Shedeur Sanders son of Deion Sanders set to play nebraska

Shedeur Sanders, the potential No. 1 pick of the 2025 NFL draft, is not above cold calling on social media.

And so it was on April 15 that the Colorado quarterback posted on X his plans for the upcoming spring recruiting season.

“Portal opens soon let’s get busy,” Sanders wrote.

His father, CU coach Deion Sanders, couldn’t have fashioned a more direct invitation.

“They don’t wanna get in the portal and not have nowhere to go,” Shedeur Sanders said April 18 at a press conference. “People are ready though. I have a lot of responses.”

It was the latest bit of drama out of a program full of it in 2023, when CU stormed out of the gates 3-0 — including a 36-14 win over Nebraska — and pulled TV ratings normally reserved for Ohio State, Michigan, Georgia and Texas. The Buffaloes, even as they fell apart and finished 4-8, were a reality show unfolding on multiple networks over three months.

And it was a family show, too. Deion was coach and dad, with two sons, Shilo and Shedeur, on the team. Shilo, a 6-foot safety, hits hard and forced four fumbles last year. He projects as a late-round NFL draft guy in 2025.

Shedeur is a star. He acts like one — including when he claimed Nebraska disrespected Folsom Field’s buffalo logo with a pregame prayer — and plays like one.

And barring injury, he’s the top quarterback, by some margin, NU will face in 2024.

After completing 69.3% of his passes for 3,230 yards 27 touchdowns and just three interceptions last season, he might be the top college quarterback, period, in 2024.

A stellar class of 2023 QBs — headlined by Heisman Trophy winners Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels — headed to the NFL two months ago. This year, Sanders’ Heisman competition in 2024 appears to be Georgia’s Carson Beck, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, Texas’ Quinn Ewers, Miami’s Cam Ward and Sanders’ own teammate, defensive back/wide receiver Travis Hunter.

Of course, Sanders and Hunter’s candidacies depend on winning far more games than they did in ’23, when CU’s defense allowed 35 points per game and the Buffaloes allowed 56 sacks per game.

Nebraska’s defense had eight of those sacks. In between those sacks, Sanders threw for 393 yards and two touchdowns. He rushed for another score.

Few opposing quarterbacks have carved up a good NU defense like that. Ohio State’s JT Barrett lit up some bad ones in 2016 and 2017 — 615 yards and nine touchdowns over two games. Justin Fields completed 81% of his passes across the 2019 and 2020 games vs. Nebraska.

But Sanders had to face the Huskers’ best D of the Big Ten era. He dealt with the sacks and ultimately threw second-half dimes all over the place.

And then Sanders arrived at the postgame press conference. It might be what Husker fans recall most from that loss.

“You go out there and warm up and you’ve got the head coach from the other team standing in the middle of the Buff,” Sanders said. “It’s okay if a couple of players do it. It’s fine, just enjoy the scenery. But when you’ve got the whole team trying to disrespect it, I’m not going for that at all. I went in there and disrupted it.”

He added that NU coach Matt Rhule had disrespected Deion Sanders with comments before the game.

Rhule disputed Shedeur’s recollection and opinion.

“I’ve never disrespected an opponent a day in my life — and never will,” Rhule said.

That sets the stage for the Sept.7 game on NBC. Saturday night lights, Memorial Stadium, and a crowd revved up to Shedeur a hard night.

He’ll have some weapons of his own, though. Hunter (57 catches, 721 yards) is back and, since it’s early in the season, he won’t be worn to the nub by 100 reps in the heat. CU also added Florida Atlantic transfer LaJohntay Wester, who ranked second nationally last season in catches. He transferred to CU over the winter, but Shedeur played a hand in his arrival, too.

“I pulled up his film and I was recruiting him myself,” Sanders said. “…He’s exactly what he was on film.”

It’s Shedeur’s world, and college football is living in it.

A look at the other 11 quarterbacks projected to face NU in 2024, broken into two categories:

Jaxon Bailey, Northern Iowa: The Panthers haven’t won a Missouri Valley Conference title since 2011, and they’re embracing a shift to the Air Raid passing offense that should work well inside their own dome. Bailey, a former Iowa prep star who spent a few years at Arkansas State, got UNI’s offense going in the spring. Before he’s tasked with ending UNI’s two-year FCS playoff drought, he’ll take a crack at Nebraska.

Will Howard, Ohio State: If new Buckeye offensive coordinator Chip Kelly has his way, Howard could be a run/pass threat along the lines of an old Kelly quarterback, Dennis Dixon. If Ryan Day prefers OSU’s offense remain an NFL training program, Howard may have to fend off talented Buckeye backups. If Kelly prevails and uses Howard’s legs more often, Ohio State may have the nation’s best run game.

Tyler Van Dyke, Wisconsin: The former Miami (Fla.) signal caller can sling it, and did for the Hurricanes, throwing for 7,469 yards over four years. Is he better than Graham Mertz or Tanner Mordecai, Wisconsin’s two previous QBs? He’s streakier and can throw for a high volume of completions and yards.

Kurtis Rourke, Indiana: Way too under the radar, given what he accomplished at Ohio, where he threw for 7,561 career yards and won MAC offensive player of the year in 2022. He had a terrific 1.6% interception rate in Athens, too. (Nebraska QBs turned in a cool 6.1% last year). If Rourke gets time from his line, he’ll be pretty good.

Aidan Kaliakmanis, Rutgers: The former Minnesota quarterback has a 2-0 record against Nebraska — remember how he rescued the Gophers in ’22? — and performed well enough in RU’s spring camp to supplant 2023 starter Gavin Wimsatt, who transferred to Kentucky. Kaliakmanis’ tenure in the Twin Cities went south when coach P.J. Fleck basically started courting an FCS quarterback right as Minnesota’s season ended. More of an athletic thrower than pure passer, Kaliakmanis will be asked to make the occasional play and take care of the ball.

Luke Altmyer, Illinois: He missed the final three games of 2023 with a nasty concussion, but he sparkled in the Illini’s spring game. While that may be a concern for Bret Bielema’s defense — which eventually fell apart at Arkansas, too — Altmyer is a shifty athlete who, if given time, can make a defense pay.

Hudson Card, Purdue: He struggled on a blustery day inside Memorial Stadium, but the former Texas QB had some moments in 2023, finishing the season with wins over Minnesota and Indiana. The Boilermakers lost quite a bit in the offseason to the transfer portal, so Card will be asked the carry the team.

Ethan Garbers, UCLA: He should have been the full-time starter in 2023, but true freshman Dante Moore got the nod for a time. Garbers took over halfway through the season, beat Stanford, Colorado, USC and Boise State, and has a sneaky good receiving corps at his disposal. Can he handle offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s complex offense?

Cade McConnell, UTEP: The Miners, starting over with a new head coach, have a long ways to go, but McConnell likely gets the first chance at Nebraska. He threw for 1,437 yards and six touchdowns in seven games last season and had a fairly gaudy 8.4 yards per attempt.

Cade McNamara, Iowa: Injuries sidelined McNamara halfway through 2023, but things were rough before that, especially in a shutout loss at Penn State. McNamara will operate in a new pro-style offense full of pre-snap shifts and motions — and maybe a little quarterback run game — so perhaps he’ll have a breakout year similar to his 2021 Michigan campaign.

Miller Moss, USC: When Caleb Williams skipped the Holiday Bowl. Moss took over and played so well that five-star freshman Malachi Nelson scooted along to Boise State. Moss is the first non-superstar QB Lincoln Riley has coached in some time, but he’s accurate and mistake-avoidant.