BOULDER — The theme inside Folsom Field was a familiar one.

At the end of another disappointing home loss — a 42-17 defeat at the hands of Arizona State — one that gives Colorado a losing record at home once again, all that could be heard were the chants from an opposing fan base that was more than happy to outnumber the few Buffaloes fans that stuck around for the final home game of the season.

Only this was supposed to be different. It’s year three of the Deion Sanders era.

One season after winning nine games and reaching the Alamo Bowl with the Heisman Trophy winner and a star quarterback, CU needs a win to avoid the worst single-season record of the Coach Prime era.

It’s a tough pill to swallow for what was expected to be another successful season in Boulder, especially when Sanders has to look across the sidelines and see another coach in his third season, the Sun Devils’ Kenny Dillingham, with already eight wins on the season and a chance to make the Big 12 Championship Game for a second straight season.

“(I’m) not happy with where we are. Not at all,” Sanders said. “I’m not gonna compare myself to any other person. I let (the media) do that. I’m happy for (Dillingham), I consider him a friend. I consider him a heck of a coach. They won. In the first half, you saw a team out there that was fighting and competing that should’ve had the upper hand, but we didn’t.” 

What Sanders said isn’t wrong.

After trailing 13-7 at halftime, the Buffs came out and scored on the opening drive of the third quarter to take a 14-13 lead against a team in the College Football Playoff rankings. 

Even early in the fourth quarter, CU trailed just 21-17 and had the ball within 26 yards of the end zone and another go-ahead score. 

But, as Coach Prime put it, the game flipped over the course of the next two plays.

Sanders put sophomore running back Ronald Coleman into the game for his first carry of the season and at the end of a 14-yard run, Coleman coughed the ball up and Arizona State recovered.

A few seconds later, Sun Devils running back Raleek Brown was in the end zone after an 88-yard touchdown that sucked away any momentum the Buffs had.

“We gotta be better,” Sanders said.

As the injuries and losses have piled up — four in a row now with over half of the 22 starters out — that’s been the consistent message from Coach Prime. 

After a loss like that, all you need to do is look at the stat sheet to see that the game might not have even been as close as Sanders suggested.

With a backup quarterback starting, Arizona State outgained CU 580-300, despite the four turnovers forced by the Buffs defense. Even with multiple drives that started on the plus side of the 50-yard line, the CU offense managed just three scoring drives.

“The goal was not to inflict any wounds on ourselves and we did that,” Sanders said. “The goal was to stop the running game… and we gave up 355 yards rushing. Four turnovers, three points off the turnovers.”

That about sums it up. So did the scene — a mostly empty stadium — as the clock wound down and another fall of football in Boulder concluded. 

Even when given the chance afterward, Coach Prime couldn’t even muster anything positive to say about his team’s parting gift to Buffs fans in 2025. 

“I can’t hang my hat on that bull junk we just saw,” Sanders said.