Colorado has undeniable talent, but a lot to prove still

BOULDER, Colo. — Minutes after North Dakota State’s potential game-winning Hail Mary pass left the Bison 4 yards shy of a Thursday night, prime-time upset, Colorado coach Deion Sanders strolled into the postgame news conference more relieved than anything else.

“You ever felt like you won, but you didn’t win?” Sanders asked.

He was summing up his feelings in the moment, but he could have been speaking for all Buffaloes fans who left not-quite-sold-out Folsom Field having watched a version of their team that looked a lot like the disappointing one from a year ago. Colorado did a lot of good things in its 31-26 win, but it wasn’t the type of comprehensive performance against a lower-division team that will inspire fresh optimism about a significant step forward to come this season.

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter looked every bit like the potential top-5 NFL draft picks their coach expects them to be. Sanders completed 26 of 34 passes for 445 yards and three of his four touchdown passes were to Hunter, who represented an unfair mismatch for NDSU’s secondary. He finished with seven catches for 132 yards.

“I think 31 NFL scouts came tonight and I think they saw what they came to see. So, let’s move on from there,” Deion Sanders said. “I’m going to try my best to hold back my anger, but we got the W.”

The more Sanders talked, the more positive he was about the team’s performance, but it still stood in stark contrast to last year’s season-opening win against TCU after which Sanders famously proclaimed, “Do you believe now?”

After that game, Sanders had people convinced the Buffaloes could compete for a conference title. A year later, it seems foolish to use the first game of the season to provide a great sense of what’s to come.

Early last month at Big 12 media day in Las Vegas, Sanders was asked about his expectations for the season. It was a standard offseason type of question to kick off an interview. And after a last-place finish in the Pac-12 last season, it would have been reasonable for Sanders to be measured in his response or to lean into any number of coaching standbys that don’t invite additional external scrutiny.

Instead, Sanders dismissed the notion the Buffaloes didn’t belong in the same breath as the conference favorites.

“I’d be an idiot to sit over here and not tell you we plan on winning,” he told ESPN. “I don’t know who sits down and says they don’t plan on winning. You got to be an idiot to say that.”

Winning a national title? Winning the Big 12? Winning more games than they lose? He stopped short of providing specifics, but this was not a man who was open to the idea the Buffs’ 4-8 finish from a year ago was grounds for the idea they would be competitively irrelevant again in 2024.

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One of the main reasons he cited for why winning was the expectation was a revamped offensive line. Aside from center Hank Zilinskas, who started two games last season, the other linemen made their debuts against NDSU — and they finished with mixed reviews. Although Sanders was sacked only once, he was consistently put under pressure and the line failed to open consistent lanes in the run game. Colorado finished with a measly 59 yards rushing on 23 carries (2.6 yards per carry).

“You would love to run the ball a little more but shoot, when you have [504 yards] of total offense, I’m pretty good,” Sanders said. “I’m going to sleep good. Really good. Really good tonight with that. So, I’m cool with that. We would like to see a little more balance, but what is balance? Balance is wins.”

Shedeur Sanders also hinted his offensive line might have had something extra to play for.

“The O-line had an incentive. That’s it. They had a great incentive,” he said. “So, they definitely did what they were supposed to do today. So now I feel good.”

Sanders wasn’t without his mistakes. Namely when it came to game management.

After NDSU scored to make it 31-26, Colorado converted a first down at its 42-yard line that left 1 minute, 41 seconds on the clock. The Bison had one timeout left, which meant if the Buffs ran three straight running plays, they could have wound the clock down inside 10 seconds to go before punting on fourth down, which might have ended the game.

Instead, Sanders checked to a pass play on first down and took a deep shot that fell incomplete, functioning as an extra timeout for NDSU.

“Cover zero. Cover zero and we have the best receiver room in the nation, so it’s kind of disrespectful,” Sanders said when he explained his decision to throw.

When NDSU took over at its 8-yard line, it had 31 seconds left, which were almost enough to pull off a last-ditch miracle. NDSU’s Hail Mary was caught at the Colorado 4-yard line.

“It was something I definitely would learn from,” Sanders said. “So that’s why I’m happy. Everything in my life — I always was able to learn from it. So, there are not too many mistakes you’re going to see I made twice. That’s just something I’m going to learn, understand that even if it looks super tempting … you just got to go with [running the ball in that situation].”

In the end, it didn’t matter. Colorado got the win, even if it didn’t feel like one.