Colorado State vs Colorado Parlay, Picks
- Shedeur Sanders 300+ Alt Passing Yards (-182) and Over 2.5 Passing Touchdowns (+116)
- Travis Hunter 100+ Alt Receiving Yards (+102)
- Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi Over 251.5 Passing Yards (-114)
- Colorado State +10.5 (-172)
Parlay Odds: +838 via FanDuel
Please always remember to bet responsibly. SGPs are long shots for a reason.
Last season, Colorado closed as a 24.5-point favorite over Colorado State but needed double overtime to win, 43-35.
This season, Colorado State will again be looking for the upset and hoping to snap a six-game losing streak in the series as it hosts Colorado.
Five of those past six meetings have gone over 50 points, and with explosive passing attacks on both sides, we could see a lot of points on the board once again.
Let's get to my Colorado State vs. Colorado parlay. This game begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on CBS.
SGP Pick#1: Shedeur Sanders 300+ Passing Yards & Over 2.5 Passing TDs
Shedeur Sanders is coming off a subpar game, throwing for 244 yards, one touchdown and a pick-six in a 28-10 loss to Nebraska last week. He once again dealt with a ton of pressure and got sacked five times.
Colorado State sacked him four times last year, but he won't have to worry about Mohamed Kamara, who recorded two of his 13 sacks on the season in last year's game.
In that game, Sanders also torched the CSU defense for 348 passing yards and four touchdowns. It's worth noting that Colorado State also allowed 355 passing yards to Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning in its loss to Texas in Week 1.
If Colorado is going to have a big day offensively, it will be because of Sanders because Colorado's running game is nonexistent. When including sacks, Colorado has had 81 pass plays to 38 running plays through its first two games.
Running back Dallan Hayden is averaging 3.7 yards per carry, and former walk-on Charlie Offerdahl is averaging 2.1 yards per carry.
Head coach Deion Sanders has expressed publicly that his team will become more balanced, but don't expect him to keep his son from airing it out.
Continuing a trend from last year, all five of Colorado's offensive touchdowns this year have come via the pass. Sanders has thrown for three touchdowns or more in five of his six 300-yard passing games at Colorado, including a 445-yard four-touchdown performance against North Dakota State in the season opener.
Four of his receivers have lines of 47.5 yards or higher, but the leading receiver will likely be Travis Hunter.
SGP Pick #2: Travis Hunter 100+ Receiving Yards
Sanders lit Colorado State up last season, but he didn't have Hunter available for much of the game. Hunter suffered a lacerated kidney in the first half, causing him to miss the rest of the game and the next three contests.
Coach Prime's rallying cry has been, "It's personal," and for Hunter, this game likely will be.
Hunter had seven receptions for 132 yards and three touchdowns in Week 1 and 10 receptions for 110 yards last week. He's 14th in the nation with 242 receiving yards and tied for fourth with three touchdowns.
Hunter should have enough volume to post his third consecutive 100-yard game.
SGP Pick #3: Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi Over 251.5 Passing Yards
Sanders wasn't the only quarterback to light it up in last year's Rocky Mountain Showdown. Colorado State quarterback Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi threw for 367 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions in last year's meeting.
He threw the ball 47 times in that game but enters this year's matchup with just 44 attempts for 239 yards. However, there are a few reasons for that.
Colorado State opened the season at Texas and was simply overmatched. Fowler-Nicolosi didn't play the whole game in the blowout.
Last week, it was CSU's turn as the favorite, and it defeated Northern Colorado by a score of 38-17. That allowed CSU to lean on its running game, as it found success with redshirt freshman Justin Marshall and sophomore Keegan Holles.
Now, the Rams are underdogs once again. While I expect them to hang around, I also expect the game script to call for more passing if they're trailing.
Fowler-Nicolosi closed last season by hitting this line in six of his final 11 games. When doing so, he threw for 300 yards five times and 297 in the other game.
You can expect a good chunk of that yardage to go toward wide receiver Tory Horton, who hauled in 16 passes for 133 yards against Colorado last year.
With CSU's improved run game, I'm taking Fowler-Nicolosi at his base line. However, if you want to bump him up to 300 passing yards and Sanders to 325, the odds of this parlay rise quite a bit.
SGP Pick #4: Colorado State Alt. Spread +10.5
Fowler-Nicolosi and Horton turned down substantial NIL offers from Power Four programs to bring a conference championship to Colorado State.
The Rams easily covered as 24-point underdogs against the Buffs last season. They nearly won outright, as they led, 28-17, in the fourth quarter before Colorado rallied to tie the game and win in overtime.
This year, the Rams get the home-field advantage. While I expect Colorado to put up points, I expect CSU to do the same against a Colorado defense that doesn't look much improved.
If the Rams find success running the ball, they may succeed in keeping Sanders and Co. off the field.
In Week 1, Colorado closed as an 11.5-point favorite over North Dakota State but didn't cover with a 31-26 home victory. This time, it's a 7.5-point favorite against a hated in-state rival that feels like it let one slip away last year.
While Coach Prime generates buzz and attention, it's difficult to back his team because the Buffaloes have plenty of question marks on both sides of the ball.
I wouldn't be surprised if CSU covers the +7.5, but for our parlay, I'll move it back just a bit. I don't believe Colorado will win this game by two scores on the road.
