Reaction to Colorado's Week 1 Win Over NDSU

Ever since the arrival of Deion Sanders, the Colorado Buffalos have been a focal talking point in college football. Deion has brought a certain swagger and attention to a program that had very little of that prior to his arrival. He should be commended for bringing the program to a 4-8 record last year after the team went a horrible 1-11 record the season before Deion came onto the scene. However, when you call so much attention to a team that has lots of potential with all the new transfers they have brought in, you are also asking for high expectations to be put on your team.

This home opener was big for Colorado. This will likely be Shedeur Sanders's last season in Colorado before he gets drafted into the NFL next April. Therefore, the pressure is on for Colorado to win now. Throughout the entire first half, Colorado continuously shot themselves in the foot with undisciplined penalties, especially on the defensive side on 3rd down. NDSU came into this game with a mission to control the ball in the first half. They did that in a big way winning the time of possession 22 minutes to 8 minutes. Colorado did take advantage of the time they had on offense with Shedeur throwing 12/15 for 254 yards and 2 TDs in the first half. Outside of Colorado's aerial assault, NDSU played much better fundamental and complementary football in the first half. This is why NDSU led 20-17 after two quarters of play.

To open up the second half, Colorado was able to drive the ball right down the field, but Shedeur would end up throwing one of the weirdest interceptions you'll ever see after it bounced off a defender's leg and into the arms of another defender. However, the Buffalos were able to strike back on their next offense drive with another passing touchdown to Travis Hunter for his second of the game. It wouldn't be Travis Hunter's last touchdown of the game though, as he bailed out Colorado's terrible running game on the goal line with an incredible catch in the 4th quarter on 3rd down. NDSU would not go away quietly though with Cam Miller scoring a 20-yard rushing touchdown with only a few minutes left to go. Colorado did have the chance after getting a few first downs to run out the game clock but instead, they opted to throw it on first down and not run the ball which could have burnt the clock out completely. This very questionable coaching decision gave the ball back to NDSU with a chance to go and win the game. It came down to the final play of the game with NDSU catching the Hail Mary attempt but just coming up short at the 4-yard line. Colorado could've tried swatting the ball on the Hail Mary attempt, but instead, the defender went for the interception. All these undisciplined decisions almost allowed a miraculous late-game collapse.

As we look to the rest of Colorado's football season, it is clear that this defense is not tough nor disciplined and that rests on the shoulders of Deion Sanders. There is no doubt that Colorado had more talented players than NDSU tonight. Even with the crowd support behind Colorado as a considerable home favorite, the poor discipline and poor football fundamentals by this team really showed. Despite all the flashy plays that this Colorado offense may produce throughout the season, when times become tough they will struggle against physically and mentally tough teams in the future. At the end of the day, what matters in college football is winning games, they were able to do that today, but don't expect that to continue for this team.