Deion Sanders is 1-0 in 2026, and he got it the hard way.
Colorado opened its season with a last-second win at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. The victory comes after a 3-9 season in 2025 that had fans and media ready to write off the program. Three days before the game, Yahoo Sports ran a story about fans giving up on Sanders and asking the noise to stop. Then his team responded on the field.
A season-opening road win against an ACC opponent doesn't erase 2025. It doesn't prove Colorado is back. But it is a concrete improvement over where this program was. The Buffaloes found a way to win a game that came down to the final snap, a category they rarely landed on the right side of last year.
Sanders has spent the offseason talking about building the roster and culture. Now he has a result that supports that argument. The 2026 sample size is one game, and the league schedule remains. But the start is exactly what Colorado needed after a week of external doubt.
This win buys Sanders momentum. The question is whether it buys consistency. A coach with a 3-9 season on his résumé can't afford moral victories. What Sanders got in Atlanta was a real one. Now he has to prove he can turn one win into a run.
