Colorado football coach Deion Sanders said Tuesday that several players are no longer with the Buffaloes after a 41-7 loss at Northwestern, citing conduct he described as detrimental to the team.
Sanders did not name the players who were removed or give a precise number. He told reporters only that a few guys are off the roster now.
The announcement came three days after Colorado’s first defeat of the season and four days before the Buffaloes open Big 12 play at Baylor. Colorado is 2-1.
The Buffaloes opened with a 14-13 win at Georgia Tech on Sept. 3 and beat Weber State 52-21 at Folsom Field on Sept. 12. The trip to Evanston produced a one-sided result that Sanders said exposed problems beyond a single Saturday.
Colorado finished 3-9 last season after going 9-4 in 2024. Sanders said he did not clamp down hard enough a year ago and would not repeat that approach.
“There’s a few guys that are not on the team anymore,” Sanders said bluntly. “So you know.”
“It’s never one [thing],” Sanders said. “I’m one the most loving and giving and forgiving men you could ever meet, but when you start [having] conduct detrimental to the team, you don’t care about the team, you care about you, I have a problem with that. A year ago, I didn’t put my foot down in it enough. It lingered a little bit. Then, it imploded,”
He continued on, making it clear that he won’t make the same mistake again.
“I’m not doing that anymore.”
Sanders also addressed players laughing as they walked into the locker room after the Northwestern game. He said he did not understand how anyone could treat the result as a joke while he was walking behind them.
Colorado leads the Big 12 in penalties through three games. The Buffaloes have been flagged 28 times for 247 yards, an average of 9.3 penalties and 82.3 yards per game. Those figures rank last in the conference and near the bottom of the Football Bowl Subdivision.
The Northwestern loss featured four Colorado turnovers. The Buffaloes outgained the Wildcats 199-189 in the first half but trailed 21-0 after three giveaways. Northwestern finished with 429 total yards to Colorado’s 348.
Linebacker Tyler Martinez called the roster moves unfortunate. Safety Ben Finneseth appeared at Tuesday’s news conference and apologized for comments captured on social media before the Northwestern game. He called his remarks childish and said they would not happen again.
Colorado is listed as a 9.5-point underdog at Baylor, according to FanDuel. The game is Saturday in Waco and is the Buffaloes’ first Big 12 contest of 2026.
Baylor is also 2-1. Both teams have been among the more penalized groups in the country early this season. Colorado ranks 130th in the FBS in penalty yards per game.
Sanders has overhauled the roster multiple times since arriving in Boulder. Last season’s 3-9 finish followed a 9-4 campaign in 2024 and left the program looking for tighter standards heading into conference play.
The Buffaloes have not identified replacements or said how the cuts will affect depth this week. The travel roster for Baylor is expected to show which players remain.
Colorado’s next home game is Oct. 3 against Texas Tech. Before that, Sanders will take a shortened roster on the road for the conference opener.
