After an offseason that felt like forever, college football is finally back and today marks the first big slate of games of the season with nearly two dozen Thursday night games – including Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes. And you’d better believe that ESPN’s Paul Finebaum will be glued to his TV.
Colorado takes on FCS powerhouse North Dakota State in their season opener at Folsom Field in Boulder. NDSU have been a dominant force in the FCS for over a decade, winning nine FCS Championship titles since 2011.
But Finebaum isn’t convinced that NDSU will give the Buffaloes much trouble. Appearing on First Take, Finebaum said he expects “a really powerful performance” by the home team tonight.
Finebaum explained that, between Colorado having more experience under Sanders and NDSU not being the same team that used to win title after title, the Buffaloes should crush the Bison.
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“I expect a really powerful performance by Colorado, and it’s not because Deion said they’re going to do this or that,” Finebaum said, via On3 Sports. “I just think, second year, you overcome some things. Now they looked great, as we all know, at the beginning of last year, but I think this is a really, really great opportunity at home, at night, perfect atmosphere, against a good team. But this is not the Bison of a couple years ago, when they were owning their division, they’ve fallen off a little bit.”
But Finebaum made it clear that Colorado can’t afford to play with its food and let the game come down to the wire.
“So I think for Deion Sanders and Shedeur (the quarterback) and (WR/CB) Travis Hunter and the entire team, it’s just get out there, jump to a lead, put this team away,” Finebuam said. “Don’t let this game go down to the final couple of minutes. The flip side of this is there is a lot on the line.
“I don’t think that’s really the issue going in, but it could be the issue coming out if they don’t perform, if they make a lot of mistakes, and if that Colorado offensive line can’t protect Shedeur Sanders like they were unable to last year.”
Deion Sanders probably doesn’t need Paul Finebaum’s advice to win this game.
That said, a loss would be nothing short of devastating for the team’s early season confidence.
The game will be played at 8 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN.
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