Jul 13, 2024; Arlington, TX, USA; Colorado Buffalos head coach and former MLB and NFL player Deion Sanders (21) of the National League is interviewed during the 2024 All Star Celebrity Softball Game at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Colorado is looking to build on the tradition while North Dakota State wants it to continue with a new coach in the season opener for both teams Thursday in Boulder, Colorado.
North Dakota State has won 17 NCAA FCS national championships. Former Wyoming offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Tim Polasek will coach his first game for the Bison after Matt Entz took the assistant defense and linebackers coach job at Southern California.
Colorado’s last full winning season was 2016. The Buffaloes have lost six straight games and went 4-8 last season.
Last year, NDSU went 11-4 and lost 31-29 in double overtime to Montana in the FCS semifinals.
“NDSU is a program with a lot of history that has won a lot of games against some great schools,” Colorado sophomore center Hank Zilinskas said. “They have the mentality that they don’t care who they play, they’re going to come in and play their hardest. We’re preparing for a physical game.”
Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he didn’t use the Bison’s resume as motivation.
“We’re not going to overlook them,” Sanders said. “Everyone wants to beat us and we want to beat everyone. (The Bison) will be well prepared, they will be disciplined and they will go out and play.”
Last season, NDSU led the FCS with 47 rushing touchdowns and was fourth in team rushing yards with 237.3 per game.
“We revamped some things so we could stop the race,” Sanders said. “The most important thing for us is to be able to run the ball, protect (quarterback Shedeur Sanders) and stop the run defensively.”
Senior defensive tackle Eli Mostaert and junior defensive tackle Jaxon Duttenhefer anchor a Bison line that will try to slow down the Buffaloes’ fast-paced offense led by Shedeur Sanders and junior Travis Hunter, who plays wide receiver and defensive back.
“The single focus is on execution and us,” Polasek said. “The first games are about playing clean football and being opportunistic. Good clean plays are the result of good fundamentals.”
–Field level media
