Shedeur Sanders as Colorado trails North Dakota State at halftime: 'We've got to score every drive'
Through the first half of the 2024 season, the Colorado offense – led by Shedeur Sanders – was firing on all cylinders. The Buffaloes put up 273 total yards at halftime against North Dakota State, but issues on defense led to a 20-17 deficit.
Sanders was one of the bright spots. He completed 12 of 15 passes for 254 yards and two touchdowns, including a 41-yarder to Travis Hunter on the first drive. Jimmy Horn Jr. had a monster half with 134 yards and a touchdown of his own.
Sanders led an impressive 2-minute drill to end the half, which resulted in a field goal to make it a three-point deficit. On his way to the locker room, he said he loves those situations, but also said it’s important to get points every time Colorado goes down the field.
“That’s my favorite time,” Sanders told ESPN’s Quint Kessenich. “But we just got to go out, keep drives. We’ve got to score every drive. That’s personally on me. … We’ve just got to finish. We just did our job.”
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One of the biggest keys to North Dakota State’s halftime lead was the time of possession. The Bison had the ball for 21:48 while Colorado was on offense for just 8:12. That could be key as NDSU wears down the Buffaloes defense, but Shedeur Sanders pointed out the importance of getting the job done on offense, as well.
He also noted North Dakota State threw some different looks at Colorado early. However, Sanders and the staff got together, and he said they’ll be better prepared out of the break.
“That’s a lot [of time of possession], but offensively, we just got to score each and every drive,” Sanders said. “One of the drives, they brought out some stuff we didn’t expect, so we’ve got our adjustments and we game planned. We fixed everything now.”
North Dakota State used a slow roll attack to churn clock in the first half and keep the Colorado defense on the field for most of the first two quarters. The Bison got an efficient showing from Cam Miller, who completed 10 of 13 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown, and also got 82 rushing yards. Miller led the way with 39 yards and a rushing touchdown.