“Friday” Fast Facts

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Friday Fast Facts – North Dakota State Week

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… Your weekly “T.I.P.S”, previews for this week’s games, discussing Talent, Intangibles, Preparation and Statistics, have been posted. The written preview and predictions for the CU/North Dakota State game can be found here, while the CU at the Game Podcast preview for the game can be found at most of the popular podcast sites, and can be listened to here …

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Big Picture … 

— Season-openers … Don’t tell anyone, but CU has actually won its seven of it’s last eight season-openers (the last four Rocky Mountain Showdowns in Denver v. CSU; v. UCLA in 2020; against Northern Colorado in 2021; and then the upset win over No. 17 TCU last season. The lone loss, of course, was to TCU in the 2022 lid lifter). Overall, Colorado is 84-45-5 all time in the first game of the season, with a 55-21-1 record when the first game of the season is played at home;

— Colorado v. FCS opponents … If you check out the Colorado record book, you’ll see that CU has a 5-0 record against FCS opponents. Well, Buff fans know that is not exactly true. CU has a separate listing for games against “Big Sky Conference” opponents, including games which date back to when the Buffs regularly played schools from the northern Rockies in the 1920s. Hidden within CU’s 13-6 all-time record against the Big Sky Conference opponents are two losses to current FCS opponents – a 19-10 loss to Montana State in 2006 and a 30-28 loss to Sacramento State in 2012;

— A cautionary tale … The 2024 season is less than a week old, and we’ve already seen a ranked FCS school take down an FBS team. The game pitted an FCS team ranked in the top five in the FCS preseason poll, taking down an FBS team which went 4-8 last season. Montana State, ranked No. 3 in the FCS preseason poll, erased a 31-14 fourth quarter deficit (overcoming two fumbles returned for touchdown) to defeat New Mexico, 35-31.

Thursday, North Dakota State, ranked No. 2 in the FCS preseason poll, takes on Colorado, an FBS team which finished 4-8 last season. (Fortunately for Buff fans, the similarities should end there. The MSU Bobcats were actually favored to be the Lobos, while the Buffs are a 9.5-point favorite over the Bison).

— Buffalo v. Bison … In terms of mascots, um, well, North Dakota State actually has it right. According to the National Zoo:

Though the terms are often used interchangeably, buffalo and bison are distinct animals. Old World “true” buffalo (Cape buffalo and water buffalo) are native to Africa and Asia. Bison are found in North America and Europe. Both bison and buffalo are in the bovidae family, but the two are not closely related. 

All that being said, North Dakota State has no Ralphie, and I think Chip has it all over “Thundar” …

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— The ESPN Power Index gives the Buffs a 71.1% chance of winning; the Bison a 28.9% chance of an upset;

— The game will be telecast nationally on ESPN (Thursday, 6:00 p.m., MT).  KOA radio will have Mark Johnson, in his 21st year, with the play-by-play, and former CU head coach Gary Barnett in his ninth year as the full-time analyst.

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Rule Changes for 2024 … 

Two-Minute Warnings … Timing rules for NCAA football games have been gradually shifting to line up more with NFL rules in recent years, and now that shift takes another big step with the implementation of a two-minute warning.

Helmet Communications … The NCAA has approved helmet communication systems for all FBS schools competing in football this season. Each team can designate an offensive player (usually the quarterback) and a defensive player (usually a linebacker) to wear the in-helmet communications and receive signals from the sidelines.

Horse-collar Tackles … Horse collar tackles that occur within the tackle box (the space in the backfield between the two offensive tackles) will now be flagged as 15-yard penalties. Previously, horse collars in the open field had been fouls, while those in the tackle box were not considered fouls.

Sideline Tablets – Teams will be allowed the use of up to 18 tablets on the sidelines and in the coaches box during games, which are to be used only for in-game video and cannot be connected to other devices.

Sideline Interviews – Coaches will now be allowed to conduct broadcast TV interviews at the end of the first and third quarters of games. Previously broadcasters were only allowed to interview coaches on-camera at the end of the first half and the end of the game.

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Statistically speaking … 

— It can’t be worse, offense (right?) … Last season, the Buffs were last in the nation in rushing, at 68.9 yards per game. In terms of yards per carry, CU was also last in the country, at 2.31 … In the record books, the Buffs have had just one season worse than this one in terms of average rushing yards per game: 59.7 in 1984 (a very tough 1-10 season);

— It can’t be worse, defense (right?) … Most yards allowed per game in Colorado history …

• 509.8 – 2022 … a 1-11 team, considered by many Buff fans as the worst CU team ever;
• 488.5 – 2012 … a 1-11 team, the worst team ever … before 2022;
• 464.4 – 1980 … a 1-10 which lost to Drake, and was run over by Oklahoma, 82-42, with the Sooners going for an NCAA record 758 yards rushing;
• 453.3 – 2023 … a 4-8 team, 1-8 in CU’s final season in the Pac-12. The yards allowed ranked CU 127th in the nation in total defense.

