Looking back at CU Buffs’ win vs. Nebraska – Boulder Daily Camera

Look at the numbers and it’s easy to come to the conclusion that Shedeur Sanders is a good quarterback.

The Colorado junior is at or near the top of the Heisman Trophy race early in the season because of his impressive numbers.

Through two games, Sanders has completed 69 of 89 passes (77.5%) for 903 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. His 451.5 yards per game leads the country.

Prior to transferring to CU last winter, Sanders threw for 6,963 yards, 70  touchdowns and only 14 interceptions in two seasons at Jackson State.

Why are the numbers so good for Sanders? Clearly he has exceptional physical talent, but it’s the mental part of Sanders’ game  that continues to impress.

In this first edition of the 2023 Rewind, we look at Sanders’ mental approach to the game, as well as …

• Best of the Buffs vs. Nebraska

• Notes and quotes

Slicing through the Huskers

Sanders was masterful in leading the Buffaloes to a 45-42 upset of TCU in the Sept. 2, and he wound up with an impressive stat line in Saturday’s 36-14 win against Nebraska: 31-of-42 for 393 yards, two touchdowns.

Through most of the first half of Saturday’s 36-14 win against Nebraska, though, Sanders wasn’t very sharp.

With 4 minutes left in the first half, CU led 3-0 and the only points they got were gifted to the offense by the defense scooping up a Huskers’ fumble. At that point, Sanders was 9-of-16 for 55 yards and he had been sacked four times.

I asked Sanders after the game about the slow start. Quite often, you’ll hear an athlete say they just had to settle in, but Sanders gave a detailed response as to why he had to settle in.

“Really just getting back to the basics because they played Minnesota last week, so it was straight run the ball the whole game formation,” he said, referring to the run-heavy offense that Nebraska had faced the week before. “It was really hard, I would say, to study the tape to get intimate and know their tells and what they’re gonna do.”

Facing the pass-heavy offense of the Buffs, Nebraska gave Sanders some looks he didn’t get a chance to see on film leading up to the game. What’s impressive about his game, though, is the quick recognition and the ability to adjust.

With 2:35 to go in the second quarter, Sanders found Tar’Varish Dawson wide open for a 30-yard touchdown pass. From there, he settled in. After his slow start, Sanders completed 22 of his last 26 passes for 338 yards and two touchdowns. One of those incompletions was a throwaway to avoid a sack.

His mature analysis of facing the challenge gave us some more insight into his football mind and why he’s likely to be a high draft pick whenever he decides to go to the NFL.

“I truly appreciate going through this (Nebraska) game, going through this with my team so we know how to respond when adversity hits,” he said. “Last week (at TCU), it was back and forth, back and forth. But this week, OK, the defense stepped up, offense was really slacking. But it was a good defense we played, though. I liked the (Nebraska) scheme. It made it tough on us, but I’m just happy I was able to face it so that next time going against it, I’ll be good.”

Keep in mind, Sanders is playing in his third different offense in three seasons of college football. And, he’s now got just two games under his belt with offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Sean Lewis.

Nebraska could wind up being a bowl team, but it’s not an elite team. Sanders and the Buffs will face more difficult challenges, including Sept. 23 at No. 13 Oregon and Sept. 30 at home against No. 5 USC.

How Sanders responded to the Nebraska challenge, however, should give CU fans confidence that he won’t be fazed by what’s ahead. In fact, he’ll embrace it, love learning from it and, likely, get better from it.

Even Sanders’ father and CU head coach Deion Sanders has been impressed with the football IQ his son possesses.

“I used to question him all the time, especially coming up in high school and coaching him because I was calling plays for him,” Coach Prime said. “But then when I watched the film, I understand what he’s saying. So I’ve learned to not be too quick to judge him when I don’t see the full picture because he tells me what’s transpiring.”

Best of the Buffs

Sanders was one of several Buffs who stood out against the Cornhuskers. My take on the top Buffs from the big win:

DE Taijh Alston: He was a monster up front, with three tackles and 1.5 sacks.

