Deion Sanders caught himself in the middle of a sentence Tuesday and took Colorado’s 3-6 season entirely on himself. “We’re just not getting it done,” he started, then stopped: “Don’t say we. I’m sorry. Scratch that.”

That’s from the AP story on ESPN, and I’ll be honest: it’s the best thing I’ve heard a struggling coach say all year.

Where Colorado stands

The Buffaloes are 3-6 and 1-5 in the Big 12 after a 20-10 loss at Arizona State on Saturday. They have to win out to reach bowl eligibility, and that starts Friday night with No. 14 Houston coming to Boulder (9:15 p.m. Central, ESPN). After that it’s at Cincinnati and home against UCF.

Sanders is 19-27 in four years at Colorado and 6-15 since Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter left for the NFL. He’s signed through 2029. He said he’s not worried about his job, and when reporters kept asking about his offensive coordinator, Brennan Marion, he fired back, “Is this Killing Brennan Day, today?”

My take: this is how you lose the right way

Most coaches in a bad year give you “we,” “us” and “the guys.” It sounds like accountability and spreads the blame across 18-year-olds. Deion did the opposite. He backed his coordinators, said his kids are still fighting, and put the losing on the head coach. That’s exactly where it belongs.

Here’s the uncomfortable part, though. Owning it is step one. Fixing it is the job. With Shedeur and Travis Hunter, Colorado had something. Without them, it’s 6-15. Year five is going to tell us whether Deion built a program or had a moment.

I’ll say this: I’d rather root for a coach who says “don’t say we” than one who blames the kids. More of that, please. All across college football.

Faders: does Deion get a year five in Boulder no matter how Friday goes? I think he does.

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Jeremy Durham is a sports columnist for TriStar Daily and the founder of Five and a Fade.