FORT WORTH, Texas — There was hype, there was anticipation, and there were question marks. After the Buffs took the field Saturday morning, those question marks have turned into exclamation points. In a back-and-forth match to the end, it was a matter of inches deciding the game as the Buffs got a fourth down stop they needed to close out the game.
“We were preaching one stop, just one stop. Just one darn stop, it’s all we were preaching,” Deion Sanders said after the game.
It was an explosive offensive performance from a new herd of Buffaloes, but there were some troubles on the defensive side of the ball as well as on special teams.
In the end, the Buffs would go on to upset Texas Christian University by a score of 45–42.
Here are some of the biggest takeaways from the action in Fort Worth, both positive and negative.
Biggest Takeaways:
Travis Hunter: To put it simply, Travis Hunter is good at football. In fact, he is probably the best player to ever wear the Colorado black and gold.
“Travis is him,” is how Coach Prime put it.
Playing on both sides of the ball, Hunter made his impact in his first Power Five game, cementing himself as a legitimate Heisman favorite. On offense, he had 10 catches for 107 yards and was a lockdown defender on defense, allowing one catch and picking up his first interception of the season. The craziest part of it all is that there seems to be a whole other level that wasn’t even reached yet by Hunter. A couple of dropped passes and a touchdown that was overturned previewed the heights Hunter may reach. Travis Hunter will be a fan-favorite in Boulder and possibly all over the country (unless facing him that week).
2. Shedeur Sanders: Any claims of nepotism have been erased as Sanders shined in his Colorado debut. Throwing for over 500 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions, Sanders showed poise, good decision-making, and an ability to make plays happen with his legs. His deep ball accuracy was impeccable. He’s not the quarterback because his dad is the coach and he proved that today.
“Everything [Deion’s] saying, I’m going to back it up,” Shedeur Sanders said after the game.
3. Dylan Edwards: A true freshman scoring four touchdowns in his first career game is rather unheard of. Edwards reeled in five catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns along with six rushes and another touchdown on the ground. Even after fumbling in the first half, it didn’t affect Edwards as he continued his monster day.
Biggest Concerns:
1. Well, it’s never great to allow 42 points in a game. It was a hot day in Fort Worth, and a lot of action may have factored into some fatigue, a potential reason for the high-scoring game. If it happens again, it will become more of a concern.
2. The defensive line: The Buffs didn’t generate much pressure on Chandler Morris. They tallied zero sacks, but they did come up big on the final drive, forcing Morris to throw the ball away, eventually leading to the turnover-on-downs that sealed the game.
3. Discipline: The last slight worry was some of the fouls that the team committed down the stretch of the game. The one that was glaring more than any other was a roughing the passer call in a third and long situation that resulted in an automatic TCU first down. There was also a string of false starts late in the game that kept pushing Colorado in the wrong direction on the field. Ultimately in the win, these mistakes turned out to not be costly. But it is certainly something that a fanbase may want to be cleaned up in the future.
Either way, if you are a Buffs fan you have to be excited for the future of the program. It’s a new era in Boulder and it has only just begun.
Down goes №. 17 TCU.
Next week, Prime Time will be showcased at home as the 1–0 Buffs take on the rival Nebraska Cornhuskers at Folsom Field on Saturday, September 9.
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