Even after losing to BYU in Saturday night’s Alamo Bowl, Colorado head coach Deion Sanders still has plenty of love for the Cougars.

“They played a heck of a football game and I’m proud,” Sanders said of BYU following the 36-14 finish. “If I’m going to get my butt kicked, I’d rather get my butt kicked by (Kalani Sitake). I love him for life. He’s a good man.”

Sanders — also known by many as “Coach Prime” — has said much in the past regarding his admiration for Sitake, calling him “a darn good football coach … a leader of men and a God-fearing man” earlier this month.

In the first head to head matchup between the two coaches, it was Sitake who came out victorious. It was a dominant outing for BYU, which ran for 180 yards and three touchdowns, intercepted quarterback Shedeur Sanders twice and even had a 64-yard punt return score from Parker Kingston.

Additionally, the Cougar defense allowed just two total rushing yards from Colorado and sacked Shedeur Sanders on four different occasions.

Aside from Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter’s four catches for 106 yards, the Buffaloes managed to produce just 104 yards of offense as a team.

“(It was a) wonderful job, wonderful job by BYU,” Sanders said. “They’re well-coached. They did a phenomenal job running the football. Their special teams kicked our butts. We couldn’t do (much) offensively at all.

“Defensively, I think that we had some sound stops, but we didn’t have enough and we came up short,” Sanders continued.

Despite the loss, Sanders’ squad still finishes the year 9-4 — after going 4-8 in 2023 — for the program’s seventh winning season since 2000.

“We’re not happy with the results,” Sanders said, “but we’re happy with the journey of getting here.”