BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A feisty Deion Sanders is pushing back against anyone second-guessing his clock management or calling out his coaching staff.
The Colorado coach also announced highly touted freshman quarterback Julian “JuJu” Lewis would see the field against Delaware this weekend and suggested the NCAA should consider some rule adjustments to promote kickoff returns.
Sanders had a lot on his mind Tuesday after taking a few days to ponder a 27-20 loss to Georgia Tech to open the season. It's the first time Sanders has started 0-1 at either Colorado or Jackson State.
“If we hit the darn plays, we wouldn’t be asking these questions," said Sanders, who's in his third season at Colorado. "We had the plays. We just didn’t make it happen.”
Sanders went into detail on Colorado's final drive with 1:07 left and why he saved his two timeouts. The first play — a pass that resulted in minus-2 yards — ended up chewing a chunk of time.
“Do you call a timeout there? No, you're right there. You don't call a timeout there. You've got to go. You've got to go,” he said. “You're running tempo.”
The Buffaloes ended up driving to the 50 with 3 seconds remaining before attempting a Hail Mary that was knocked down.
“We're trying to fix what was broken last week and we're on to this week," Sanders said. "I was there a few days ago but I’m gone now. I'm into this week now.”
The offense proved inconsistent in Week 1 with Kaidon Salter taking over for Shedeur Sanders and as offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur adjusts to calling plays for more of a dual-threat option. The Buffaloes turned three early turnovers into just seven points.
Asked about the conversations with Shurmur in the aftermath, Deion Sanders responded: “It's funny that you start out with coach Shurmur and we gave up over 300 yards, darn near 400 yards, rushing. It's ironic to me. It seems like you guys pick and choose who you want to target.”
The defense struggled, too, after producing those early turnovers. Coordinator Robert Livingston's crew allowed 463 total yards, including a late 45-yard TD scamper from Georgia Tech QB Haynes King.
“We didn’t lose the game because of coach Shurmur, coach Livingston, or one specific thing,” Sanders said. “I’ve got to do a better job.”
Salter finished 17 of 28 for 159 yards and one TD in his Colorado debut. He also rushed for 43 yards and another score. There were times, though, when he threw with room to run.
“I don’t have to really sit down and say, ‘Kaidon, you should have ran right there,’” Sanders explained. “You don’t think he knows that? I’m pretty sure the Internet has told him.
“I don’t have to babysit — these are some grown men getting handsomely paid. I’m pretty sure they understand what the objective is.”
Sanders fully intends to use the 17-year-old Lewis in some capacity against Delaware on Saturday. Lewis was a five-start recruit after three seasons at Carrollton High School in Georgia, where he threw for for 11,010 yards.
Might he even start?
“Can we take one thing at a time? I just told you he was playing," Sanders said.
Sanders has a suggestion for the NCAA — move the kickoff farther back. He wants to spice up the game with more returns.
“We've got some freshmen that could light it up," Sanders said. "Everybody’s got guys that you want to play on special teams, but they don’t get the opportunity because everybody’s kicking the darn ball into the band.”
One topic made Sanders beam — the news of Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter recently becoming a father.
“I love him like he’s a son,” Sanders said of Hunter, his two-way star who's now with the Jacksonville Jaguars. “The thing that I told him is, ‘Let’s correct all the things that we purposely think that we didn’t receive as a child, and let’s correct that in our fatherhood. Let’s do that, and no matter what happens in life, let’s make sure we are the best darn father that ever walked.’
"I’m proud of him, and I love him to life. I miss him dearly.”
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Colorado head coach Deion Sanders directs his team against Georgia Tech in the first half of an NCAA college football game Friday, Aug. 29, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
The U.S. Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” she said.
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Several U.S. government social media accounts posted brief videos that appeared to show various parts of the ship’s capture. Black-and-white footage showed at least four helicopters approaching the ship before hovering over the deck while armed troops dropped down by rope. At least nine people could be seen on the deck of the ship.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, the ship was partially filled with crude.
Days later, the Veronica became one of at least 16 tankers that left the Venezuelan coast in contravention of the quarantine that U.S. forces have set up to block sanctioned ships, according to Samir Madani, the co-founder of TankerTrackers.com. He said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship movements.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the Treasury Department for being associated with a Russian company moving cargoes of illicit oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
Speaking to reporters at the White House later Thursday, Noem declined to say how many sanctioned oil tankers the U.S. is tracking or whether the government is keeping tabs on freighters beyond the Caribbean Sea.
“I can’t speak to the specifics of the operation, although we are watching the entire shadow fleet and how they’re moving,” she told reporters.
But other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
Associated Press writer Ben Finley contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro’s capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
