North Dakota State at Colorado Preview and Predictions! - 2024 Week 1 College Football Predictions

[Music] [Applause] [Music] then Sports Cent Tri be go break college football game preview and prediction on the week one match up between North Dakota State and Colorado the big match up coming up here on opening night of the season it's a match up between two fun teams North Dakota State wouldn't be surprised if they won the FCS this season this is a strong and dangerous team heading into 2024 and they got Colorado in week one Buffs are one of the most intriguing teams in the country Shader Sanders coming back uh Buffalo's with a fresh start looking forward to 2024 we'll be c a full game preview and prediction on this match up here today so with that let's get into it Gins be on Thursday the 29th in Boulder you couldn't ask for a better matchup on the Thursday night of week one North Dakota State they've kind of got the rule of the dangerous team taking on Colorado who's um once again one of the most intriguing teams in the country when you look at Str Sanders this will be an improved team in 2024 they were a four- win team last season and I really be surprised if they made it to a bll game though they do have I would say one of the most difficult schedules in the Big 12 so that's worth keeping in mind but I mean Colorado's got some optimism there is potential on this team for sure in year two of the Prime era spread's going with Colorado by 9 and 1/2 over under 58 A2 and the fpi is also going with the Buffs here 71% so Buffs are the favorite as you would expect but it's pretty close as well I think many realize that North toota State's a dangerous team and this will not be an easy one this is not a given win for Colorado for sure your stat comparison North Dakota State cam Miller coming back who was a really strong quarterback last season he is a strong true dual threat quarterback 2600 yards last year of passing 19 touchdowns over four picks also a 72% completion rate he also rushed for over 600 yards and 13 touchdowns last year so I mean this is going to be a fun match up you got cam Miller one of the best quarterbacks in the FCF and shur Sanders one of the best quarterbacks in the country overall so I would say he's obviously a huge factor in this match for the Buffs who aren't exactly the most talented all the around team it's just they've got a couple of major standouts Travis Hunter Sanders in there who's expected to be a top pick in next year's draft and rightfully so I mean that's that's really what it comes down to for North Dakota State here a defensive team it's going to be tough for them to go against a a Tal Ed Colorado offense led by Sanders and it feels like I mean North Dakota State's really if they can contain shadur and slow them down I feel like they're going to have a chance but that's the only way that the Bison have a true Chance in This one your key points North Dakota state they're going to be an FCS Contender once again wouldn't be surprised if they won the title in this upcoming season cam Miller leads a dangerous offense here I mean and once again they're likely Bound for a huge win if the defense can slow down shadur I feel like yeah bison really have a chance in this one and I mean something also to keep in mind the Bison against FBS teams they tend to be very competitive in matchups like this they the last time they beat an FCS team or an FBS team was at Iowa uh which was the 13th ranked team in the country by the way at the time uh beat them on the road in 2016 I think they faced Arizona a couple years ago that was a close loss they couldn't quite beat them but Bottom Line North Dakota state is dangerous against FBS teams and that's why everyone looks at this match up as a potential draft game for Colorado because North Dakota state is they're no joke for sure and so for Colorado I mean you look back to 2023 a 4 and8 season uh they had a scorching start to 2023 this team was ranked uh decently into the top 25 it was just after that Oregon game where things kind of fell apart um but you look at this team overall I would say they did Even though October was ugly this team you could see improve movement in November this defense was better and they were actually pretty competitive against some pretty good teams last season so even though they definitely had a pretty ugly loss or two I would say the Buffs overall did improve um at least by the end of the season so I mean you look at shadur he's the biggest threat on the Buffs obviously can't forget about Travis Hunter who's just an insane athlete but the defense was it was pretty inconsistent last season for the Buffs but it should I would say it should improve and and if it does I feel like the I feel like col is definitely a bull team this season cuz I mean the defense just wasn't going to happen for the buffalo's last season especially in such a competitive Pack 12 um but I would say you compare these two teams I mean an FCS team versus an FBS team obviously all the pressure in the world is on the buffalo in this matchup and I mean you consider I mean for Colorado it's a pretty difficult schedule this could be the game that I mean we're going to learn a lot about Colorado in this matchup if they can find a way to win this one I mean that puts them that's obviously a good start to the season but also I feel like it brings up a lot of optimism for at least a bull season for Colorado but if you lose this one especially with as tough of a schedule as they do have I mean six wins looks it looks pretty tough for Colorado if they lose this one so a lot more on the line for the Buffs for sure and for North Dakota State everything in the world to gain so with that let's get the prediction here for North Dakota state in Colorado coming up here on opening night of the season this has all the makings of being a really fun match up I think it's going to be close and it honestly could be one of the better games of this season I'm going to go with Colorado to find a way here 38-31 is what my predicted final score is I think that we see a pretty offensive matchup here I mean both defenses uh should be improved I mean North Dakota State's defense is where I find the most certainty in this one going up against a Colorado offense led by shadur and so that's where I think Colorado finds the ways with shadur in there and I think that North Dakota State's offense puts up some points I think they definitely can against this defense H but I got to go with the Buffs I just I feel like shur is going to find a way here but I will not I would not be surprised if North Dakota State won this one like I'm going 51% towards Colorado it's almost a toss up I that's just how close I this match up is going to be I'm taking the over as well wouldn't be surprised once again if we see some decent scoring two good offenses facing off against I mean North Dakota State's defense in comparison to what they're going to face in the FCS is obviously I would say really good but it is a little bit different when you're facing off against an FPS team in Colorado so I mean with that said I do think we see a pretty high-scoring game here um I'm taking North Dakota state to cover as well I would say that's probably the best bet in this one I think North Dakota State keeps pretty close it's just a matter of if they can find a way to knock off the Buffs or not but either way going to be a fun one coming up here on Thursday night let me know your thoughts in the comments Below on this one and I appreciate you guys watching as always my name is EV this is all sports Central stay tuned for more we'll catch you on the next one