The jury may still be out on Colorado's rebuilt offensive line and run game. Ditto for a Buffaloes defense that struggled in the first half against FCS-foe North Dakota State before finding its footing when it mattered most Thursday night.

But with quarterback Shedeur Sanders and his band of playmaking wide receivers, led by Travis Hunter, these Buffs will never be boring.

Sanders was sublime yet against in the season-opener, passing for 445 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception to lead Colorado to a 31-26 win over the perennial FCS power Bison, who had won six of their past seven games against FBS opponents.

RELATED: Everything coach Deion Sanders said after Colorado's win | Watch postgame interviews with QB Shedeur Sanders and WR/CB Travis Hunter | Travis Hunter makes statement with 3-TD performance | Five takeaways from the season opener

North Dakota State threatened to add another FBS upset to its ledger as it took a 20-17 lead into halftime, piling up 242 yards while scoring on each of its first four possessions. The Bison also stuffed the Buffs on a fourth-and-1 form their own 34 in the second quarter, setting up a short field goal drive and a 20-14 lead.

But the Buffs delivered most of the highlights the rest of the way, starting with an impressive drive in the final 58 seconds of the first half in which Sanders completed passes of 16 yards to Hunter, 11 to Will Sheppard, 25 to LaJohntay Wester and 31 to Jimmy Horn Jr. to set up a 27-yard Alejandro Mata field goal as time expired.

Colorado was still trailing in the third quarter when it faced a third-and-goal from the NDSU 5-yard line and Sanders' low pass into the end zone took a flukey deflection off the back leg of a fallen defensive back and landed in the hands of linebacker Nick Kubitz for an interception and squandered opportunity.

But the Buffs defense answered with a three-and-out and Sanders drove the offense back down the field for an eventual 13-yard touchdown to Hunter to regain the lead, 24-20.

That duo struck again on an incredible off-balance touchdown grab by Hunter on third-and-goal from the 3 midway through the fourth quarter for a 31-20 lead.

North Dakota State used a fourth-down conversion to eventually get back in the end zone with 2:19 remaining on a 20-yard run by quarterback Cam Miller, but the Bison missed the two-point conversion and only had 31 seconds left when they finally got the ball back again.

Hunter finished with 7 catches for 132 yards and 3 TDs while Horn had 7 grabs for 198 yards and a TD.

This marked the Buffs' first win since Oct. 7 of last year.

"I'm happy we got the W. Ms. Peggy's [Coppom] one step closer to the dream and vision that we have for her," Sanders said on Coppom's hope to reach a bowl game. "I think 31 NFL scouts are on hand tonight and I think they saw what they came to see. ... Imma try my best to hold back my anger, but we got the W so I'm happy."

First quarter

12:12, NDSU: Griffin Crosa 36-yard field goal, NDSU 3-0

9:31, COL: Travis Hunter 41-yard pass from Shedeur Sanders (Alejandro Mata kick), COL 7-3

3:59, NDSU: Joe Stoffel 7-yard pass from Cam Miller (Griffin Crosa kick), NDSU 10-7

3:15, COL: Jimmy Horn Jr. 69-yard pass from Shedeur Sanders (Alejandro Mata kick), COL 14-10

Second quarter

12:07, NDSU: Cam Miller 7-yard run (Griffin Crosa kick), NDSU 17-14

4:33, NDSU: Griffin Crosa 31-yard field goal, NDSU 20-14

0:00, COL: Alejandro Mata 27-yard field goal, NDSU 20-17

Third quarter

7:45, COL: Travis Hunter 13-yard pass from Shedeur Sanders (Alejandro Mata kick), COL 24-20

Fourth quarter

7:57, COL: Travis Hunter 3-yard pass from Shedeur Sanders (Alejandro Mata kick), COL 31-20

2:19, NDSU: Cam Miller 20-yard run (pass failed), COL, 31-26

Because it has Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter, of course.

But also, the defense adjusted well after a rough start and delivered big after halftime.

The Buffs forced punts on North Dakota State's first two possessions of the second half, allowing Sanders and Co. to pull the home team back ahead.

The Bison didn't score again until there was 2:19 left in the game.

The Buffs could have fell victim to one of the most flukey bad luck plays you'll ever see early in the third quarter. Instead, they not only warded off a momentum swing the other way but quickly flipped the script in their own favor.

It all started on a third-and-goal from the North Dakota State 5-yard line set up by a beautiful flick-of-the-wrist 40-yard completion from Shedeur Sanders to Travis Hunter. On that third down play, though, Sanders tried to fit a low pass into his targeted receiver only to have the ball deflect off the back calf of Bison defensive back Anthony Chideme-Alfaro, who was laying on the ground, up into the air and into the hands of linebacker Nick Kubitz for an interception.

Colorado was trailing 20-17 at the time and had just lost a prime scoring opportunity to an improbable scenario, but the Buffs showed their best poise of the game in that moment.