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CU Player Notes … 

— “L’s” and “D’s” … Buff fans will see “L’s” and “D’s” on the uniforms of several players this fall. The “L’s” are the designated “Leaders” of the team, with four Buffs wearing “L’s” for the opener: QB Shedeur Sanders; P Mark Vassett; DB Cam’Ron Silmon Craig; and RB Charlie Offerdahl. “D’s” are “Dawgs” who prove themselves week-to-week, with WR/CB Travis Hunter the only known “Dawg” for Game One;

— Shedeur Sanders attacks the record books … Last season, Sanders set new CU records for passing yards in a season (3,230), completion percentage (.693), touchdown-to-interception ratio (9-to-1) and interception percentage (.007).

Nationally, Sanders was in the Top 10 nationally in four statistical categories and in the top 25 in three others, finishing second in completions per game, fourth in passing yards per game, eighth in completion percentage and 10th in points responsible for while also coming in 12th in passing touchdowns, 18th in total offense and 24th in pass efficiency.

— Yes, punter Mark Vassett is very good … In his first season at CU, former Purdue punter Mark Vassett punted 65 times for 2,845 yards, an average of 44.5 yards per punt with 22 inside the 20 and just three touch backs. Vassett set school records for most punts inside the 10 with 12, and most punts inside the five with six. Vassett had 16 punts of 50-plus yards with a long of 60 and 14 of his punts were fair catches.

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Big 12 Notes … 

— The Big 12 Conference placed five teams in The Associated Press Pre-season Top 25, which marked the first season with five ranked teams in the AP’s preseason poll since 2017;

— Oklahoma State Head Coach Mike Gundy and Utah Head Coach Kyle Whittingham are both entering their 20th season at their respective institutions. The duo is tied for the second-longest active tenured coaches in the nation, trailing only Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz who begins his 25th season with the Hawkeyes;

— The 2024 season will be the Big 12 Conference’s first as a 16-team league after the addition of Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah this summer. The Big 12 footprint now spans 10 states, four time zones and 90 million people as it begins its 29th football season;

— Feel free to let others know … As currently configured, only three of the Big 12’s 16 teams have won a national championship in football: TCU in 1938; BYU in 1984; and Colorado in 1990;

— Big 12 schedule … Week 1 …

Thursday, August 29th

• New Hampshire at Central Florida … 5:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … UCF is a 33.5-point favorite
• Lindenwood at No. 22 Kansas … 6:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … no line
• North Dakota at Colorado … 6:00 p.m., MT, ESPN … CU a 9.5-point favorite
• Southern Utah at No. 12 Utah … 7:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … Utah is a 37.5-point favorite

Friday, August 30th 

• TCU at Stanford … 8:30 p.m., MT, ESPN … TCU is a 9.0-point road favorite

Saturday, August 31st 

• No. 8 Penn State at West Virginia … 10:00 a.m., MT, Fox … West Virginia is an 8.5-point underdog
• South Dakota State at No. 17 Oklahoma State … 12:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … Oklahoma State is a 9.5-point favorite
• Towson at Cincinnati … 12:30 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … Cincinnati is a 32.5-point favorite
• North Dakota at Iowa State … 1:30 p.m, MT, FS1 … Iowa State is a 27.5-point favorite
• UT Martin at No. 18 Kansas State … 5:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … Kansas State is a 37.5-point favorite
• Tarleton State at Baylor … 5:00 p.m., MT, ESPN+ … no line
• UNLV at Houston … 5:00 p.m., MT, FS1 … Houston is a 1.5-point favorite
• Abilene Christian at Texas Tech … 5:30 p.m., ESPN+ … Texas Tech is a 32.5-point favorite
• Southern Illinois at BYU … 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ … BYU is a 19.5-point favorite
• New Mexico at No. 21 Arizona … 8:30 p.m., ESPN … Arizona is a 31.0-point favorite
• Wyoming at Arizona State … 8:30 p.m., FS1 … Arizona State is a 6.5-point favorite

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Tags: Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig, Charlie Offerdahl, Mark Vassett
This post, about the North Dakota State game, from the 2024 Season, is filed under Article.
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