Takeaways From Buffs' Season-Opening Victory Over NDSU
August 31, 2024 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — In retrospect, North Dakota State might have been the perfect opening opponent for the Colorado Buffaloes.
The visiting Bison gave the Buffs everything they wanted — and maybe a little more — Thursday night before CU finally walked off Folsom Field with a 31-26 victory.
NDSU tested the Buffaloes in every area. The Bison made CU's offense work for its points and they pushed the Buffs' defense to its limits. The Bison were physical in the trenches, played with discipline and didn't hurt their cause with too many unforced errors.
But in the end, the difference came at the skill positions, where Colorado's speed and talent proved to be too much for NDSU. Simply, the Bison didn't have an answer for Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders and WRs Travis Hunter and Jimmy Horn Jr.
Still, the game proved to be exactly the kind of test Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders' team needed in its opener. Colorado had to respond to adversity, had to come up with big plays when it mattered most — and maybe most importantly, the Buffs got a good look at the areas they spent an offseason working to improve.
Thus, our takeaways from CU's opening win.
1. Too early for Heisman talk? Nope. We'll go ahead and state the obvious: QB Sanders and Hunter should be on everyone's radar now.
Sanders was simply spectacular. While he was sacked just once, he was under pressure many more times and still managed to produce big plays. His numbers — 26-for-34, 445 yards and four touchdowns — were outstanding, and his one interception was a fluke play.
Hunter, meanwhile, continued to taunt reality. He played 129 snaps — 57 offense, 72 defense — and was terrific on both sides. He finished with seven catches for 132 yards and three scores on offense, and had an excellent night on defense as well.
When the ball comes Hunter's way, he catches it. Doesn't matter if it's slightly underthrown or overthrown. Doesn't matter if he has to change directions in a split second. Doesn't matter if a defender is literally draped all over him.
As Coach Prime said, "There ain't no 50-50 ball with Travis. If the ball is up close, it's his ball."
As for the trophy that is annually presented to the best player in college ball, both should be candidates, and it won't be the first time CU has had a pair of legitimate contenders. When the 1994 season began, Colorado's Rashaan Salaam, Kordell Stewart and Michael Westbrook were all considered as possible candidates. It wasn't until midway through the season that Salaam separated himself from the pack and then put up the stats down the stretch that would make him the winner.
2. Questions about the running game are still unanswered. On paper, CU's rushing attack was less than impressive: 23 attempts for 59 yards, a mere 2.9 yards per carry.
Perhaps most stark was CU's attempt to convert a fourth-and-1 in the first half. The Buffs were stuffed and the turnover on downs resulted in an NDSU field goal.
But there were some bright spots. Newcomer Dallan Hayden showed some power inside and Charlie Offerdahl had a big 5-yard gain on third down to keep CU's decisive 80-yard scoring drive alive in the fourth quarter.
Coach Prime didn't seem to be too worried about CU's lack of a rushing attack. As he noted, "We would like to see a little more balance. But what is balance? Balance is wins, really. That's what balance is."
Still, no matter how good Shedeur and Co. prove to be, the Buffs are going to face situations where they absolutely have to run the ball with authority. The guess here is they will keep working on their game and it will improve.
3. O-line is improved. Yes, QB Sanders did find himself under pressure on several occasions. He did have to extend plays with his legs and he did take some big hits after releasing the ball.
But CU yielded only one sack all night, the fewest in the Coach Prime era. The Buffs' offensive linemen actually graded out fairly well according to Pro Football Focus, and it's worth remembering that this was the first game for the starting five playing together (the same five played every offensive snap).
The line will also need to get more physical in short-yardage situations. That missed fourth down conversion came because the Buffs didn't get enough push off the snap, another issue Coach Prime brought up in his postgame press conference.
"We got to get that," he said. "We got to convert that. That's kind of putting your stamp on it. We got to be physical."
Continuity comes with experience, and there's no reason to think they won't continue to improve as the season progresses.
4. Unforced errors were kept to a minimum. Early on, it looked like the penalty bug might be a problem for the Buffs. A couple of early flags were costly, including one that kept an NDSU scoring drive alive.
But Colorado finished with just three penalties for 30 yards and none in the second half. Those are numbers just about any coach will take for a game.
