Colorado suffered a blowout loss against Northwestern (41-7), and Coach Prime was clearly unhappy with more than the scoreboard. The Buffaloes turned the ball over four times, struggled on fourth down, and left Evanston with their first loss of the season. Aside from the loss, Sanders was more bothered to see some of his players laughing and smiling on the sideline while their coach was fuming just behind them.

For a coach and a former NFL player who hates losing, the reaction of the players did not sit well with him, as Sanders called out his players during a press conference after the September 19 game against the Wildcats.

“Well, I saw some guys fighting and fighting through it offensively and defensively,” Sanders said during the press conference after the game, according to BuffsTV. “Now, you did see a couple guys that I just got on because I don’t understand how you can have joy in a loss, especially when I’m upset, and I’m walking right behind you.”

“I don’t understand that. I can never understand that because I want to win every darn thing. And I can’t understand how in the world do you find joy, or you could find a laughing manner, when I’m right behind you walking in. I don’t understand that, and I addressed it, and I’m going to put my foot in it, not on it.”

In American college football, the locker room operates on an unwritten rule: after a blowout loss, you show pain. Smiling on the sideline signals to your teammates, coaches, and fans that you simply do not care about the program’s pride.

For Sanders, who built a legendary NFL career on ruthless discipline and burning obsession to win, seeing his players joke around after getting crushed 41-7 felt like a total betrayal of that culture. He isn’t just coaching a game; he is trying to teach young athletes that losing should hurt so much that laughing is the last thing on your mind.

Coach Prime knows what real competitiveness looks like because he has lived it. During his Dallas Cowboys days, Sanders was known for bringing a different level of intensity to practice. Former NFL wide receiver Michael Irvin has recalled Sanders going after teammates, including himself and former quarterback Troy Aikman, by making sure nobody missed a rep or got too comfortable in practice.

Sanders played with an edge and a competitiveness to win that made QBs think twice before throwing his way and helped turn his defenses into some of the toughest units to face. Now, he expects the same mindset from his Colorado players and did not see enough of it on Saturday night.

Sanders had also called out his players after Colorado beat Weber State by 31 points a week before, as he pointed to the program’s lack of competitiveness and standout performance despite a win.

“Is that a winning team? Is this winning activity? What y’all going to do about it?” Sanders said in locker-room footage, according to Marvin Uzor of Sports Illustrated on September 13. “And the sad thing about it, some of y’all are satisfied with that. You definitely ain’t no dog. You ain’t no killer, and you definitely ain’t no pro.”

“If I were y’all, I wouldn’t even go out and party and kick it, because it’s going to be a lot of conditioning tomorrow. Because this is not the winning recipe to win it all. You guys are happy with winning the game. I’m trying to win it all.”

Sanders was frustrated with the 13 penalties and two fumbles during the Week 2 game against Weber State, as he wanted to instill a championship mindset within the players rather than chasing wins.

Colorado’s four turnovers, three failed fourth downs, and nine penalties in the Wildcats game exposed the mistakes Sanders needs to fix before Big 12 play begins at Baylor next Saturday. As Sanders expected, the Buffaloes are expected to clean up self-inflicted errors and play with more discipline after the Northwestern loss.