Paul Finebaum expects a 'POWERFUL PERFORMANCE' from Colorado in season opener 👀 | First Take

attack the transfer portal this off season adding more players than any other team in the country but two players will be back our quarterback shador Sanders and two-way star Travis Hunter Sanders had 27 TD passes last season despite a shaky offensive line while Hunter had five TD catches and three interceptions tonight the Buffalo will face FCS Powerhouse North Dakota State at nine and a half Point home favorites the Bison enter as the second ranked team in the FCS coaches poll after winning 11 games last season where's my guy and wait for it there he is hello Paul good morning how we feeling how we doing hey everybody uh Paul what going on Paul doing great Paul surprise surprise we're talking about Colorado but but it's on the field okay uh what do you expect to see from them tonight I expect a really powerful performance by Colorado and it's not because Dion said they're going to do this or that I I just think second year you overcome some things now they look great as we all know uh to beginning of last year but I think this is a really OPP a really great opportunity at home at night perfect atmosphere against a good team but this is not the the Bisons of a couple years ago when they were owning their division they've fallen off a little bit so I think for for for Dion Sanders and shador and and Travis Hunter and the entire team it's just get out there jump to a lead put this team away don't don't don't let this game go down to the final couple of minutes uh the flip side of this is there is a lot on the line I don't think that's really the the issue going going in but it could be the issue coming out if they don't perform if they if they make a lot of mistakes and if that Colorado offensive line can't protect shador Sanders like they were unable to last year well he was sacked 52 times last year okay I mean I I mean that was the he was the most sacked quarterback in the nation I mean it got so bad for shador Sanders in terms of protection football reasons wasn't the only reason that Deion Sanders ultimately sat down his son he sat down his son because Dam one point he said that's my son I mean I got to look out for this man I got to protect him it's my job as a dad not just as a coach my Lord he's getting slaughtered and so obviously he prioritized trying to protect him this upcoming season with him and Travis Hunter and their future looking so bright as perspective first round picks I think in the case of shador Sanders it's an absolute certainty that he'll probably be a first round pick in my estimation assuming he plays anything close to what he did last year all right what are you going to do you had a situation where they went the last nine weeks of the season they went one and eight but I think they had like five one possession games if I remember correctly it was something along those lines so when you look at it from that standpoint they were competitive in a lot of these games it got blown out a couple of times but they were competitiv they were competitive in most of the games right now but I'm just looking at them and here's what I'm looking to watch because when we're talking about a team like North Dakota State we got to remember in FCS they're a Powerhouse okay currently ranked number two in those FCS rankings we might be making a mistake sleeping on these brothers thinking that K Colorado is just going to run rough shot over them because after this game Colorado's got like five games this season against top 25 teams and so when you're looking at the projections where they're going to finish anywhere from Seventh to 11th in the conference for crying out loud and you're starting off a game like this if you end up losing a game to an FCS school orbe it one that's considered a Powerhouse the future doesn't look bright your prospects doesn't look bright as this season is on go and particularly how last year ended so I think tonight I think it's important from a psychological perspective Paul just as much as anything else Dion can do a lot of things what he can't do is play for the players he can motivate them he can prepare them he can make sure eyes are dotted and te's are crossed and that you know what you're not going to run into any surprises but at the end of the day they're the ones that got to go out on the field and perform and I think that if they lose a game like tonight with moving into their new conference with what they've got going on with what the projections are with the scrutiny that's coming down upon the program because of his situation with media members and what have you and everybody looking for not everybody but a lot of people looking for the slightest and till of an excuse to come down upon him what's the best way to get to Deion Sanders it's going to be through the kids you can't get through him through him because he's a self- assured man is stubborn and as strong willed as they come but where his vulnerabilities lie is with those kids he's coaching especially when a couple of them are literally his kids and so if you go out and you lose and there's a tsunami of cynicism and criticism that that that Reigns upon you and it's early in the season I know he can deal with it can they deal with it that's going to be a question mark I think tonight's game is very important they gotta win this game they got to do so convincingly and I'm assuming they will and stepen that is that is really the issue because not not many people outside of that vicinity really care about anything other than the outcome of this game and we both know there there's a lot of shot and Friday going on out there there are many many pundits who are just who are going to tune in this game and if Colorado is behind they are going to fixate and start preparing their tweets and their and their columns and their shots and that's the one thing that Dion does not need listen we've had a lot of conversation about him this week but we both feel the same way we're rooting for him but a lot of people are rooting against him tonight and I think that's important to remember and if he loses this game suddenly that's the noise and the headline tomorrow is Dion spent all week clapping back at the media instead of preparing even though that's not true uh even though he really didn't say very much and it was magnified and aggregated ad nauseum that will be the narrative and from 7 o' tomorrow morning on the East Coast across the country that everybody's going to say Colorado blew it they lost and Dion's back to his old tricks so of not not getting this program in the right position and the most important thing for this program this year is to get to a bowl game without that there's no way to consider a success yes I know he wants a playoff that's to come but this year it's about getting a winning record in a bowl game and and a loss tonight would make that very difficult Paul let me they projected in the media poll Molly they're projected in the media poll to finish 11th in the Big 12 um and to to make sure I'm correct on that that last year they played eight1 possession games they one three correct Paul what do we need to see from shador Sanders this season for him to be the top quarterback taken off the board well I I I think he he can do that without this team being great because as we all know we hear it every day NFL Scouts don't don't follow the scoreboard they look at the talent so I mean he he has to stay healthy I think that's the most important thing if he stays healthy Molly and if he can get some protection I think people talking about the Heisman is ridiculous because you need to be in contention to win the Heisman you don't need to be in contention to be the number one pick y c down good time staring down the CL some Hallelujah