The defense forced a three-and-out -- including a third-down sack by Chidozie Nwankwo -- and Sanders and the offense went right back to work with a 5-play, 72-yard touchdown drive that started with a 41-yard completion to Jimmy Horn Jr. and ended with a 13-yard TD strike to Hunter in the end zone as the Buffs took a 24-20 lead.

Colorado faced another pivotal third-and-goal midway through the fourth quarter where a touchdown would give the Buffs a two-score lead.

On third-and-3, Sanders fired toward Hunter in the right corner of the end zone. The dynamic wide receiver was tightly covered and already off balance and falling toward the sideline but he got his right hand on the ball and pulled it in for a huge touchdown that put Colorado up 31-20 with 7:57 left to play.

It was Hunter's third touchdown of the game.

QB Shedeur Sanders

Even in a collapsing pocket, Sanders was able to drop various dimes to his receivers. The Buffs' ground game was very minimal, and similar to last year Sanders was there to ignite CU's offense, completing 76 percent of his passes with 445 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception.

"I was ready to get all the receivers involved," Sanders said. "It's just about the coverage. It's not really even about the ice on it, plays break down, but overall that's just how football is."

Six receivers and one running back with Dallan Hayden got involved in the pass game on Thursday, but the evening was highlighted by the performances of Jimmy Horn Jr. with 198 yards and a touchdown and Hunter with 132 yards and 3 touchdowns. Sanders' ability to place the ball in difficult situations and keep drives alive was the key to Colorado's first win of the season against a gritty FCS team.

Linebacker Trevor Woods

The defense fell flat in the first half, but once it came out of the locker room after the half, defensive coordinator Robert Livingston and his guys came to play.

Colorado's linebackers were a defensive key heading into this matchup with North Dakota State pounding the ground approach and Trevor Woods stepped up in his role at inside linebacker. Woods led the Buffs with 10 tackles and 1 tackle for loss.

Woods showed up big in the third quarter, holding the Bison in a three-and-out drive at the beginning of the third quarter with a tackle on third-and-8.

Safety Savion Riley deserves a hat tip for his performance on Thursday as he stepped in for Cam'ron Silmon-Craig, who came out early in the first half. He finished with 7 tackles and 1 tackle for loss.

"Cam did a pretty good job of helping him out this offseason, teaching him the way to go, how you got to treat your body, how you got to go along with everything, and how you have to be in the playbook," Hunter said of Silmon-Craig working with Riley this offseason. "Cam did a real good job of doing that, so we know when he got in the game, all we got to do is communicate with each other."

Cam'ron Silmon-Craig suffered an injury in the first quarter of the game as he collided head first into a player and remained out the rest of the game. According to Hunter, Silmon-Craig endured a concussion. After the game, head coach Deion Sanders did not know the status of Silmon-Craig.

"No, I don't know whatsoever," Sanders said. "Hopefully they get me one soon, but he's a leader. He's a dog. He's one of our defensive guys and losing a guy like that early in the game it hurt, and it did."

Colorado

Total offensive yards: 504

Passing

Shedeur Sanders: 26 of 34 for 445 yards, 4 TDs, 1 INT

Rushing

Dallan Hayden: 9 carries for 20 yards

Shedeur Sanders: 6 carries for 17 yards

Charlie Offerdahl: 5 carries for 15 yards

Drelon Miller: 2 carries for 7 yards

Travis Hunter: 1 carry for 0 yards

Receiving

Jimmy Horn Jr.: 7 catches for 198 yards, 1 TD

Travis Hunter: 7 catches for 132 yards, 3 TDs

LaJohntay Wester: 5 catches for 58 yards

Will Sheppard: 2 catches for 23 yards

Dallan Hayden: 1 catch for 14 yards

Charlie Offerdahl: 2 catches for 13 yards

Drelon Miller: 2 catches for 7 yards

North Dakota State

Total offensive yards: 449

Passing

Cam Miller: 18 of 22 for 277 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT

Cole Payton: 2 of 2 for 15 yards

Rushing

Cam Miller: 16 carries for 81 yards, 2 TDs

CharMar Brown: 9 carries for 33 yards

Barika Kpeenu: 9 carries for 32 yards

Bryce Lance: 1 carry for 8 yards

TK Marshall: 3 carries for 5 yards

Cole Peyton: 4 carries for 5 yards

RaJa Nelson: 1 carry for -7 yards

Receiving

Braylon Henderson: 5 catches for 72 yards

TK Marshall: 1 catch for 48 yards

Tyler Terhark: 2 catches for 48 yards

Raja Nelson: 4 catches for 45 yards

Bryce Lance: 3 catches for 32 yards

Joe Stoffel: 3 catches for 31 yards, TD

CharMar Brown: 1 catch for 12 yards

Chris Harris: 1 catch for 4 yards