No Huddle Pt 5: Off To The Races
Colorado and Jax State recap + more from the night of action
(Colorado Buffaloes Football)
Colorado Finds A Way:
Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders reminded the world why they are widely regarded as two of the ten best players in all of college football last night. Sanders lit up the NDSU Bison defense with a 26/34 445 yards and four touchdown night. Travis Hunter, in my opinion, solidified his position as the best player in all of college football.Â
Hunter finished with three tackles on defense including a nice run stop in the alley. On offense, Hunter showcased his truly unique talent at wide receiver hauling in seven catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns. 18.9 yards per reception is mind-boggling for a player who’s projected as a top-half draft prospect at cornerback.Â
Lost in the Sanders and Hunter show, Jimmy Horn Jr racked up seven catches for 198 yards and a touchdown of his own. The offense looked explosive with limited possessions and while they still have work to do, the offensive line did a much better job protecting Sanders than we’ve seen in recent memory.Â
Five-star true freshman left tackle Jordan Seaton has some learning to do, but he looked every bit the prospect he was hyped to be coming out of high school. By season’s end, he could slowly develop into a lockdown player. They’ll have their work cut out for them against a solid Nebraska defense next.Â
Overall, NDSU is much better than bottom-half FBS programs and suffered just their second loss to FBS opposition in the last eight attempts. The two losses are by a combined eight points. In both games, they had the ball in the fourth quarter with a lead, or with a chance to take the lead.Â
While this NDSU team admittedly isn’t as good as some of the standout teams of the past, they’re still very good from top to bottom. QB Cam Miller had a whale of a performance putting up over 350 yards of total offense and three total touchdowns. He single-handedly elevated the Bison’s offense tonight and kept them in it.Â
As for the narrative war, look, you can’t have it both ways. Plenty of people picked the Bison to win. Most college football and even NFL fans know NDSU’s history. A win over that program even in today’s state is hard to come by. Especially for a season opener. It’s a respectable showing for NDSU and a respectable win for Colorado. Onward.
Jax State Stumbles:
(Jax State Football - Jax State Athletics)
It was a rough night, to say the least for the Jax State Gamecocks. Riding high off a 2023 campaign where they finished 9-4 and became the first program in FBS history to win a bowl game in their first season at FBS level, the Gamecocks looked to keep that momentum rolling into the 2024 season.
The Chanticleers of Coastal Carolina had other plans. Coastal raced out to a 31-10 halftime lead and never looked back on their way to a 55-27 victory. The Gamecocks gave up 298 yards alone in the first half. The night ended with the Gamecocks giving up 552 yards of total offense and 294 rushing yards. It was an uncharacteristic performance for Jax State Football from top to bottom.Â
On offense, the Gamecocks could never find a rhythm. Despite scoring a late first-half touchdown to cut the deficit to 21, the Gamecocks averaged only 58 seconds of possession per drive in the first half. The signature Rich Rod uptempo offense had a hard time gaining first downs and building momentum. The Gamecocks started Logan Smothers at QB but ultimately played Furman transfer Tyler Huff nearly equally.
1-10 on third down is the statistic that jumps out to me. Three turnovers, including two Huff interceptions, didn’t help, but it was the lack of third-down conversions that troubled the Gamecock offense most. It’s incredibly hard to establish any continuity or flow if you don’t have live reps. The Gamecocks were doubled in time of possession and when you’re not scoring points or converting first downs, that’s a kiss of death.
One player I wanted to highlight is Jax State Safety Zechariah Poyser. He finished the night with six tackles, one interception, one fumble recovery, and a pass breakup. In a less-than-stellar night for the Gamecocks overall, his play individually jumped out to me.Â
First-year defensive coordinator Luke Olson will have his hands full going back to the drawing board and looking for adjustments schematically. Coastal created far too many one-on-one situations for their playmakers and the Gamecock defense did not tackle well in space. There was no answer for the Coastal 12-personnel group that dominated the game.Â
Offensively, it’s going to be a challenge to find the right quarterback to lead the team. There are more questions than answers after tonight and the same goes for the playmakers on the outside at receiver. NFL prospect at tight end Sean Brown never touched the ball and that’s also a major head-scratcher. The standard has been set and the Gamecocks expect to meet it. Luckily, the season doesn’t end after one game.Â
Quick Notes:
(Utah TE Brant Kuithe (80) - Utah Football)
Utah veteran QB Cam Rising and TE Brant Kuithe both returned to action after missing last season for the Utes. Rising threw for five touchdowns on fifteen attempts and Kuithe caught three of those scores. Keep an eye on these two. The Utes should run the table in the BIG-12.
Arkansas QB Taylen Green effortlessly went for a 317 total yard, four touchdown night. The challenges will assuredly get tougher for the Razorbacks and Green, but it’s an encouraging start nonetheless.
UCF ran for 454 yards. Gus Malzahn is still a sick man.
Mack Brown took his North Carolina Tar Heels on the road and beat PJ Fleck’s Minnesota Gophers by a score of 19-17 in the most college football way possible. The old man still has it.Â
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