North Dakota State football head coach Tim Polasek watched a 250-play recap of Shedeur Sanders’ best moments (thanks to Pro Football Focus) and was grateful for the challenge that awaits him Thursday night.
The Bison are one of the most successful FCS programs in college football, winning nine NCAA Division I FCS national championships and exactly 90% of their games (172-19) since 2011, but they have never seen a talent like Colorado’s quarterback.
“He’s the best player NDSU has played to date; I really believe that,” Polasek said of Sanders during his Week 1 press conference. “This guy is process-oriented. He’s progression-oriented. He’s aware of footwork, timing and rhythm. He takes what the defense gives him. He goes to the right spots and on top of that he can play from different platforms.”
“In my opinion, his biggest strength is that he can get his cleats in the ground and release the ball quickly when he needs to. That has a positive impact on RPOs (run-pass options) and relief-type plays. He’s impressive.”
More: Why Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders is one of the best quarterbacks in college football
Polasek has only been NDSU’s head coach since December, but his ties to NDSU (and knowledge of its history) go back a long way.
The former quarterback and all-time leading passer at Concordia University in Wisconsin began his first tenure with the Bison in 2006 as a graduate assistant. He coached NDSU’s running backs/tight ends for seven seasons (2006-2012) and three more years as the program’s offensive coordinator (2014-16), including one season at Northern Illinois (2013).
Polasek coached the offensive line at Iowa (2017-2020) and was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Wyoming for the past three years. The longtime football coach said he admires the style with which Sanders plays the quarterback position.
More: What Colorado football coordinators said about Week 1’s game against NDSU
“Some of his best plays are the simple ones where he throws the ball away,” Polasek said of Sanders on Monday. “I admire Shedeur because he plays the position the way it was always meant to be played: rhythm, timing and footwork all come together. Add to that the ability to extend plays and throw – he’s not primarily a runner, but he’s capable – it’s pretty impressive.”
“It’s exciting. I think our fans should be excited and appreciate seeing a first-round quarterback play against the Bison.”
Colorado and NDSU kick off Week 1 of the college football season on Thursday night (6 p.m. MT, ESPN) in Boulder.
Follow Colorado Buffaloes sports reporter Scott Procter on X.
