The Colorado Buffaloes beat the North Dakota State Bison on Thursday night. It took everything Colorado had to top the FCS team in front of their home crowd, including two electrifying performances by quarterback Shedeur Sanders and wide receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter.
Sanders completed 26 of 34 passes for 445 yards and four touchdowns to go along with one freak interception that bounced off an opponent's calf. But not everything he did to help the Buffaloes win showed up in a box score.
Colorado trailed 17-14 early in the second quarter when the Buffaloes went for it on fourth down and came up short. This led to a weird situation where the Bison's offense ran onto the field while officials told Colorado they didn't need to measure the spot to know there should be a change of posession. As officials got ready to spot the ball, offensive players, defensive players, coaches and training staff were milling around near the Colorado sideline.
That's when Shedeur Sanders suddenly got a cramp.
Shedeur Sanders "cramp" pic.twitter.com/CLx1bhWbY0
— sportsvids99 (@sportsvids991) August 30, 2024
Announcers Mark Jones, Roddy Jones and Quint Kessenich all seemed dubious about the sudden injury and a look at the replay seems to confirm that the sudden muscle tightness occurred when Sanders looked back mid-jog to see the referee spotting the ball without the Colorado defense anywhere to be seen.
While officials stopped the game for the injury, fans weren't buying it.
Shedeur Sanders fakes a cramp causing an injury time out so the Colorado defense could get on the field, after a failed 4th down attempt
— George Jarjour (@GeorgeOnTap) August 30, 2024
Meanwhile everyone complains when soccer players fall and say football players would never…
pic.twitter.com/oALaKwakO1
Did Shedeur Sanders fake a cramp to avoid the penalty? 🤔💀
— On3 (@On3sports) August 30, 2024
(via @ESPN) pic.twitter.com/HTt9YDWAt4
Shedeur Sanders "cramp"... real or fake? pic.twitter.com/SLMrvOiora
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) August 30, 2024
Colorado avoided a penalty during the game, but thanks to a rule change a couple years ago, Colorado will probably be fined for this.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Fans Weren’t Buying Shedeur Sanders’s Incredibly Well-Timed Cramp Against NDSU.
