Shedeur Sanders, Travis Hunter help Colorado hold off North Dakota St. - ESPN

BOULDER, Colo. — Shedeur Sanders was just trying to be the nice guy and get his teammate a late touchdown. It nearly backfired.

Sanders threw for 445 yards and four touchdowns — three to Travis Hunter — and Colorado began Year 2 under coach Deion Sanders by holding off FCS power North Dakota State 31-26 on Thursday night.

But it was the pass Shedeur Sanders didn't need to throw that raised some eyebrows.

With 1:41 left and a couple of run plays all that were necessary to run down the clock, Sanders tried to connect deep with LaJohntay Wester. He underthrew the pass and it wound up incomplete to stop the clock.

Deion Sanders' fatherly advice: no more Mr. Nice Guy.

«Shedeur's such a good kid, sometimes it costs him,» the coach said. «That's his character. I'm like, 'Come on, Dawg, not right now. It's not time to be the good guy right now. It's time to put this game away.'»

North Dakota State got the ball back with 31 seconds left. As time expired, Cam Miller launched a pass from his own 47 that was caught by Tyler Terhark 4 yards short of the end zone.

«You ever feel like you won but you didn't win?» said Deion Sanders, whose team was a 10½-point favorite. «Let's move on from that. I'm going to try my best to hold back my anger. But we got a 'W' so I'm happy.»

The methodical play of the Bison in the first half helped keep Heisman Trophy hopeful Sanders and the Colorado offense on the sideline. But once Sanders was out there, he went to work.

Jimmy Horn Jr. had seven catches for 198 yards and a score, and Hunter hauled in seven passes for 132 yards.

Hunter's acrobatic, 3-yard TD with a defensive back draped on him gave Colorado a 31-20 lead with 7:57 left. He celebrated by spinning the ball and doing a dance. Hunter still