn’t warranted and was furious about the call at halftime when he spoke with ESPN’s Holly Rowe.

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“I can’t wait until officials review that targeting call. Because I think it was horrendous,” Sanders said.

What did he say to his son after he was ejected?

“Shilo’s one of the catalysts on the defense. Forget that he’s my son. He’s one of our best players on the defense. And he’s a leader back there. Very physical and aggressive. Losing him is huge. But next man up. We gotta do what we gotta do. I’m proud of these young men. I really am,” Sanders continued.

You can view a clip of the hit below.

Shilo Sanders has been disqualified. pic.twitter.com/TDcXHwkhzI

— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) October 29, 2023

His brother, Shedeur Sanders, took an extensive number of hits in the game on Saturday. Many people were interested to see how the Colorado offensive line would hold up against the UCLA defensive front on Saturday, and the Bruins dominated that matchup all evening long.

Shedeur Sanders needed an injection to deal with the pain

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders received some sort of injection to help play through the pain against UCLA on Saturday, his father and head coach Deion Sanders said postgame. The injection, which Deion said was to “block” the pain, was not described in detail.

Deion Sanders repeatedly in his press conference after the loss harped on the need to better protect the quarterback, both to protect the player and the function of the offense. The array of hits that Shedeur sustained on Saturday were among the most consistent and fierce that he has taken this season.

He was pressured 24 times, hit 17 times, knocked down 13 times, and sacked seven times on Saturday night, according to the stats given by the ABC broadcast.

“Offensively we’ve gotta improve, you see that. Quarterback is taking a beating. He got an injection at halftime. Probably shouldn’t tell you that but you know I’m 100. Just to block some of the pain. So I’m going to give him the next few days off so he can at least be mobile because I know once that block is off, he’s going to feel it tonight. We’ve gotta do a better job of protecting him,” Deion said postgame.

And along with repeatedly hammering home the need to get better on the offensive line, Deion also clarified that Shedeur isn’t specifically injured, just banged up and sore after taking so many hits.

“I don’t know, he’s hurting everywhere. Trust me,” Deion Sanders said.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.