Although Shedeur Sanders has played a lot of football in his life, there are always going to be bumps in the road with a new offense and a new team.
Five games into his first season at Colorado, Sanders has been spectacular and the Buffs (3-2, 0-2 Pac-12) are on pace for their best statistical year in three decades. Yet, itap been far from perfect.
“I feel like we’re now settled in with the offense, with everything thatap going on, with the nuances of it,” Sanders said Tuesday. “We went through real tests together as a team and in the system, so now we know, OK, what we like, what we don’t like and now I feel like this is the second half of the season and we’re really comfortable in it.”
CU, which visits Arizona State (1-4, 0-2) on Saturday (4:30 p.m. MT, Pact-12 Network) is averaging 34.2 points per game, which is on pace for the best average for a Buffs team since 1995. Their 440.0 yards per game is on pace for the best average since 1996.
Yet, there’s been plenty of ups and downs for the Buffs offensively.
So far, CU’s most complete game on that side of the ball came in the opener, when it scored on seven of its 12 possessions in a 45-42 win at TCU. Thatap still the only game in which the Buffs scored in every quarter.
The final numbers were good against Nebraska (a 36-14 win), Colorado State (43-35 win in double overtime) and USC (a 48-41 loss), but in each case the Buffs sputtered for nearly two quarters or more before finding rhythm. They never found that rhythm in a 42-6 loss at Oregon.
“We’ve got to come out ready to play,” head coach Deion Sanders said after the loss to USC. “I don’t know. I gotta fix that myself personally. We can’t come out and make a surge right before halftime, then we start saying, OK, we’re in the game.”
With Shedeur Sanders at quarterback, the Buffs have been in all but one game. He willed them to victory against TCU and CSU. He nearly brought them back to beat USC. And, he’s thrown for an impressive 1,781 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Throughout the season, though, Shedeur has had moments where he knows he and the offense have to be better.
“When you go back and watch film, OK, itap a couple of reads you missed or a couple of throws you missed or you’ve got to quicken up and just understand the pieces you got around you and use them to the best ability,” he said. “So thatap the main thing that you go back and do, but I don’t think no quarterback in the world just has a perfect game.”
Even in Saturday’s rally, Shedeur took blame for CU’s clock management and slow pace, despite needing two scores with time winding down. The offense has emphasized being sharper in the two-minute drill this week.
“Thatap the best thing possible we can do as an offense,” he said of improving in the two-minute offense. “I just didn’t want to waste plays on that (drive vs. USC) and thatap just honestly like something I just take to the chin and just a learning experience from that. It’s just, be more manageable with time. Understand, OK, this is the situation, how are we gonna go about it? How are we gonna fix it?
“Thatap the main thing and anything that we’re very unclear with in practice or anything, we’re gonna make sure we get those extra reps in to be able to be very fluent with it in the game.”
It takes time to be fluent in the offense, but Shedeur feels he and the Buffs are getting there.
“I’m having fun playing his game,” he said. “I know each week we’re facing different battles and really itap just getting comfortable within the offense because, you know, this is the sixth game of really knowing the ins and outs of the offense. So week by week, I feel like we’re improving as a whole and I feel like this is the second half of the season and now we’re gonna be comfortable and you’ll be able to see what this offense is.”
