Deion Sanders says he doesn’t rate moments. But Colorado’s comeback win was one

ATLANTA — The four Georgia Tech students, perhaps inebriated, definitely angry, glared down and shouted at a Colorado contingent. Shedeur Sanders, formerly quarterback of the Buffaloes and now for the Cleveland Browns, looked up at them and smiled. He rubbed his fingers together, the universal money sign.

Another member of the Colorado group finally had enough, and hurled an orange Gatorade bottle up at the fans. Shedeur, perhaps realizing he’d better avoid being part of a viral moment, walked toward the locker room.

Immediately after the blocked field goal that gave Colorado the 14-13 upset, the first wave of Colorado players — including Boo Carter, the Tennessee transfer getting his career reclamation moment — streamed downfield right at a section of Georgia Tech fans. They got up close and exchanged pleasantries, receiving some double-barreled one-finger salutes.

Head coach Deion Sanders, however, left the field quickly and quietly. But happily. He was with Shedeur, his son, taking a break from Browns training camp. And Prime Time had returned to Atlanta, the town he once owned as an NFL football player, with his college football coaching career on the brink.

He left it Saturday night with his program at least temporarily rejuvenated.

“They’ve been talking about me since I came out of the womb,” Sanders said with a scoff when asked if this was personally satisfying, given what people were saying about him and Colorado after a 3-9 season, and little expectation for this fourth season in Boulder.

“This was a big win, period. This was a big win for these kids. … We let you guys talk. We know you gotta sell papers, you gotta get clicks. Talk your talk. Just don’t get sensitive when I talk back.”

Otherwise, Coach Prime wasn’t doing any grand victory laps. Winning a sloppy game against this version of Georgia Tech is not confirmation of a full rebirth. The Yellow Jackets, solid and physical the previous three seasons, may struggle in 2026, especially if their line play doesn’t get better. Quarterback Alberto Mendoza played well, but didn’t have much help from the blocking or run game.

Still, Colorado did its job. It stayed in the game. It made the final two plays it needed to make.

Colorado QB Julian “JuJu” Lewis, who for most of the game just didn’t have it, made the touchdown pass, hitting tight end Charlie Williams from 20 yards out with 37 seconds left.

Thirty seconds after Colorado’s go-ahead touchdown, Georgia Tech was set to kick a walk-off field goal, spurred by a 42-yard completion from Mendoza to wide receiver Dalen Penson.

Carter, dismissed from Tennessee last year, blocked that field goal, then led the cathartic charge across the field to where the Buffaloes had fun with stunned Georgia Tech students. But they also celebrated with the few thousand Colorado fans who made the trip, players jumping in the stands.

In a night, Colorado went from forgotten to intriguing. Sanders changed his approach this offseason and built this team more with players from smaller programs: 23 of the 41 transfers are from non-Power Four conferences.

Lamont Lester, a transfer from Monmouth, had three sacks on Saturday. Leading rusher Damian Henderson II came from Sacramento State.

“A lot of these players were great players; that’s why we got them,” Sanders said. “You guys, just because a guy played at a (smaller) school, you guys don’t give them the credit sometimes, but football is football to me. You can watch film and say, ‘That guy can play. I don’t care who you’re playing against, if it’s ACC, SEC or what-C.’”

But much still depends on whether Lewis, once a ballyhooed quarterback recruit, plays like he did in the final two minutes, or the first 58 minutes. He finished with just 124 passing yards, averaging a paltry 4.6 yards per attempt, hardly throwing downfield (and when he did, being way off).

Except in the final stretch.

“I don’t rate moments. I try to turn them into monuments,” Sanders said when asked where this Atlanta moment ranked for him.

But he returned to it in the next question when asked about Lewis.

“We were just talking about moments. If you maximize and dominate that moment, all you guys will forget about what happened for three or four darned quarters. And that’s a thing about a moment. And he (Lewis) took advantage of the moment. He didn’t shrink in it,” Sanders said. “One thing I don’t do: I don’t lie. I tell you everything; sometimes I tell you too much. I tell you the truth whether you want it or not. But he would’ve (been criticized). But a moment can change everything.”

That moment — and Carter’s moment — changed the result. It could change everything. It could just be a blip. But for a night, Colorado and Prime Time were back.