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The first game of the Colorado football season didn't go as planned. The Buffaloes won, but they didn't make it look easy. Sitting in during ESPN's First Take, Bart Scott blamed the “defensive coordinator” Pat Shurmur. The only problem is that Pat Shurmur is actually Colorado football's offensive coordinator.
“For me, it was an electric atmosphere; it was entertaining, but what Deion is alluding to is the fact that it wasn’t the type of dominant win that they wanted to show. You talk about Pat Shurmur coming over as the defensive coordinator; they almost surrendered the same number of yards that they averaged last year, that was the worst in college football. That can be fixed, that can be improved upon, but I’m wondering how long can they captivate the country.”
Scott thinking that Shurmur is the defensive coordinator is a glaring error that went ignored for the whole segment, but it seemed like an honest mistake. It was only a small piece of the overall point he was trying to make about how Colorado football needs to be better as a whole. Scott also is part of the Bart & Hahn radio show, airing weekdays 12 to 3 p.m. EST on ESPN New York 98.7.
Shurmur has been coaching in the NFL and college football since the late 1980s. Last year, he joined the Colorado football staff as an offensive analyst and co-offensive coordinator. This year, he's taken over the OC job. While there were struggles on defense, the offense wasn't blameless either so Scott attaching it to Shurmur shouldn't be held against him.
Big Colorado football expectations for Travis Hunter, Shedeur Sanders also apply to Pat Shurmur
You wouldn't be wrong to observe that the Buffaloes were playing recklessly at times during their 31-26 win against North Dakota State.
With 1:52 left on the clock and the lead in hand, Pat Shurmur and the Colorado football offense passed on first down. The pass went incomplete to stop the clock. While the media focuses on the players and head coach, there's enough criticism going around that some will fall at Shurmur's feet.
Shedeur Sanders noted after the game that he could have handled some of the game's disappointments better.
“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.”
After Sanders felt every bump in the road during the team's win, his father Deion showed his appreciation to the Colorado football fan base.
“We would like to thank you, we appreciate you for backing us again,” Sanders said to the delight of the thunderous fan base, via the squad's official X account. “We love you, we want all of you to go home and be safe. Miss Peggy, I love you. {we're} one step closer to getting you to that bowl game. God bless you.”
Travis Hunter may be under the most pressure of all. The two-way player is making it look easy on both sides of the ball. Hauling in three touchdown receptions is no small feat, even against an FBS team like NDSU.
The stakes get much higher in Week 2. The Buffaloes travel to Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers on Saturday, September 7 at 7:30 p.m. EST.
