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Colorado football needed everything it had in the tank to defeat North Dakota State in Week 1 of the college football season. The Buffaloes out dueled the Bison, 31-26, following an uneven team performance. Quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw for 445 passing yards, showing the country once again that he is good as advertised.
There are some causes for concern moving forward for the Buffaloes, despite Sanders' stellar performance. Here are three things to be concerned about moving forward for Colorado football.
Colorado football's defense is still struggling
Colorado football didn't perform well on defense in 2023, during Coach Deion Sanders' first season. Colorado lost eight games, due to some problems getting stops. The Buffaloes gave up more than 30 points in five of the eight losses. During the offseason, the Buffaloes hit the transfer portal hard to rebuild the defense.
Against North Dakota State, those same problems happened again. Colorado football gave up 449 total yards to the Bison, a FCS team. North Dakota State racked up 25 first downs, which was more than Colorado's 22. The Bison torched the Colorado football's secondary, gaining 292 yards through the air.
Colorado coach Deion Sanders wasn't happy with his defense's performance in Week 1, and he shouldn't be. That kind of production from an opposing team isn't acceptable, and Colorado must work harder to find the right combination of guys to lead the defense. If Colorado football is going to a bowl game this season, they will have to play so much better on defense.
Colorado's Travis Hunter is playing nearly every snap
Colorado football has a great player in Travis Hunter. Hunter is a two-way player, who can play both cornerback and wide receiver. In the game against North Dakota State, he was all over the field. Hunter finished the game with seven receptions for 132 yards, and three touchdown catches. It was a dazzling performance from the young man.
On defense, Hunter also recorded three tackles for the Buffaloes. The talented athlete was used in nearly every play for the team, and one can see why. He is an extremely talented player, who was the preseason Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
The issue for Colorado is that they have to find a way to give Hunter a breather. The versatile player won't be able to play nearly every snap of a 12 or possibly 13 game season. Colorado and Coach Sanders must find a way to rest their athlete, and probably that means taking him off the field on defense. Hunter looks to be too valuable in the passing game, and it may be gassing him as he is also trying to do too much on defense.
How much will off-the-field drama affect Colorado?
The Buffaloes' third cause of concern has to do with something happening off the field. There's a war brewing between Coach Sanders and the journalists who cover the Colorado football team. Sanders made headlines recently for banning a Denver Post newspaper columnist from asking questions at his press conferences. Sanders has also criticized how he was being covered by CBS journalists.
While there's always been a fair amount of animosity between head coaches and the press, this battle seems to be seeping into national headlines. ESPN commentators including Paul Finebaum and Stephen A. Smith are giving the story more oxygen, by talking about it on the broadcast network. Finebaum is extremely critical of how Sanders is handling the situation.
Time will tell how this all shakes out. Colorado's athletic department is sticking by Sanders' decision to ban certain reporters from asking questions, arguing it is in the coach's contract to allow the practice. Colorado football fans just want to see wins, and if the wins don't start coming in droves, there may be more pushback against Sanders' policies toward the press.
Colorado football plays its next game Saturday against Nebraska, in a huge Big 12-Big Ten showdown. The game will feature two outstanding quarterbacks in Shedeur Sanders, as well as Nebraska's Dylan Raiola.
