Deion Sanders and Colorado Buffaloes narrowly avoid NDSU upset scare in season opener
By Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Head coach Deion Sanders and his Colorado Buffaloes narrowly avoided beginning the season with a surprise defeat as they came from behind to beat the North Dakota State (NDSU) Bison 31-26 on Thursday.
Colorado trailed 20-17 at halftime but scored 14 unanswered points in the second half to retake the lead.
But there was a dramatic finish at Boulder’s Folsom Field as, following NDSU quarterback Cam Miller’s 20-yard touchdown run with 2:19 left to play, the Bison got the ball back on their eight-yard line with 31 seconds left, trailing by five.
After getting the ball to midfield, NDSU attempted a Hail Mary attempt in the game’s closing seconds. Agonizingly for the visitors, however, the pass was completed four yards shy of the goal line meaning Colorado held on for the season-opening victory.
Despite the win – the team’s first since last October – Sanders said it wasn’t time for going over the top with celebrations.
“You ever felt like, you won but you didn’t win?” ‘Coach Prime’ said, per the Buffaloes website. “Giving up the last touchdown on the run, that bothered me, because we pride ourselves on going to get the quarterback, and we have multitude of young men that can go get the quarterback and we didn’t get that done.
“But I’m thankful. I think 31 NFL scouts were on hand tonight and I think they saw what they came to see. So let’s move on from there. I’m going to try my best to hold back my anger, but we got the W, so I’m happy.”
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was the star of the show on Thursday, throwing for 445 yards and four touchdowns against NDSU.
Three of those scores went to Travis Hunter, the team’s hybrid wide receiver and cornerback, who also finished with seven total catches and 132 yards. Jimmy Horn Jr. also caught seven passes for 198 yards and a touchdown.
After the victory, Sanders – who is the youngest son of the team’s head coach – paid tribute to his connection with Hunter, harking back to their days at Jackson State University together.
“Years and years and years of connections, years of talking about different things,” the 22-year-old said. “He plays defensive back, so he understands body position, he understands a lot of things a lot of receivers don’t understand.
“So that’s like the pro of having him out there. He gets out there and he handles his business. We’re just locked in mentally.”
Next up for Colorado, a trip to Lincoln’s Memorial Stadium to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, September 7.
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