College Football Picks 11/23 – Colorado @ Kansas

College Football Picks 11/23 – Colorado @ Kansas

by Thomas Quaynor for Wannamakeabet.com

The No. 16 ranked Colorado Buffaloes (8-2, 6-1 Conference) visit the Kansas Jayhawks (4-6, 3-4 Conference) at Arrowhead Stadium in a Big 12 showdown on FOX. Kansas has played all of their home games this season at Arrowhead Stadium — home of the back-to-back Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs — while their on-campus stadium is renovated. The schools are meeting for the first time since the 2010 season when Kansas knocked off visiting Colorado 52-45. Kansas and Colorado would meet annually for decades in all sports as members of the Big 8 and Big 12 conferences. The series stopped after Colorado departed for the Pac-10 in June 2010.  Colorado is a 2.5-point favorite and the total is 59.5. 

Colorado is coming off a 49-24 dismantling of Utah at home last Saturday. The Buffaloes again relied on its high-powered passing game led by superstar quarterback Shedeur Sanders to overwhelm Utah. Sanders completed 30 of 41 passes for 340 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. It was the sixth time this season that Sanders has surpassed the 300-yard passing mark. 

Freshman wide receiver Drelon Miller had a breakout game with six catches for a team-high 108 yards and a touchdown in the win. Miller had a combined 110 yards on the season prior to Saturday’s big game against Utah. Speedy wideout LaJohntay Wester hauled in ten catches for 77 yards and also returned a 76-yard punt for a touchdown in the first quarter. Will Sheppard had five catches for 71 yards and two touchdowns for Colorado. Sophomore running back Isaiah Augustave rushed seven times for 59 yards and a touchdown. 

College Football Picks 11/23 – Colorado @ Kansas

Two-way superstar and Heisman Trophy hopeful Travis Hunter put together another stellar performance last week as he caught five catches for 55 yards at wide receiver, rushed for a five-yard touchdown on a reverse and had an interception at cornerback. Colorado has won four in a row and recently received a commitment from Five-Star quarterback and the No. 2 recruit in the 2025 ESPN 300 Julian Lewis. 

Kansas is coming off a 17-13 upset at No. 6 BYU last Saturday. It was BYU’s first loss of the season. Kansas relied on a spirited performance from their defense which limited BYU to a season-low 13 points. Star running back Devin Neal was held to just 52 yards on 14 carries but scored both of the Jayhawks touchdowns. Quarterback Jalen Daniels was 12 of 19 for 169 yards and an interception in the win. He added 10 rushes for 15 yards. Daniels has had double-digit carries in three straight games. 

Prior to last week’s upset at No. 6 BYU, Kansas knocked off No. 17 Iowa State at home marking the first time in school history that Kansas has defeated ranked opponents in back-to-back weeks. They will look to make it three in a row against Colorado on Saturday afternoon. 

GAME STORYLINES: COLORADO

After going 1-11 in 2022 and setting the school record for losses in as season, the University of Colorado made headlines when they hired boisterous Hall of Famer Deion “Coach Prime” Sanders as its head coach. Sanders had just completed a spectacular run at Jackson State where led the school to back-to-back SWAC championships in 2021 and 2022, and compiled a 22-3 overall record during those 2 seasons at the HBCU. Coach Prime’s brashness and winning ways generated an astronomical amount of hype and anticipation for Colorado football. 

The hype and hysteria surrounding Coach Prime seemed justified initially after Colorado opened the 2023 season with an exciting 45-42 upset at No. 17 TCU and started the year 3-0. But things quickly turned sour for Colorado as they would go on to lose 8 of their last 9 games to finish 4-8. Coach Prime did increase the Buffs win total by 3 games in his first season but the poor finish left a number of people questioning whether he could get the job done at the FBS level.

College Football Picks 11/23 – Colorado @ Kansas

With the Pac-12 conference disbanding at the conclusion of last season, Colorado made the jump to the Big 12. Many expected Colorado would be even worse in 2024 due to the upgrade in competition they’d face in the Big 12. But the opposite has been true as Colorado enters Saturday’s game with an 8-2 record and now sits in a first-place tie with BYU atop the Big 12 standings. Colorado is also in a position to make the 12-team College Football Playoffs if they win their last 2 regular season games and the Big 12 Championship Game on Dec. 7.

