Skip The Spread, This Will Be An Offensive Game

North Dakota State vs. Colorado, 8:00 ET

College football has returned and with it comes the drama of the new College Football Playoff system. There are still bowl games at the end of the year, but now the top-12 teams head into a bracket to make it to the championship game. There have only been a couple of games this season, which started last Saturday, but there has already been drama. While I like the NFL better, I am excited for this new format of College Football and think this will be an exciting season. I'm on the search for my first win today as North Dakota State tries to shut up Colorado. 

A lot of teams try to start with a cakewalk game to open their season, but that won't be the case for Colorado who have to face a North Dakota State team coming off of an 11-4 record. Last season the Bison were able to get to the FCS Championship Semifinals before losing in overtime to Montana. The good news for the team is that they have Cam Miller returning off of a great campaign from last season. Miller produced 2,687 yards, 19 touchdowns, and four interceptions. They never really faced any great competition last season. This game will likely mean a lot for the team as it is probably the only time the majority of the players will ever make it onto national television. North Dakota State may not be a name most are familiar with but they have a good defense and if the Colorado team hasn't improved their offensive line, the Bison could keep this very close. The offense should find the holes in a Colorado team that struggled to six consecutive losses last year. 

BOULDER, COLORADO - APRIL 27: Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes watches as his team warms-up prior to their spring game at Folsom Field on April 27, 2024 in Boulder, Colorado.  (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Colorado gets a lot of attention for a school that didn't make a Bowl game last year. Most of that is due to their head coach, but they need to start proving some results this season. After finishing 1-11 before Sanders arrived, they were able to improve last year to 4-8. They started the year 4-2 and opened the yard with a really good win over TCU who may not have taken the game serious enough. They ended the year with six consecutive losses - only one of those games being close, a 34-31 loss to Arizona. I mentioned the Colorado defense being bad - last season, they allowed an average of almost 35 points per game. The strength of the team is the offense, but it wasn't very balanced as they had almost no running game last year. The most yards any Colorado had in any game last season was 74 in a loss against USC. They need to be more balanced, but North Dakota State has a good defense and could take away the run. I do think Shedeur Sanders will find the gaps in the secondary to get some points on the board.

If you read any of the stories from the media, you'll see how they talk about how important it is that Colorado gets off to a good start. This game won't be an easy one for them though. I think this should be a challenge, but not one that they can't overcome. Colorado should win the game, but I'm not overly confident they will win the game by a touchdown or more. It is hard to say that North Dakota State will come into a nationally televised game against one of the most covered teams in the country and cover the spread. In this game I am going to back the offenses. I think Colorado will have a good gameplan and can usually rack up points against most teams. I am not convinced the defense will make the necessary improvements though. I'm going to back over 56 points in this one.

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