Shedeur Sanders catches fire to end Week 1 of Fall Camp for Colorado

It was only a matter of time before Shedeur Sanders and the Colorado offense flexed their muscles in the early days of fall camp. The Buffs’ rebuilt defense has been the talk of practice going back to spring football but as we saw in the spring game on April 27th, Shedeur Sanders is capable of leading an offensive explosion at will. With the first week of camp in the books, the Buffs are proving they are greatly improved on both sides of the ball and iron is sharpening iron under the Flatirons.

Colorado’s Aerial Assault

Coach Prime’s plan for Week 1 of Fall Camp was to simulate a full game week for the Buffs with Saturday including multiple competitive sessions featuring one-on-ones, seven-on-seven and some 11 on 11 action. CU’s defense continued to make plays on Saturday including multiple sacks and an interception from Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig, but Shedeur Sanders and Colorado’s wide receivers finished the week strong and made play after play.

The chemistry between Shedeur and former FAU wide receiver LaJohntay Wester remains strong and has Wester slotted to be one of 2’s favorite targets this season. The duo hooked up for a red zone touchdown in Saturday’s practice.

Shedeur’s throw of the day came on this “turkey hole” shot to Jimmy Horn Jr. down the sideline between the corner and the safety.

Former NC State wide receiver Terrell Timmons had one of the highlights of the day with this route, body control and extension for the catch over starting cornerback D.J. McKinney. Timmons was in Boulder and participated in spring football but didn’t make much noise then. Now that he is more settled in at CU and has been able to work directly with Shedeur throughout the offseason, Timmons is making his case to enter the receiver rotation for the fall.

2024 four-star wide receivers Drelon Miller and Kam Mikell continue to flash their playmaking skill and speed on the outside. There’s a significant chance for both freshmen to receive playing time similar to Omarion Miller’s workload last season.

Old Dawg, New Tricks

Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur spoke to the media for the first time during camp on Friday after practice. The hiring of Pat Shurmur was met with groans and complaints from the crossover of Denver Broncos and Colorado Buffaloes fans this time last year but Shurmur’s attitude resonated with confidence and clarity on Friday.

“I feel 20 years younger, working with these young people,” said Shurmur. “I really feel like we’re coming together as a team and it’s a credit to the new players we brought in and the old players that were here and their mindset going into this.”

“This has been fun for me working with these young players. I got a new fresh perspective. It’s a more wide-open style of ball, which is, not as much as what I was used to at the pro level. We’ve got a lot of really fine players and it’s fun to get them ready to go.”

Shurmur also briefly touched on the difference between being co-offensive coordinator for the last four games of 2023 and now getting to implement and design his own offense for the Buffs.

“Coach [Prime] made the point, sometimes it’s hard to cook in somebody else’s kitchen because you can’t change anything at that point,” said Shurmur. “We were able to kind of reset it the way we wanted to. The guys went out and got us some new players, we felt like we needed to go get more quality big men and then we install an offense that works for us. I feel like it’s a new start moving forward.”

Shurmur will have the benefit of calling plays for the best quarterback in college football and frankly, the best quarterback he’s coached in his career in Shedeur Sanders this season.

Complimentary Football

The competition in Colorado’s rebuilt running back room is beginning to heat up as we progress into Week 2 of camp. Coach Prime made it loud and clear that Charlie Offerdahl is the incumbent starter and on Saturday, Offerdahl broke off multiple big runs.

Offerdahl took off on this big run with the first-team offense on Saturday and Bucky caught him laughing as he broke into the open field. Even with the talent brought in over the offseason, Offerdahl is proving Coach Prime right so far in the early days of camp. The Colorado kid spoke to the media after Friday’s practice.

“It’s competition every day,” said Offerdahl. “Every back is fighting for that starting job. Every back is fighting for a role on the field and like Dallan said, it’s friendly competition.”

For the first time as a Buff, former Ohio State running back Dallan Hayden also spoke to the media on Friday after practice and seems to be getting up to speed with Shedeur and the first-team offense.

“I feel like I’m an every down back,” said Hayden. “A big point for me this year is to show people that I’m still the back that was playing my freshman year at Ohio State.”

Even with only a week of practice with CU under his belt, Hayden also said he sees greatness in Shedeur Sanders and compared him to one of his former teammates at Ohio State.

“To be honest, him and CJ [Stroud], I feel like emulate each other,” said Hayden. “Both are business-oriented when it comes to the game, both very smart quarterbacks and both great teammates.”

Former Arkansas running back Isaiah Augustave has also been ripping off massive runs for chunk yardage in the early days of practice. Freshman Micah Welch will surely factor into the running back competition as well after being one of the most impressive players on the field in spring football.

Colorado’s running back battle is proving that the room is stacked with talent. This battle may not be decided until the late days of camp or until the lead-up to Colorado’s opening game against North Dakota State on August 29th.