2024-08-31 09:30:02
Deion Sanders and the Colorado football team can breathe a collective sigh of relief.
The Buffaloes avoided disaster and survived a scare from perennial FCS powerhouse North Dakota State on Thursday night for a season-opening win. Shedeur Sanders (445 passing yards, four touchdowns) and Travis Hunter (seven receptions, 132 yards, three scores) both looked like future NFL stars, but Colorado has plenty to improve upon before next week’s rivalry game at Nebraska.
Here are a few overreactions (or not) from the Buffs’ first win of the 2024 college football season:
Colorado’s offensive line has been fixed
Overreaction. After Shedeur Sanders was the most sacked (52) quarterback in college football last year, Colorado football fans might be pleased to look at Thursday night’s box score. The truth is that although Sanders was sacked just one time, he was under duress and escaping pressure (with success) for much of the night.
Even on one of the biggest plays of the night (a 69-yard touchdown pass to Jimmy Horn Jr.), Shedeur was hit by two Bison as he threw. NDSU rushed five and Colorado had six in protection. It should’ve been a clean pocket, in theory.
That wasn’t the only play where Sanders had to evade rushers and make a play downfield, either.
Right tackle Tyler Brown (77.2 pass-blocking grade) allowed three pressures and center Hank Zilinskas (48.7), right guard Kahlil Benson (80.8) and left guard Justin Mayers (80.8) each allowed one pressure, according to Pro Football Focus.
However, it wasn’t all bad. Again, just one sack through one game (even against an FCS opponent) is something to feel good about after last season.
True freshman Jordan Seaton had a quiet college football debut (which is good for an offensive lineman). The starting left tackle allowed just two pressures (zero sacks) on 41 pass-block snaps, according to PFF. Colorado’s offensive line will be in much better shape than a year ago if Seaton continues to impress.
“You never want to see your son get hit, let alone your quarterback,” Deion Sanders said postgame. “But the offensive line played a good game. We have to give them love. I mean the guy got sacked one time and dropped back. What was it 34 times? I’m good with that.”
More:What Deion Sanders said after Colorado football’s win vs NDSU
Colorado’s running game hasn’t improved much from last year
Not an overreaction. The Buffaloes’ rushing attack on Thursday night looked too similar to the one that finished dead last in the Pac-12 last season. Colorado had 23 rushing attempts as a team for 59 yards (2.6 yards per attempt).
Former walk-on (put on scholarship this spring) Charlie Offerdahl got the start (five carries, 15 yards) but found little running room. The same can be said for Ohio State transfer Dallan Hayden (nine carries, 20 yards), who flashed in his Colorado debut with a 14-yard catch and an excellent job in pass protection on the 69-yard touchdown to Horn Jr.
Deion Sanders downplayed the lack of a rushing attack postgame, but the Buffs once again looked like a one-dimensional offense.
“Our running backs are good. We have to do a better job of using them a lot more and getting more yardage but we have to take what they gave us. I mean, I don’t think anyone is upset with that. (Dallan) Hayden showed you what he can do. Charlie (Offerdahl) is Charlie.”
Deion Sanders also mentioned a third running back who could help unlock Colorado’s ground game.
“We were getting ready to throw 29 (Micah Welch) in at the conclusion of the game but then they scored. I wanted you guys to see him because he was going to put that game away running as physical as he does. I’m not overly satisfied with how we ran the ball, especially with the yardage, but we can do much better.”
Colorado defensive coordinator Robert Livingston’s hiring was a mistake
Overreaction. The Buffs’ defense was dreadful in the first half on Thursday night. NDSU had 242 yards of total offense and Bison quarterback Cam Miller was 10-for-13 for 114 yards with two touchdowns (one passing, one rushing) at halftime.
A different Colorado defense emerged from the locker room and Livingston deserves credit for making the necessary adjustments. After NDSU scored a touchdown or field goal on each of its first four possessions, the Buffs’ defense forced punts on three consecutive drives and allowed just six second-half points (20 in the first).
That was the difference in the game.
“He’s a great communicator, one of the best communicators that I’ve been around,” Deion Sanders said of Livingston postgame. “His message is loud and clear not only throughout the game, but halftime to make the adjustments. Then on to the second half, you have to understand that guys go down, this happens. You got guys losing contain so you have to make personnel changes. But he did a great job of balancing everything.”
Deion Sanders’ clock management is an issue
Not an overreaction. Colorado’s first win of the season was much more nerve-racking than it needed to be.
After NDSU cut the deficit to 31-26 with 2:19 left, the Buffs called passes on five of their next six plays before being forced to punt and giving the Bison a chance for late-game heroics. One of the passes (to LaJohntay Wester) was nearly intercepted and could’ve been disastrous for a team that had a comfortable, 11-point lead with eight minutes to play.
Shedeur Sanders took full accountability for the pass-heavy sequence down the stretch, but this isn’t the first time clock management late in games has come into question. That almost always falls on the head coach, right or wrong.
“(I saw) Cover 0 and we have like the best receiver room in the nation so it’s kind of like disrespectful (to play man coverage),” Shedeur said postgame. “It was something that I definitely will learn from. That’s why I’m happy that everything in my life, I always was able to learn from it. It’s not too many mistakes you’ll see I make twice. That’s just something I’m going to learn, understand and even if it looks super tempting, you just have to go with it.”
“You want first downs (in that situation),” Deion Sanders said postgame. “If you want to run the clock down and they have five down linemen, you have to look out there and say ‘OK, I have 1-on-1 right here and I haven’t seen 1-on-1 the whole game.’ So I have to do what I have to do to move these chains and that’s what that is.”
Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter can both be Heisman Trophy finalists
Not an overreaction. Colorado arguably has the best offensive and defensive player in college football. Both their names are Travis Hunter.
The two-way star made three highlight-worthy plays at receiver (55 snaps) while also playing 69 snaps on defense. He allowed just three catches for 18 yards while playing cornerback on Thursday night, according to PFF, and came off the field for just two plays all game.
Then there’s Shedeur Sanders who may very well be the No. 1 quarterback taken in next year’s NFL draft. The projected first-round pick showed toughness, escapability and his patented pinpoint accuracy during his 2024 debut.
If the Buffs can get to eight or nine wins, there’s no reason to believe that Shedeur and Hunter won’t be on the shortlist of Heisman Trophy candidates by season’s end.
“Yeah, they got their own little thing going on,” Deion Sanders said of Shedeur and Hunter postgame. “I ain’t mad at it because it works. It’s just a certain chemistry that they have where Shedeur is going to place that ball. If that guy’s right beside him, he’s going to place that ball. First of all, it ain’t no 50-50 ball with Travis. If the ball is up close, it’s his ball. So he’s that kind of athlete. That was a game huh? They may start to believe me when I start talking about those two going in the top five picks right?”
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