Sanders, Colorado hold off North Dakota State to win season opener

BOULDER, Colo. — Shedeur Sanders was just trying to be the nice guy and get his teammate a late touchdown. It nearly backfired.

Sanders threw for 445 yards and four touchdowns — three to Travis Hunter — and Colorado began Year 2 under Deion Sanders by holding off FCS power North Dakota State 31-26 on Thursday night.

But it was the pass Shedeur Sanders didn't need to throw that raised some eyebrows.

With 1:41 remaining and a couple of run plays all that were necessary to run down the clock, Sanders tried to connect deep with LaJohntay Wester. He underthrew the pass and it wound up incomplete to stop the clock.

Deion Sanders' fatherly advice: No more Mr. Nice Guy.

“Shedeur's such a good kid, sometimes it costs him,” the coach said. “That’s his character. I’m like, ‘Come on, Dawg, not right now. It’s not time to be the good guy right now. It’s time to put this game away.'”

North Dakota State got the ball back with 31 seconds remaining. Cam Miller launched a pass from his own 47 as time expired that was caught by Tyler Terhark 4 yards short of the end zone.

“You ever feel like you won but you didn’t win,” said Deion Sanders, whose team was a 10 1/2-point favourite. "Let’s move on from that. I’m going to try my best to hold back my anger. But we got a ‘W’ so I’m happy.”

The methodical play of the Bison in the first half helped keep Heisman Trophy hopeful Sanders and the Colorado offence on the sideline. But once Sanders got out there, he went to work.

Jimmy Horn Jr. had seven catches for 198 yards and a score while Hunter hauled in seven passes for 132 yards.

Hunter's acrobatic, 3-yard TD with a defensive back draped all over him gave Colorado a 31-20 lead with 7:57 left. He celebrated by spinning the ball and going into a dance. Hunter still had that much energy despite playing all night at cornerback, too.

The play of Hunter caught the attention of NBA great LeBron James, who wrote on social media: “MAN TRAVIS HUNTER IS RIDICULOUS!!!!! WOW.”

Like Sanders, Hunter's mentioned in Heisman conversations.

Sanders finished 26 of 34 with an interception and a passer rating of 219.4. He's now thrown for 955 yards and eight TDs in two openers at Colorado (he had 510 yards last season at TCU).

“It was cool,” Sanders said about his big night. “But every incompletion, it hurts me inside a little bit. I’m excited for the win, but (there are) definitely situations in that game I personally could’ve handled better.”

This version of the Buffaloes' offence looked a whole lot like last season — a terrifying passing game with virtually no ground attack (they were out-rushed 157-59). The overhauled offensive line allowed only one sack, but Sanders spent quite a bit of time scrambling around.

The Colorado defence remains a work in progress under new defensive coordinator Robert Livingston. Miller scored on a 20-yard scramble to make it 31-26 with 2:19. His pass on the two-point conversion was incomplete.

“There's nothing good about losing,” Miller said. “But I do feel like offensively and defensively, this is going to give us a lot of confidence.”

New North Dakota State coach Tim Polasek had his team on the cusp of an upset. The Bison led 20-17 at halftime with Miller orchestrating the offense to near perfection. He finished with two rushing TDs and threw for another. The Bison showed a national audience precisely why they are ranked No. 2 in the FCS preseason polls.

“The difference in the game comes down to they made a few more plays than we did,” Polasek said. “I really believe that.”

THE TAKEAWAY

North Dakota State: The Bison dropped to 9-5 against FBS opponents, including 3-2 against teams in the Big 12.

Colorado: The season finally arrived after an eventful summer for the Buffaloes that included Deion Sanders banning a Denver Post columnist indefinitely from asking questions.

UP NEXT

North Dakota State: Hosts Tennessee State a week from Saturday.

Colorado: At Nebraska next Saturday.