Despite having an inconsistent season, Kaidon Salter brought out his A-game against top-25 Iowa State. He had 255 passing yards, his second-highest for the season, and completed 16 of the 25 passes, finally giving a sliver of hope for his team. It sure was a game where the QB1 earned widespread praise. However, Deion Sanders remains cautious in his praise and demands something more from his star athlete.

Coach Prime appeared on ‘CBS Colorado’s’ 23rd October podcast and instead of praising his QB too much, waited for more such performances. “Threw the heck out of the ball today. Made quick, sound decisions and ran when he had to,” said Deion Sanders about the QB’s performance in practice. Later, however, the head coach refused to acknowledge the Iowa State game to be the best for Kaidon Salter.

Before coming into the Iowa State game, the 22-year-old was sacked 8 times, threw 3 interceptions, and didn’t manage high efficiency in critical games. For instance, against Georgia Tech in Week 1, Salter managed to complete just 17 of the 28 passes, earning a QB 63.4 rating. Against Iowa State, however, the efficiency jumped, and the rushing game grew. The result? Salter rushed for 57 yards and earned an impressive 88.6 QB grade, again second-highest for the season. But for Deion Sanders, the key is to sustain this performance.

“I feel like we saw the best game thus far from Kaidon Salter. You feel like he took a step had a breakthrough,” asked the host. Deion Sanders’ reply? “Well, he’s capable of playing like that each and every week, but it starts in practice. You want to see the consistency in practice,” said the Buffs HC. Coach Prime also showed eagerness to see what the QB1 showed in recent practices.

“I can’t wait to see this continue for another couple of practices and take it on to the game,” expanded Deion Sanders. Coach Prime isn’t wrong, though. Colorado is still in deep mud and has just 3 wins in 7 games to its name. The next game against Utah, a Big 12 contender, will thus be a massive challenge. Not to mention, other teams like West Virginia and Arizona State are also on the Buffaloes’ schedule later in the season.

So, to win against the teams, Salter will have to first start to show the same brilliance in practice. But the 22-year-old isn’t the only one Deion Sanders is concerned about.

Deion Sanders’ berating his players for lack of desire did its job against Iowa State

Apart from a 3-4 record, Colorado hasn’t given much hope, both in the offense and defensively, this season. For instance, despite Buffs trying to diversify its offense, its rushing game sits 84th nationally. Moreover, the passing game, a revelation under Shedeur Sanders in 2024, is no good, sitting 82nd nationally. The defense has also regressed a lot and is 103rd nationally, giving away 404.9 yards per game. Can all of this improve? And how?

Well, if you ask Deion Sanders, it all boils down to players not giving their 100 percent on the field and in practices. “Some people out here just aren’t here. They’re all ready to quit and shut it down because they know they have no future in this. But the rest of ya’ll do. Separate yourself today. I want to see who’s who today,” said Coach Prime to his players. The rant, however, was before the Iowa State game after a 21-24 loss against BYU.

Seems like the words have done their job as Deion Sanders’ boys pulled off an unexpected win against Iowa State, being 49 points underdogs. For context, Colorado limited Iowa State to 2-12 in third-down efficiency while pulling off a 7-15 record themselves. The yards gained per pass also stood at 10.2 for the Buffs compared to the Cyclones’ 6.2. Not just that, but Sanders’ players also didn’t give a single turnover. All that surely points to great things to come, but what would matter more is consistency.