LT Gerad Christian-Lichtenhan: He was named the Pac-12 offensive lineman of the week. Pro Football Focus had him as CU’s second-highest graded player on offense (behind Sanders).

CB Omarion Cooper: Strong start to the season continued for Cooper, who had six tackles and didn’t give up any big plays.

WR Tar’Varish Dawson: We haven’t heard his name much since he got to CU, but the speedy Auburn transfer caught three passes for 41 yards and a touchdown and also ran for a score.

DE Jordan Domineck: Arguably CU’s best defender of the day, he had four tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.

K Jace Feely: Was never asked to kick a long field goal, but he was 3-for-3 (from 31, 32 and 30 yards), 3-for-3 on extra points, and he put all six of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks.

CB/WR Travis Hunter: By Hunter standards, it was a quiet day, but he caught three passes for 73 yards on offense and posted four tackles and a pass breakup on defense.

DL Leonard Payne: Had just one tackle, including half of a tackle for loss, but he was better than those numbers show. He had a couple of quarterback pressures, as well.

QB Shedeur Sanders: With 393 passing yards and three total touchdowns (two passing, one rushing), he’s an easy one to have on this list.

S Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig: After playing sparingly against TCU, he got the start against Nebraska and finished with three tackles and an interception that set up the first CU touchdown.

P Mark Vassett: Averaged just 38.2 yards per punt, but he placed two of his four punts inside the 20-yard line.

WR Xavier Weaver: He’s proving to be an NFL-type talent and he had a big day against Nebraska, with 10 catches for 170 yards and a touchdown.

Notes and quotes

• Shedeur Sanders said the game became more personal to him when Nebraska players met on the Buffalo logo at midfield before the game. And, he didn’t like comments that NU head coach Matt Rhule said over the summer that were perceived to be slights at Coach Prime. Shedeur went over to the Nebraska huddle to disrupt it a bit and defend his father. Coach Prime said after the game, “To take the onus on himself when someone talks about me, that’s how he grew up. Someone talked about my kids, I handled it. That’s the expectation of a father – not a baby daddy, the father. I’m a real father and I take pride in that. And I try to teach my sons the same but overall as a coach and as a father I’m truly proud of all three of my sons and what they contribute on a daily basis.”

• Travis Hunter was once again very active in playing both sides of the ball. Asked what he would say to critics of Hunter’s workload, Coach Prime said, “Well, you got to understand everybody who’s critical of that in saying he’s gonna tire and he’s gonna do that, shoot, they can’t cook and answer the phone at the same time. So, I don’t subscribe to that foolishness because that’s who Travis is. Travis, he’s special.”

• At one point, CU was near the goal line and used two defensive linemen – Bishop Thomas and Shane Cokes – as blockers for two plays. On the first one, Thomas ran into the end zone with his hand up, as if he was looking to get a pass. “They’re better blockers than the offensive guys that we had doing it because they’re grinders,” Coach Prime said. “They’re defensive tackles so they know how to get low, they drive and, shoot, they were better, so I said put them in there. The formation that we use them in, is called Rick Ross, so when they say, ‘Rick Ross,’ they’re ready. That’s what we do. I was hoping Bishop caught the touchdown pass. I’m pretty sure we would have got a penalty, but I just wanted to see it.”

• After Shedeur Sanders scored a rushing touchdown late in the game, he did a dance that was reminiscent of what his father did during his NFL career. The two gave Shedeur’s dancing very different ratings. “I give it a 10 out of 10,” Shedeur said. “I really think I did better than him honestly.” Coach Prime said, “It was horrible. He don’t kick the feet up. He don’t want it. Shedeur’s not a dancer. I can’t dance either. The only dancer in our family is Bossy, my daughter (Shelomi). She’s the only one that really has rhythm. The rest of us we didn’t get that. The Lord passed us when it came to dancing.”

• Two weeks into the season, Colorado is one of only 11 teams in the country to have played two Power 5 opponents. Only three Power 5 teams (also Utah and Nebraska) have done it. The Buffs and Utes are currently the only teams with two wins against Power 5 opponents.