Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter Generate Heisman Hype in First CU Football Game of 2024

Before the 2024 season started, University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders told 99-year-old CU superfan Peggy Coppom that the team will go to a bowl game this year.

But even with that ringing endorsement, Coppom isn’t counting her chickens before they hatch. She’s looking forward to more wins and fewer losses this season, but she wasn’t ready to say how good the team will be before she walked into Folsom Field on August 29.

“I'm going to go and find out,” she told Westword when asked how she thinks the Buffaloes will perform this year. “I wouldn't even try to answer that, but I hope that they do much, much better than the previous year.”

After stepping onto the field wearing newly designed uniforms for the first time in almost a decade, CU took the first step toward a winning record in 2024 by beating North Dakota State University last night, 31-26.

In 2023, CU finished 4-8. Despite the losing record last year, the Buffs were favored to beat NDSU, a Football Bowl Subdivision team, by over a touchdown.

Sanders wasn’t happy after the win, saying one of his few positives is getting one step closer to delivering on his promise to Coppom.

“You ever feel like you won but you didn’t win?” Sanders said at his post-game press conference.

The coach was upset his team didn’t win decisively, saying the Buffaloes have a lot to work on if they want to reach their goals for 2024.
In the first half, CU's defense seemed to be lacking as it was in 2023, leading many fans online to worry that essential improvements weren't made. But Sanders, aware of NDSU's ability and prestigious history that includes nine lower Division I championships, reminded his team of their opponent's talent during halftime.

“Coach chewed us out at half time,” two-way star Travis Hunter told media. “We took them for fools. We didn't respect them enough to come out here and just play how we needed to play.”

In the second half, the defense gave up just one touchdown.

What was certain the entire game: quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Hunter are ballers. Sanders threw for 445 yards and four touchdowns, three of which Hunter caught.

“They got they own thing going,” Deion said of the pair. “I ain't mad at it, because it works.”

On top of his three touchdowns, Hunter finished with seven catches for 132 years, while fellow receiver Jimmy Horn Jr. had seven catches for 198 yards and a touchdown, including a 69-yard bomb from Sanders.

Before the game, longtime fan Kris Shuter said he though CU might not pull out all the stops and show everything they have against their first opponent, so fans are hopeful that what the duo showed tonight is just the beginning.

Dave Martus, a fan for forty years, is expecting to have plenty of fun this season. He says the team would end up 10-2
in his dreams, but, realistically, he’s shooting for 8-4.

“It's fun every year, but there's big improvement year over year,” Martus says. “Last year was a novelty. This year it’s like the state of Missouri: It’s show me time.”

Going bowling is a common theme among fans this year. CU last earned a spot in a bowl game during the protracted 2020 football season. The last time the team went to a bowl game in a full season was in 2016. Before that, CU fans had waited since 2007.

Another improvement Shuter hoped to see: offensive line.

“If they could just drop the number of sacks from, like, 56 to 28, which is very normal, average for college, I think it would be a phenomenal improvement,” Shuter says.

So far, so good. Though the pocket wasn’t always secure for Sanders, he was only sacked once. Last season, Sanders was sacked 52 times.

Famous athletes are still supporting the Buffaloes. Hall of Fame wide receiver Terrell Owens was on the field with CU staff before the game, and LeBron James and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes both praised Hunter and Sanders online during the game. Both players have generated hype to win the Heisman trophy, awarded to the best player in college football each season.

Fans love their stars, but they know it takes a team to make a Heisman winner.

“You gotta win,” Shuter says. “I don't think there's many Heisman hopefuls that come from teams that have less than nine or ten wins.”

On the other hand, Sanders and Hunter both say wins are all they care about.

“No personal goals,” both reiterated.

Though Sanders has talked up the potential of both players to be top NFL draft picks, the coach says he isn't letting their performances overshadow the team as a whole, which still needs to improve.

“We wanted to win decisively,” he said. “If we didn’t give in on that last touchdown, we would have looked better.”