Deion Sanders is well aware of the last time he saw Kalani Sitake and BYU.
“They kicked our butts in the bowl game,” Sanders said, noting BYU’s 36-14 beatdown of the Buffaloes in the Alamo Bowl last year.
But coming into a rematch this week in Boulder, Sanders isn’t out for revenge.
“Every game means a lot. Conference games mean even more. But I ain’t about that ‘get back’ stuff. I’m with the ‘Let’s get them’ stuff,” Sanders said. “They played their butts off. Now, we have a whole new team. They have a similar [situation] as well with a new quarterback. And this is a good team, well-coached team, disciplined team.”
Colorado lost Heisman trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders in the offseason. It is currently rotating between three quarterbacks.
BYU lost quarterback Jake Retzlaff, now at Tulane, and is starting a true freshman. Bear Bachmeier won his first road game at East Carolina last week.
Sanders knows Bachmeier is a different challenge than Retzlaff. But for now, he’s more worried about his own team that is sitting at 2-2 and ravaged by penalty problems.
“We’ve got to be a more disciplined team,” Sanders said. “Not some of the pass interferences. The stupid penalties, unnecessary roughness. We’ve got to stop all the foolishness.”
Sitake also doesn’t think there will be much carryover from the Alamo Bowl with the changing personnel.
“This is a different matchup,” Sitake said. “Every year is different and every week is different. We’re a different team than back in the Alamo Bowl and they’re a different team as well. We see on film that they have tons of talent. We’re at their place now, so it’s going to be a difficult environment to play in. I’m looking forward to the matchup and looking forward to seeing my friend Coach Prime again.”
“I’m a big Deion Sanders fan and seeing the way he played football. Then a lot of people that I knew that crossed paths with him, Tom Holmoe, said all these wonderful things about him. And being around him at the bowl game just confirmed all that,” he said.
Sanders added that he sees Sitake the same way, “I love him. He’s great,” he said.
But Sanders really wants to match Sitake’s program these days. BYU is in the top 25 again and sitting at 14-2 in its last 16 games. BYU-Colorado was supposed to be a marquee matchup for the league, put on national television. But Colorado’s recent struggles have overshadowed it.
Sanders is hoping to correct that this week — against his good friend from Provo.
“Marquee games are based on wins. If a team is undefeated and the other team is undefeated, it becomes a marquee game. So we haven’t earned any respect,” Sanders said. “It’s a nationally televised game, nighttime. It is what it is. We got to play and come out victorious.”