Heather Dinich: Colorado 'not ready to compete with better teams' after close win vs. NDSU

While Colorado was able to stave off an upset attempt from North Dakota State on Thursday evening, ESPN’s Heather Dinich believes it proved they aren’t ready to compete with stiffer competition.

With their move to the Big 12 Conference meaning they’ll have to face teams like Kansas State, Arizona and Utah in 2024, along with their clash with Nebraska next weekend, the Buffaloes will have to be at their best week-in and week-out. After seeing their performance against the Bison, Dinich predicted Deion Sanders and company are in for a long season.

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“It told us that Colorado is not ready to compete with better teams,” Dinich claimed. “They were fortunate and exhaled. They got a win against a nine-time FCS champion. We can talk all day about Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. They are outstanding, fantastic, fun to watch, but if they don’t get better up front, on both sides of the ball, they’re not going to win a lot of football games this year, and Deion Sanders knows that.

“They are going to be better at some point in his career, this year is probably not the year it’s going to reflect that. It’s going to take more than Hunter and Sanders.”

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It’s easy to see where Dinich is coming from. While Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter are phenomenal talents and helped lead Colorado to victory against North Dakota State, it’s the same story from 2023 — the exhilarating duo can’t carry the entire team to victory against opponents every single week, especially when the competition ramps up. It’s simply an unsustainable strategy.

There’s a chance Colorado is able to improve their offensive and defensive lines throughout the season, but it certainly didn’t workout that way last year. Will that change in 2024? It remains to be seen, but Thursday’s game wasn’t a good indicator for that hope.

As it stands, it seems as if Heather Dinich is spot on, Colorado will once again be one of the more entertaining teams in the country to watch and follow, but it won’t always translate to wins. Still, don’t count out the combination of Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter against anyone, as North Dakota State found that out the hard way in Week 1.