Deion Sanders criticized for bizarre timeout management in Colorado’s season-opening loss

Maybe Coach Prime needs someone to handle his timeout strategy.

Colorado coach Deion Sanders came under fire for his bizarre timeout strategy, which backfired in the team’s 27-20 home loss to Georgia Tech in the season-opening game.

The Buffaloes had the ball at their 25 with two timeouts left and 1:07 remaining while trailing by the final score, but didn’t use a single timeout and settled for a failed Hail Mary from the 50-yard line.

Sanders oddly defended his strategy while misremembering some facts after losing his first game without two-way Heisman-winning phenom Travis Hunter and quarterback son Shedeur Sanders.

“I think we got out of bounds a couple of times,” Sanders said. “So, we didn’t have to take them. That’s what transpired. We got out of bounds, I think, on both sidelines, and that’s what happened. After the first, I think we got a good play and we caught the ball, I think, for nine yards. We had one yard to go, so if you get the first down, the clock stops. So, it don’t make sense to really use your timeout in that sense. We were just really trying to preserve them until we certainly needed them.

“I don’t want to go home with timeouts, they don’t do me no good, but you have to be strategic as well. Just burning timeouts just to burn them, just so you guys won’t say nothing that don’t make sense. I think we got out of bounds a couple of times, which preserved it for us, and we had incompletions.”

While Sanders may not have wanted to burn timeouts, he certainly had chances to do so despite saying his team kept getting out of bounds.

Colorado lost two yards on its first play while not going out of bounds, but yet the Buffaloes did not call for a stoppage and didn’t snap the ball until 45 seconds remained.

The second play went for 11 yards to set up a manageable third-and-1.

While Sanders said they just needed one yard for time to stop on a first down, Colorado did not snap its next play until 29 seconds remained.

Colorado notched a first down on the next play when Kadon Salter ran out of bounds for five yards with 18 seconds left, but the clock would have stopped anyway due to a first down.

The Buffaloes used 49 pivotal seconds just to move 14 yards.

An incompletion, 11-yard strike for a first down and a failed Hail Mary then ran out the clock.

“Colorado used some elite Les Miles clock management strategy on that final drive. Georgia Tech wins 27-20,” On3Sports’ Brett McMurphy tweeted.

Former Giants offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz tweeted: “Colorado didn’t use a single timeout on that drive. Bad clock management.”

Sanders said to blame him after his team allowed 463 yards, including 320 rushing, and failed to capitalize on three Georgia Tech turnovers.

Friday marked his first game since his offseason cancer battle in which his bladder had to be removed due to a tumor.

“We got to do a better job offensively and defensively,” Sanders said. “And I will take the onus on that. We will do better next week.”