One other area of concern arose when CU's offense came dangerously close to absorbing a couple of delay of game penalties, forcing the Buffs to use timeouts they would have rather saved.
"I'm just reminding him about the clock," Coach Prime said of a conversation with his quarterback. "You see that big thing up there? That's a clock. Those numbers up there, running down like that? That's for you, OK? Look at that so I don't have to burn these timeouts."
Coach Prime also had a talk with his QB about throwing deep late in the game when the Buffs should have been keeping the ball on the ground and running the clock out. As it turned out, no damage, but that's not a gamble CU wants to repeat in another critical situation.
We're guessing the messages will be received loud and clear.
5. Buffs showed they can respond to adversity. Colorado had every reason to be concerned at the half. CU trailed 20-17 at the break and the Bison had outplayed the Buffs in many areas.
But nobody on the Colorado sideline blinked. Instead, the Buffs responded with a long drive to open the second half — and after it ended with a freak interception, they simply came back again and scored touchdowns on their next two possessions to take control.
That's the kind of calm, cool-headed response they'll need on a regular basis and it didn't hurt to face those kinds of situations in the opener.
6. CU's depth has dramatically improved. When the Buffs lost a starting safety early, backup Savion Riley stepped in and played well.
Meanwhile, six different defensive linemen/edge rushers played at least 10 snaps, keeping fresh legs in the game — a huge factor after the NDSU offense had more than 21 minutes of possession time in the first half. The Buffs could have been tired in the second half, but their depth helped negate the issue. (The offense's killer 17-play, 8-minute scoring drive in the third and fourth quarters also didn't hurt).
Speaking of the defensive line, newcomer Chidozie Nwankwo is a beast in the trenches. Nwankwo had the highest overall PFF grade of any CU defender and had one of the Buffs' two sacks with LaVonta Bentley collecting the other.
7. Run defense getting better, but … There's room for improvement here, especially in containing the edges. One play that raised Coach Prime's hackles came late in the game when NDSU quarterback Cam Miller bounced around the left side for a 20-yard touchdown to bring the Bison within striking distance.
"That bothered me, because we pride ourselves on going to get the quarterback," he said. "We have a multitude of young men that can go get the quarterback and we didn't get that done."
Still, CU kept the Bison's running backs in check for the most part — Miller was their leading rusher — and the Buffs were particularly tough on the interior. Colorado coaches will no doubt aim to improve the overall run defense but the pieces are there.
8. Explosive plays a factor. Colorado's offense proved to be dynamic in this area, recording nine plays of 15 yards or more that included touchdown passes covering 41 and 69 yards, plus two more completions of 25 yards. Those are the kind of momentum-shifting plays that can demoralize an opponent.
Defensively, CU gave up eight explosive plays — four in each half. One of NDSU's big plays came on the final play of the game when a Hail Mary attempt yielded 49 yards but came up 4 yards short of the end zone.
9. Quick hits. According to PFF, Colorado used a tight end on 14 snaps — 13 with Sav'ell Smalls and one with Sam Hart. Tight ends did not catch a pass … True freshman Drelon Miller appears to have a role thanks to his versatility. The 6-1, 195-pound receiver lined up for 12 snaps and finished with two catches for 7 yards and two rushes for 7 yards … Colorado's defensive adjustments at halftime were critical as coordinator Robert Livingston eliminated NDSU's tight end threat. Joe Stoffel had three catches for 31 yards, including a touchdown, in the first half but was blanked after the break … CU's red zone defense gave up five scores but two were field goals, a big difference in the end … The Buffs lost the takeaway battle, giving it up once and not recording a defensive takeaway … Buffs running backs proved to be a solid part of the passing game. Offerdahl had an excellent game in pass protection and had two catches for 13 yards while Hayden had a big 14-yard reception.
10. The Buffs learned plenty and still picked up a 'W.' We'll re-emphasize what we stated earlier. This game had the best of both worlds. The Buffs were tested in plenty of areas, had to overcome adversity and earned a victory.
That's about all you can ask for from an opener. Now they have a week to improve the areas that need attention and get ready for a trip to Lincoln, Neb., and a matchup with their old friends, the Huskers.
