Colorado's Deion Sanders says, "Teams are trying to beat me," not our team after Oregon loss

The Colorado Buffaloes work to regroup after a 42-6 loss against 10th-ranked Oregon on Saturday. Deion Sanders took to the podium and was honest about his team's performance in the Pac-12 opener. He also added his thoughts on how opponents view the Buffs.

"Teams are trying to beat me, they're not trying to beat our team," Sanders noted. "They keep forgetting I'm not playing anymore. I had a great career. I've got a gold jacket. "

There's truth behind what Coach Prime said when it comes to Colorado being a target because of how everything came about in the off-season. Sanders has broken traditional barriers and did something the college football world wasn't ready to do. He's a trendsetter, and other coaches wish they could've used the transfer portal the way he did.

It's not just those directly involved with the competition either. The rest of America has an opinion of Sanders and his rise with the Buffaloes. It has become a cultural talking point in many ways, like a political figure running for public office. It's been engrained in the minds of a fraction of the population to hate the idea of Sanders being successful. This is not new, and we understand it has nothing to do with him being a former athlete or coach.

Every week will be like this, with Sanders being the center of attention. He's just reminding folks that he's on the sidelines and not in the game. This has more to do with the Buffaloes players coming together after less than a year and putting up a fight.

The loss was ugly, but it happened. Nobody expected Sanders and the Buffaloes to get three wins, and yet here we are. This is a moment to regather and learn from the mistakes to play better. The mark of a good coach is not when the team is celebrating a win but how they handle defeat to make their situation better for the next game.

Nobody is talking about Dan Lanning's pregame comments to his team and how fired up he was about facing Colorado. If Sanders provided a similar reaction, every newspaper, website, and blog would be talking about it. 

What got lost in the shuffle was Lanning's desire to run up the score. A fake punt up by 13 points and going for it on fourth and goal twice up by five scores late in the game. Do you not trust your kicker? Lanning wanted to show out for the section of America who claimed their Ducks' fandom after watching Colorado beat CSU.

The Buffs return home to face Southern Cal on Saturday. A Big Noon Kickoff feature on FOX from Folsom Field.