Colorado and North Dakota State was billed as the “must-watch” game of Thursday night’s list of matchups, and it certainly lived up to the hype.
Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes outlasted the Bizon, who’ve proven to be true powerhouses at the FCS level after winning nine national championships.
The Buffs and Bizon went toe-to-toe for four quarters and produced the most exciting game of college football’s defacto opening night — a contest that ended with a Hail Mary attempt that came up just four yards short of giving NDSU an upset victory on the road.
It was a packed house at Folsom Field for the 31-26 victory, but there were millions more who took in the excitement. In fact, the viewership numbers were quite impressive for the Thursday night tilt, according to ESPN.
According to a tweet from ESPN PR, Colorado-North Dakota State pulled in 4.8 million viewers on average, with a peak number of 5.6 million viewers. It was the top primetime telecast last night and the best Thursday night opener that ESPN has had since 2017.
While it was an up-and-down night for the Buffaloes defense – and a down night all together for the running game – the CU passing attack was brilliant under Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders ended the night going 26-of-34 for four touchdowns and one fluke interception. The two biggest recipients of his monster night were Jimmy Horn Jr. (7 rec, 198 yds, 1 TD) and Travis Hunter (7 rec, 132 yds, 3 TD), who combined for all four of the Buffs’ touchdowns.
The Buffs will hit the road next week for an old Big 12 rivalry matchup against Nebraska, which should have quite the television draw of its own if Nebraska can get past UTEP without a hiccup this week.
