Video: Deion Sanders Explains How Colorado Players Impacted by Late-Game Schedule

Adam WellsOctober 24, 2024

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

Colorado head coach Deion Sanders isn’t a fan of his team playing games that kick off late into the night.

Speaking to reporters during his weekly press conference (starts at 9:00 mark), Sanders explained he doesn’t “like” late-night kickoff times because it forces the team to alter its routine:

“You gotta change the schedule. You gotta prepare the kids because we practice in the morning, so now we gotta do body adjustments, time adjustments, sleep adjustments for our young men so they can start off fairly quickly. We hadn’t started off quick in the night games because that flips our whole schedule. We fared better in day games because that’s who we are, but we plan on making adjustments this week to make sure we get the proper sleep, the proper rest, and we’re prepared for kickoff.”

The time difference is especially jarring for the Buffaloes this season now that they are back in the Big 12 after spending the previous 13 seasons in the Pac-12.

Given the amount of attention that Coach Prime has brought to Colorado, the football program is being put in prime time frequently. Five of the Buffaloes’ seven games this season have started at 7:30 p.m. ET or later.

Saturday’s game against Cincinnati at Folsom Field will mark the second time in three weeks that Colorado has a 10:15 p.m. ET kickoff. It previously happened on Oct. 12, when Coach Prime’s team lost 31-28 to Kansas State.

Colorado is in the Mountain time zone, so it will be an 8:15 p.m. MDT start in the state. But being an athlete also means being a creature of habit and developing a routine to make sure you are at peak condition—or at least close to it—when the game begins.

Sanders did acknowledge he was “appreciative” of his team getting games in the national spotlight because it means people are paying attention, even though it does cause some headaches with preparation throughout the week.

You would never know there were any concerns for Colorado so far this season. Sanders has the team off to a 5-2 start, already surpassing its win total from the entire 2023 campaign.

Colorado can become bowl eligible for the first time since 2020 with one more victory. The team will get a break after Saturday’s game with a bye next week before taking on Texas Tech on Nov. 9.