Colorado-North Dakota State Notes

West Virginia

Nov 8 (Sat)

10 a.m.

Leaders: DL Shane Cokes, RB Charlie Offerdahl, QB Shedeur Sanders, S Shilo Sanders, P Mark Vassett
Dawgs: ATH Travis Hunter

Game-Changing Drive
The Colorado drive that spanned the end of the third quarter through half of the fourth quarter was 17 plays for 80 yards and took 8:10 off the clock. In contrast, the Buffs ran 23 plays and had 8:12 of possession in the first half. It was the longest drive by plays since the Oregon game in 2021 and the longest by time of possession since the Arizona game in 2018.

Participation

CU started five wide receivers for the first time in school history.

Freshmen Starters
CU started two true freshmen on offense in a season opener for the first time in CU history (data back to 1980) with Jordan Seaton and Drelon Miller getting the nod, and this is the fourth time in that span CU started two true freshmen at any position along with 1980, 2012 and 2014 seasons.

Jordan Seaton is the first true freshman to start at tackle in a season opener in CU history. In the Big 12, the last true freshman tackle to start a season opener was Texas’ Kelvin Banks in 2022. Utah’s Spencer Fano also did so last year.

Player Notes

Shedeur Sanders - 26-34 , 445 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT, 219.4 QBR
Shedeur Sanders had a streak of 127 passes without an interception entering the 2024 season, and he extended that by 18 to 145 and the third-longest streak in CU history before being picked off in the third quarter off a pass that ricocheted off a defender's leg. The school record is 172 by Steven Montez over nine games in 2017 and Sefo Liufau is second with 152 over nine games from 2015-16.

Sanders had his fourth career 400-yard passing game, his third at CU, and the 445 yards is the second most in his career behind a CU record 510-yard performance in last year’s season opener at CU.

Sanders is just the second QB in the FBS to throw for 400-plus yards and 4 touchdowns in back-to-back season openers along with Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes was 33-of-53 for 425 yards and 4 touchdowns against Sam Houston (9/15/15) and 30-of-43 for 483 yards and 4 touchdowns against Stephen F. Austin (9/3/16). Sanders was 38-of-47 for 510 yards and 4 touchdowns last season against TCU.

With his 445-yard performance, Sanders now has three 400-yard games at CU (and four in his career counting Jackson State), and breaks a tie with Joel Klatt for most 400-yard games and sits second behind Koy Detmer, who had five in his career.

It was his sixth 300-yard game in his CU career (15th in his career) and he is now tied with Klatt for fourth on that list behind Steven Montez (13), Sefo Liufau (11) and Detmer (7).

Jimmy Horn Jr. - 7 receptions, 198 yards, 1 TD, 28.3 YPC
Jimmy Horn Jr. was electrifying, catching 7 passes for 198 yards and 1 touchdown, which game on the game’s longest play, a 69-yard toss from Shedeur Sanders. It’s his second 100-yard game at CU and fifth in his career, and the second of his career over 150 yards, first at CU.

The 198 yards ranks tied for seventh most in a game in CU history and is the most since K.D. Nixon matched that total against Oregon State in 2018. It’s just the fourth game in CU history where a receiver averaged over 25 yards per catch and caught seven or more passes and ranks second on that list for more yards per catch. The other games are Rae Carruth vs. Missouri (11/2/96; 7-222-2, 31.7), Omarion Miller vs. USC (9/30/23; 7-196-1, 28.0) and Paul Richardson vs. California (9/10/11, 11-284-2, 25.8).

Travis Hunter - 7 receptions, 132 yards, 3 TDs, 3 Tackles, 131 Snaps
Travis Hunter had an incredible game on both sides of the ball, with 7 receptions for 132 yards and a CU record-tying 3 touchdown receptions on offense, three tackles while playing all 69 snaps on defense, and playing 131 snaps in all.

The 131 snaps is the third highest he’s played at Colorado and he now has the top six snap games in CU history. He played all 69 plays on defense and 55 of 57 on offense, missing one because his helmet came off after a miraculous third-down grab in the third quarter.

Each of his three touchdowns were highlight material, as his first he caught in the flat, made a defender miss, and streaked down the sidelines, his second an NFL worthy double toe touch in the back corner of the end zone, and his third while being clotheslined by the defender.

His 132 yards is the fourth 100-yard game of his career and the second-highest total yards of his career. His 3 touchdowns match the CU record accomplished six times previously.

In 69 defensive snaps and 33 coverage snaps (per PFF), he was targeted just twice in the game and did not give up a first down. In run support, he had two of his three tackles and one he burst and tackled the NDSU rusher for just a one-yard gain.

Drelon Miller - 2 catches, 7 yards, 2 rushes, 7 yards
Drelon Miller is the first wide receiver to start in a season opener in 10 years since Shay Fields did so in 2014. He is the third receiver since 1980 to start a season opener as a true freshman alongside Fields and Greg Thomas in 2012. He had the game’s first two touches, catching a pass from Shedeur Sanders in the first play from scrimmage and then getting a rush on the game’s second play.

Mark Vassett, 2 Punts, 40.0 Avg, 2 IN20, 1 IN10
Mark Vassett had just two punts and while he averaged just 40 yards per punt, both were from near midfield and he pinned NDSU inside its 20 both times and once inside the 10, including pinning the Bison and their eight yard line with just 31 seconds remaining. Both times CU punted, NDSU didn’t do much, punting after a five play drive in the second quarter and running the clock out in the fourth quarter.

Alejandro Mata, 1-of-1 FG, 4-of-4 PAT
Alejandro Mata was perfect in the game, hitting his only field goal attempt from 27 yards out as the clock expired in the first half and nailing all four of his PAT attempts.


Defensive Quick One-Liners

Trevor Woods led the team with 10 total tackles, surpassing 150 career tackles (152).

Shilo Sanders had nine tackles and now has 164 career tackles, including 79 at Colorado the past two seasons.

After converging on 4-of-5 third downs to open the game, NDSU converted just 2-of-7 for the remainder of the game.

In the third quarter, CU gave up just 44 yards of offense to NDSU.

The CU defense had seven tackles for loss, a number that was only reached twice in the 2023 season.

NFL Scouts
CU hosted 31 scouts from 18 NFL teams on Thursday, tied for the most in CU history along with the 2016 UCLA game when 31 scouts from 20 NFL teams were in attendance.

Colorado University Athletics