Skip to content

Ad Disclosure

College Football

Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter on fire early in Colorado season opener

Sean Labar

By Sean Labar

Published:

Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter showed early on why their stars are so bright in Thursday’s opener for Colorado against North Dakota State.

The Bison went up 3-0 after a solid first drive and then gave the ball to the high-powered Buffaloes offense. After a few big chunks on the ground, Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders connected with wideout Travis Hunter for a 40-yard touchdown pass.

Sanders was perfect in his first drive of the season, completing all 4 of his pass attempts for 60 yards and the touchdown.

Both Sanders and Hunter are regarded by most NFL talent evaluators as first-round draft picks in next year’s NFL Draft and both have solid odds to win the Heisman Trophy in 2024.

Hunter — who has the rare duty of playing both starting cornerback and wide receiver for Colorado’s squad — had 721 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns before an injury ended his season early in 2023.

Sanders was one of the top quarterbacks in 2023 despite having one of the worst offensive lines in the country. He finished the year with 3,230 yards, 27 touchdowns, and just 3 interceptions a season ago.

While the Buffs’ defense let NDSU march up the field and answer Hunter’s touchdown with one of their own, making the score 10-7 in favor of the Bison with 3 minutes remaining in the first quarter, Colorado fans have to be encouraged about the explosive offense not missing a beat.

Before the first quarter came to an end, Sanders connected with Jimmy Horn Jr. on a 70-yard touchdown pass to give the Buffaloes a 14-10 lead heading into the second quarter.

Sanders closed out the first quarter a perfect 5-of-5 for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns.

But the Buffs are trading scores with NDSU on ESPN.

Sean Labar

Sean Labar is an SEC football contributor for Saturday Down South.

You might also like...

2025 RANKINGS

presented by rankings