Colorado’s dynamic duo of quarterback Shedeur Sanders and two-way wide receiver and defensive back phenom Travis Hunter are the catalysts to this season’s tremendous success. After putting up 70 touchdowns to 14 interceptions over two seasons at Jackson State, senior quarterback Shedeur Sanders has been just as spectacular during his tenure at Colorado. Sanders threw for 3,230 yards with 27 touchdowns to 3 interceptions in 2023 across 11 games last year. This season Sanders has thrown for 3,222 yards with 27 touchdowns to 7 interceptions while completing 72.9 percent of his passes through 10 games. Sanders needs 2 touchdown passes to break the school record which was set by Sefo Liufau in 2014. 

Travis Hunter was one of the top high school seniors in the Class of 2022 and shocked the college football world when he signed with Jackson State and Coach Prime over perennial BCS powers like Alabama, Florida State and Georgia. Hunter has exceeded the enormous expectations placed upon him prior to entering college as he’s been an elite player on offense and defense in his 1 year at Jackson State and 2 years at Colorado. This season Hunter has 74 catches for 911 yards and 10 total touchdowns. He leads Colorado in all 3 categories. On defense, Hunter has 3 interceptions, 1 forced fumble and 8 passes defended. Hunter and Sanders will both be finalists for the Heisman Trophy award and likely high first-round picks in the 2025 NFL draft. 

Colorado also boasts a trio of talented wideouts in LaJohntay Wester (55 catches for 660 yards, 8 touchdowns), Will Sheppard (40 catches for 540 yards, 6 touchdowns) and holdover Jimmy Horn Jr. (33 catches for 434 yards, 1 touchdown). All three guys can be just as explosive as Travis Hunter in the Buffs offense which is why they have one of the top passing offenses in the country. Wester (Florida Atlantic) and Sheppard (Vanderbilt) transferred into Colorado this season after excellent careers at their previous school.  

College Football Picks 11/23 – Colorado @ Kansas

Colorado’s defense has improved tremendously this season as their 33 sacks leads the Big 12. They’ve recorded 4 or more sacks in five of their last six games. The addition of NFL Hall of Famer Warren Sapp to the coaching staff may be a big reason for Colorado’s knack of sacking opposing quarterbacks. Sapp amassed 96.5 sacks in 13 NFL seasons. 

Safety Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig (72 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble), linebacker Nikhai Hill-Green (73 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 interceptions), hard-hitting safety Shilo Sanders (42 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble, 1 defensive touchdown) and defensive end B.J. Green II (23 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery) are the standouts on the defense.

GAME STORYLINES: KANSAS

Expectations for the Kansas Jayhawks were sky high coming into the 2024 season after going 9-4 last year. It was their best season since a 12-1 finish in 2007. They began the season ranked No. 22 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll and were picked to finish as high as third in the Big 12. Kansas returning a senior-laden team in 2024 was a big reasons for the lofty expectations.

Kansas began the year with a 48-3 drubbing of FCS Linderwood in the season opener but things took a turn for the worse soon after. Kansas proceeded to lose five straight games, four of which were by 6 points or less: at Illinois (23-17), vs. UNLV (23-20), at West Virginia (32-28) and at Arizona State (35-31). Kansas has won 3 of their last 4 games since the 1-5 start but that one defeat was another close loss at Kansas State (29-27) on Oct. 26. They need to win their last 2 games to become bowl eligible for a third straight year.

Running back Devin Neal (962 rushing yards, 169 receiving yards, 12 rushing touchdowns in 10 games) and dual-threat quarterback Jalon Daniels (1,985 passing yards, 13 touchdowns to 10 interceptions, 56.6% completions, 388 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns) are the standouts in the offense. Neal needs 74 yards to break the 1,000 mark for the third straight year. He’s rushed for 100 or more yards in six games this season. Daniels missed most of last season with a back injury and may have began the year rusty. Neal and Daniels have both spent their entire college careers with Kansas. 

The defensive back duo of star senior Cobee Bryant — named after the late Hall of Fame basketball superstar Kobe — and Mello Dotson anchor a formidable Kansas defense. Bryant has been a standout on the Jayhawks defense since his freshman year. He’s amassed 32 tackles, 4 interceptions and 1 forced fumble through 10 games on the season. Dotson has 41 tackles, 5 interceptions, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery and 2 defensive touchdowns this season.   

THE PICK: COLORADO (-2.5)

Kansas has a quality defense and 2 cornerbacks who will likely play in the NFL but Colorado’s offense has been elite all season. They have way too many explosive weapons on offense — especially at wide receiver — and their defense knows how to get after the quarterback. Lay the Points…Colorado 38, Kansas 28

College Football Picks 11/23 – Colorado @ Kansas