Colorado has undeniable talent, but a lot to prove still
-
Kyle Bonagura, ESPN Staff Writer
BOULDER, Colo. — Minutes after North Dakota State’s potential game-winning Hail Mary pass left the Bison 4 yards shy of a Thursday night, prime-time upset, Colorado coach Deion Sanders strolled into the postgame news conference more relieved than anything else.
“You ever felt like you won, but you didn’t win?” Sanders asked.
He was summing up his feelings in the moment, but he could have been speaking for all Buffaloes fans who left not-quite-sold-out Folsom Field having watched a version of their team that looked a lot like the disappointing one from a year ago. Colorado did a lot of good things in its 31-26 win, but it wasn’t the type of comprehensive performance against a lower-division team that will inspire fresh optimism about a significant step forward to come this season.
Quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter looked every bit like the potential top-5 NFL draft picks their coach expects them to be. Sanders completed 26 of 34 passes for 445 yards and three of his four touchdown passes were to Hunter, who represented an unfair mismatch for NDSU’s secondary. He finished with seven catches for 132 yards.
“I think 31 NFL scouts came tonight and I think they saw what they came to see. So, let’s move on from there,” Deion Sanders said. “I’m going to try my best to hold back my anger, but we got the W.”
The more Sanders talked, the more positive he was about the team’s performance, but it still stood in stark contrast to last year’s season-opening win against TCU after which Sanders famously proclaimed, “Do you believe now?”
After that game, Sanders had people convinced the Buffaloes could compete for a conference title. A year later, it seems foolish to use the first game of the season to provide a great sense of what’s to come.
Early last month at Big 12 media day in Las Vegas, Sanders was asked about his expectations for the season. It was a standard offseason type of question to kick off an interview. And after a last-place finish in the Pac-12 last season, it would have been reasonable for Sanders to be measured in his response or to lean into any number of coaching standbys that don’t invite additional external scrutiny.
Instead, Sanders dismissed the notion the Buffaloes didn’t belong in the same breath as the conference favorites.
“I’d be an idiot to sit over here and not tell you we plan on winning,” he told ESPN. “I don’t know who sits down and says they don’t plan on winning. You got to be an idiot to say that.”
Winning a national title? Winning the Big 12? Winning more games than they lose? He stopped short of providing specifics, but this was not a man who was open to the idea the Buffs’ 4-8 finish from a year ago was grounds for the idea they would be competitively irrelevant again in 2024.
2:42
Travis Hunter after 3-TD game: I have a lot of confidence in myself
Colorado star Travis Hunter joins Scott Van Pelt to discuss his huge game against North Dakota State.
One of the main reasons he cited for why winning was the expectation was a revamped offensive line. Aside from center Hank Zilinskas, who started two games last season, the other linemen made their debuts against NDSU — and they finished with mixed reviews. Although Sanders was sacked only once, he was consistently put under pressure and the line failed to open consistent lanes in the run game. Colorado finished with a measly 59 yards rushing on 23 carries (2.6 yards per carry).
“You would love to run the ball a little more but shoot, when you have [504 yards] of total offense, I’m pretty good,” Sanders said. “I’m going to sleep good. Really good. Really good tonight with that. So, I’m cool with that. We would like to see a little more balance, but what is balance? Balance is wins.”
Shedeur Sanders also hinted his offensive line might have had something extra to play for.
“The O-line had an incentive. That’s it. They had a great incentive,” he said. “So, they definitely did what they were supposed to do today. So now I feel good.”
Sanders wasn’t without his mistakes. Namely when it came to game management.
After NDSU scored to make it 31-26, Colorado converted a first down at its 42-yard line that left 1 minute, 41 seconds on the clock. The Bison had one timeout left, which meant if the Buffs ran three straight running plays, they could have wound the clock down inside 10 seconds to go before punting on fourth down, which might have ended the game.
Instead, Sanders checked to a pass play on first down and took a deep shot that fell incomplete, functioning as an extra timeout for NDSU.
“Cover zero. Cover zero and we have the best receiver room in the nation, so it’s kind of disrespectful,” Sanders said when he explained his decision to throw.
When NDSU took over at its 8-yard line, it had 31 seconds left, which were almost enough to pull off a last-ditch miracle. NDSU’s Hail Mary was caught at the Colorado 4-yard line.
“It was something I definitely would learn from,” Sanders said. “So that’s why I’m happy. Everything in my life — I always was able to learn from it. So, there are not too many mistakes you’re going to see I made twice. That’s just something I’m going to learn, understand that even if it looks super tempting … you just got to go with [running the ball in that situation].”
In the end, it didn’t matter. Colorado got the win, even if it didn’t feel like one.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Chase Elliott somehow stole Sunday’s race at Kansas Speedway, where he drove from eighth to the checkered flag during a two-lap overtime sprint to earn a spot in the third round of NASCAR’s playoffs.
