On Tuesday, Colorado coach Deion Sanders spoke to the media ahead of the Buffs’ final game of the season Saturday against Utah.

It will be Sanders’ final game in Year 1 of his stint with the Buffs, as CU was eliminated from bowl contention last week after its loss to Washington State dropped them to 4-7 on the year. The Buffs are currently in the midst of a five-game losing streak and are looking to get back on track heading into the offseason.

Here are our top five takeaways from Sanders’ comments Tuesday.

During Friday night’s disaster in Pullman, Washington, quarterback Shedeur Sanders was knocked out of the game shortly after setting the Buffs' single-season passing yards record. According to his head coach (and father), Sanders had “numbness in his hand” after a strip sack in the first quarter and suffered an ankle injury recovering a botched snap in the second, ending his night early.

When asked about his quarterback’s status on Tuesday, Deion Sanders gave an ominous answer.

“Shedeur is not feeling well right now,” he said. “It’s a day-by-day situation with Shedeur. You know, we’re praying that he gets healthy and he’s able to play because he is who he is and when he’s on the field we have a tremendous chance to win.”

Freshman Ryan Staub and junior Gavin Kuld both got work at quarterback in the second half in Sanders’ absence, but the Buffs would definitely prefer that their signal-caller be healthy for the final game of the year.

Travis Hunter also came up gimpy after a spectacular catch late in the Buffs’ loss, but Deion Sanders said postgame that Hunter was okay and reinforced that on Tuesday, saying that Hunter was “all right” and should be good to go on Saturday.

If Shedeur Sanders is unable to go on Saturday, it will be the youngster Ryan Staub who will get the start in his place. Staub got a lot of work on Friday, finishing 5 of 14 for 56 yards. Sanders said that Staub usually gets a lot of work early in the week, so he should be ready come Saturday if needed.

“Shedeur, on Tuesdays he really don’t work anyway,” Sanders said. “So Staub has really been getting a lot of work anyway the last several weeks. So prayerfully, he digests the playbook, digests what we expect of him so he can go out there and perform if he’s called upon.”

Staub and the Buffs offense struggled against Washington State on Friday and don’t match up well with a physical Utah defense this upcoming weekend, but Sanders is optimistic that Staub will be ready to go if Shedeur Sanders can’t go.

With the Buffs now eliminated from bowl contention, it would be tempting for everyone -- players and coaches alike -- to focus on what’s next in the offseason. Players may be thinking about the transfer portal, the NFL, or just getting better for next year in Boulder, and coaches can turn their focus to recruiting and things of that nature.

However, Sanders plans on playing through the finish line in 2023.

“We gotta finish, we gotta finish,” Sanders said. “We gotta finish, and I wanna finish with an exclamation mark. I don’t wanna finish with a comma, a run along sentence. I wanna finish.”

Sanders and the Buffs clearly are focused on finishing 2023 on a high note, and definitely don’t want to end the year on a six-game skid. They have a steep mountain to climb against a very physical Utah team with Shedeur Sanders’ status unknown, but Deion Sanders made it clear that their focus is on this week and this opponent.

Over the past two weeks, Colorado has had two high-profile recruits decommit -- 2025 five-star wide receiver Winston Watkins Jr. announced his decommitment from the Buffs on Nov. 12, and 2024 three-star offensive lineman Talan Chandler announced on Sunday that he was flipping from Colorado to Missouri.

But Sanders isn't discouraged.

“A kid ain’t even faithful to his girlfriend. You think he’ll be faithful to a school?” Sanders said. “Like, come on man. That’s like an emotional thing. What I wish the NCAA would do, honestly, if you’re committed to somewhere, you can’t go to no other visits.”

He also expressed optimism about the Buffs’ recruiting process as a whole, both in the high school ranks and in the transfer portal, pointing to where the Buffs’ roster currently stands compared to where it was at this point last season.

“Last season you had to fill a void of everything,” Sanders said. “This year, you’re more directed. You know what you have, you know what you don’t have. You’ve seen how we react under pressure, you’ve seen how we don’t, and you know what you need. So now, it’s more focused.”

Many fans are worried about recruits being turned away from Colorado due to the recent struggles on the field, but Sanders doesn’t seem concerned in the slightest.

Earlier this week, Colorado running back Kavosiey Smoke made waves on social media when he tweeted (and later deleted) that the Buffs would be undefeated if they weren’t playing “selfish ball."

Sanders, however, defended Smoke’s comments, citing that he in fact didn’t have any problem with them at all.

“I like that comment. I like that comment,” Sanders said. “I think that’s a great comment. … First of all, I love Smoke man. Smoke is a great kid that worked his butt off, that played hard, and I’m upset that we didn’t live up to our expectations that he had for us. I’m upset about that because you talk about a running back that is a pro. Smoke is a pro, man, and never got an opportunity because we’re so deep at that position and we’re run deficient. You know that. So, I’m upset that we didn’t live up to the expectations that he had for us. I love that kid man. And his mom. So I’m 100 with Smoke. He said what he felt and he felt what he said. I have no problem with guys doing that as long as it’s justified. That wasn’t an attack on us, that was truth.”

Sanders later went on to say that most, if not all teams have a little bit of “selfish ball” going on, and talked about how not studying properly or holding teammates accountable can all fit under that umbrella. Regardless, it seems that Smoke’s tweet was a bigger deal in the media than it was in the locker room.