The Colorado football team had a rollercoaster season last fall, winning three straight games to open the season and defeating a then-top-ranked TCU Horned Frogs team, 45-42. Colorado then went 1-2 in its Pac-12 opener, losing to top-ranked teams USC and Oregon before beating Arizona State on the road. But under first-year head coach Deion Sanders, the Buffaloes lost their final six games to finish 4-8 and miss out on bowl eligibility. Still, it was quarterback Shedul Sanders who was a consistent performer for much of the season.
Sanders, the son of Coach Prime and a transfer from Jackson State, made a big impact this season. Sanders finished the season as the nation’s leading passer with an impressive 3,230 yards and 27 touchdowns, but only three interceptions. Those numbers translated into a staggering 151.7 rating, the highest in the FBS last year. Heading into next season, it’s clear that Sanders is one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. However, despite his impressive performance, one national college football columnist believes Sanders’ play, and Colorado’s play, falls short of making him a Heisman Trophy candidate.
Shedell Sanders: Outside the top 10 Heisman candidates
On Friday, On3 Sports national college football columnist Jesse Simonton released his top 10 Heisman Trophy candidates for the 2024 season. Simonton’s list is quarterback-only, which is no surprise, as only four non-signal callers have won the award since 2000. Among Simonton’s nominees are some household names, including Texas Longhorns quarterback Quinn Ewers, Alabama’s Jalen Milroe and Georgia’s Carson Beck. The list also includes soon-to-be first-year starter Niko Iamareva of Tennessee and rising star Noah Fifita of Arizona. Notable absent, however, is Colorado football gunslinger Shedul Sanders.
Top 10 College Football Heisman Trophy Candidates Jessie Le Simonton🏆
Do you agree? 🤔https://t.co/JH4IRrdLk0 pic.twitter.com/ZbiSFFUh2H
— On3 (@On3sports) June 21, 2024
In his three collegiate seasons, Shedur Sanders has had a stellar stat line, throwing 97 touchdowns against 17 interceptions, along with 13 points on the ground. In his first year with the Colorado football team last year, the Jackson State transfer completed nearly 70% of his passes with 27 touchdowns and three interceptions, good for a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 9 to 1. But the Heisman Trophy is synonymous with a winning team, and Colorado fell short last season. For the ultra-efficient Sanders to be a Heisman contender, he’ll need to perform as well as he did last year while also increasing his win totals substantially.
Colorado football: Advance to Big 12 next fall
After 13 seasons in the Pac-12, Colorado’s football program will return to the Big 12, its home from 1948 to 2010. Colorado just won four games, a big improvement from a 1-11 season in 2022. Coach Deion Sanders has once again used the transfer portal to replenish his roster, the same tactic he used to build his team last season, his first with the Buffaloes. According to 247Sports, Colorado signed 42 transfer players this offseason. Additionally, Ourlads projects 11 transfer players, excluding five-star super prospect and offensive tackle Jordan Seaton, to be starters for Colorado next fall.
Colorado opens next season with a tough home matchup against FCS powerhouse North Dakota State, then travels to Nebraska to take on the rising Cornhuskers. After that, they’ll play on the road against rival Colorado State before returning home to face the Baylor Bears. Colorado will also play on the road against Arizona, Texas Tech and Kansas. But one of the toughest games will be against powerhouse Utah in Boulder in late November.
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