It was a wild ending to a race that probably should have been won by Denny Hamlin, who dominated and led 159 laps until a bevy of late issues denied him his chance at career win No. 60 for Joe Gibbs Racing.
The race had a slew of late cautions — Hamlin dropped from the lead to seventh on a slow pit stop — that put Bubba Wallace in position to win the race. A red-flag stoppage for Zane Smith flipping his car set up the final overtime restart and Wallace was holding tight in a door-to-door battle with Christopher Bell for the victory.
Then Hamlin came from nowhere to catch Wallace, who drives for the team Hamlin co-owns with Michael Jordan, and Wallace scraped the wall as he tried to hold off his boss. That’s when Elliott suddenly entered the frame and smashed Hamlin in the door to get past him for his second win of the season.
“What a crazy finish. Hope you all enjoyed that. I certainly did,” NASCAR’s most popular driver told the crowd after collecting the checkered flag.
Elliott joins Ryan Blaney as the two drivers locked into the third round of the playoffs. The field will be cut from 12 drivers to eight after next week’s race in Concord, North Carolina and Elliott said once he got in position for the victory, he wasn’t giving up.
“I wasn’t going to lift, so I didn’t know what was going to happen. I figured at the end of the day, it was what it was at that point,” Elliott said. “Wherever I ended up, I ended up. At that point, we were all committed. Really cool just to be eighth on the restart and somehow win on a green-and-white checkered. Pretty neat.”
Hamlin finished second and was clearly dejected by the defeat. The three-time Daytona 500 winner is considered the greatest driver to never win a Cup title and needed the victory to lock up his spot in the next round of the playoffs. He also has a 60th Cup win set as a major career goal and is stuck on 59 victories.
He drove the final 50-plus laps with his power steering on the fritz.
“Just super disappointing. I wanted it bad. It would have been 60 for me,” Hamlin said. “Obviously got really, really tight with [Wallace], and it just got real tight and we let [Elliott] win.
“Man, I wanted it for my dad. I wanted it for everybody. Just wanted it a little too hard.”
Hamlin was followed his JGR teammates Bell and Chase Briscoe, who were third and fourth.
Wallace wound up fifth and even though the victory would have moved him deeper into the playoffs than he’s ever been in his career, he was satisfied considering how poorly his car was running earlier in the race. He wasn’t even upset with Hamlin, and he shook hands with his boss on pit road.
“To even have a shot at the win with the way we started … you could have fooled me. We were not good,” Wallace said. “Two years ago I’d probably say something dumb [about Hamlin]. He’s a dumbass for that move. I don’t care if he’s my boss or not. But we’re going for the win. I hate that we gave it to Chevrolet there.”
Elliott, in a Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, was the only non-Toyota driver in the top five.
Next up is a playoff elimination race at the hybrid oval/road course at Charlotte Motor Speedway, where Kyle Larson won a year ago. The playoff field will be cut from 12 drivers to eight following next Sunday’s race.
The four drivers in danger of playoff elimination headed into that race are Ross Chastain, Austin Cindric, Reddick and Wallace.
“Obviously there’s only one thing we can do at Charlotte (win), and that’s what we’ll be focused on,” Reddick said.
Rodney Childers, who guided Kevin Harvick to the 2014 Cup Series championship, has finally landed a new job after he was let go as crew chief at Spire Motorsports in April.
Childers will be the crew chief at JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series for the No. 1 Chevrolet, which will be split between Carson Kvapil and Connor Zilisch. It will be Childers’ first time as an Xfinity Series crew chief.
“Rodney’s résumé and career speak for themselves,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., co-owner of JR Motorsports. “Rodney and I grew up together and have known each other since we were kids. That’s a relationship that has always been close and has remained close to this day. We’ve always had interest in working together in motorsports, and I’m thankful that this opportunity came about and we could bring him into the JRM family.”
Childers worked with Justin Haley at Spire, but the team parted ways with him when both driver and crew chief said the relationship wasn’t working.
Childers won 40 races and a Cup title at Stewart-Haas Racing with Harvick then worked with Josh Berry in 2024 when Harvick retired. That was the final year Stewart-Haas Racing existed.
Also on Saturday, NASCAR confirmed it has parted ways with race director Jusan Hamilton with six races remaining in the season. He is no longer listed as an employee at NASCAR, where his official title was managing director for competition operations.
Hamilton first joined NASCAR as an intern in 2012 and returned in 2016 under various roles. He oversaw NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, pit crew development and the pro iRacing NASCAR divisions as well as serving as a race director.
Hamilton was instrumental in setting both the annual schedule and the schedule for each race weekend. His first event as race director was in 2018 at Pocono Raceway. In 2022, Hamilton became the first Black race director to officiate the Daytona 500.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Sports3 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment12 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024