Deion Sanders: 'Throwing the football against us is going to be a problem'

Deion Sanders is warning Colorado‘s opponents ahead of time. On Saturday, the Buffaloes head coach raved about his team’s pass defense.

“I feel pretty darn good,” Sanders said. “Throwing the football against us is going to be a problem. You can see the secondary is upgraded, as well. The back end, the safeties, they’re as physical as ever. Shilo [Sanders] is doing his thing. Cam’Ron [Silmon-Craig] is doing his thing.

“Trevor [Woods] is doing a wonderful job inside. [LaVonta] Bentley is doing a wonderful job, as well as [Jeremiah Brown], and so forth. Depth is a key ingredient that we have.”

Colorado must have improved its pass defense this offseason if it hopes to take a leap forward in the 2024 campaign. Last season, the Buffaloes’ defense allowed 276.9 passing yards per game, the seventh-most in the country.

Moreover, the team fell in the middle of the college football pack when it came to forcing interceptions, tallying only 10 picks last year. In turn, Colorado emphasized strengthening its secondary and linebacker corps this summer.

To start, the Buffaloes retained three of its top four team leaders in pass deflections from last year: Travis Hunter, Trevor Woods and Shilo Sanders. Next, the team added several defensive standouts via the NCAA Transfer Portal, such as linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green and cornerback Colton Hood.

Perhaps most importantly, Colorado hired Robert Livingston to serve as the program’s defensive coordinator and secondary coach. Livingston spent the past eight seasons on the Cincinnati Bengals’ coaching staff, including the past six years overseeing the safeties.

Additionally, Colorado hired former Michigan linebackers coach George Helow to a staff role. Helow is expected to be a senior defensive coach. He boasts experience coaching both linebackers and safeties — two areas Colorado needed to improve ahead of the upcoming season.

Greg McElroy claims Colorado will make bowl game in 2024

Evidently, Deion Sanders isn’t the only one who’s confident in the changes Colorado has made. Earlier this month, ESPN’s Greg McElroy revealed his expectations for Colorado in the 2024 campaign.

“Colorado, I do believe, is bowl game-bound this year,” McElroy said. “You think back to last year — 72 signees, the No. 1 ranked transfer class, retaining just 10 scholarship players from the previous regime.”

“They finished 4-8 and they were last in the Pac-12. Forty-five of those 72 players for Colorado that Deion brought in last year are already gone. So a lot of turnover,” McElroy continued. “I do think they’ve done a pretty good job this year in the portal addressing some of the concerns from last year.”