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By Saleh Awwad
Cronkite News
TUCSON – The Arizona Wildcats’ showdown against the Colorado Buffaloes and Deion Sanders in Tucson quickly turned into a lopsided dud Saturday, but for NFL fans watching, the game featured a surplus of names expected to be called at the 2025 draft.
Across the two teams, five projected 2025 first-round NFL Draft picks took the field at Arizona Stadium, according to ESPN’s latest mock draft.
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, Arizona offensive lineman Jonah Savaiinaea and Arizona defensive back Tacario Davis matched up against Colorado’s two-way phenom Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Hunter covered McMillan early on and limited the 6-foot-5 receiver to two receptions for 15 yards through the first 30 minutes of play.
On the other side of the ball, Davis matched up against Hunter and held him to just two catches for 17 yards. However, Hunter did draw a defensive pass interference on Davis in the end zone – setting Colorado up for a goal-line touchdown in the first quarter.
Asked about the Buffaloes’ star players and if they impacted his team mentally in the 34-7 loss, Arizona coach Brent Brennan was completely open about their play.
“Honestly I think that was just 100 percent Colorado getting after us,” Brennan said postgame. “I think they played better than we did today, and that’s why I’m saying that I have to get this thing right because what we put out there today was not nearly good enough.”
Hunter, a Heisman Trophy contender, sat out for the entire second half as a precaution after reportedly aggravating a right shoulder injury he suffered in the previous week against Kansas State.
“Travis wanted to play, I don’t know if he was quite 100 percent ready but half of Travis is a whole of somebody,” Deion Sanders said. “It affects us on two sides of the ball but he went out there, showed face, and tried his best to do what he’s capable of doing.”
The Wildcats’ defense forced Shedeur to throw two interceptions for the first time in his collegiate career, but the projected top-5 draft pick did not let that discourage him.
Through seven games this season, Shedeur has thrown for 2,268 yards, 19 touchdowns and six interceptions. He has completed 72.2% of his passes – which ranks as the highest in all of college football among quarterbacks with at least 250 pass attempts.
“Overall, I’m just focused on the win,” said Shedeur, who completed 70% of his 33 pass attempts and converted on three total touchdowns in Saturday’s victory. “We’re going to clean those (the turnovers) up, watch film during the week and talk our way through everything.”
A reported 17 NFL scouts from 12 teams attended the game to watch these future draft picks, according to FOX.
Over the last 15 years, Arizona has had just one first-round NFL draft selection and now has an opportunity to triple that number in April.
The Wildcats’ lone Day One selection in the past 15 years came earlier this year when the Green Bay Packers took offensive lineman Jordan Morgan with the 25th overall selection. Morgan was named to the first-team All-Pac-12 Conference during his final collegiate season and played a significant role in Arizona’s most successful season over the last decade.
Before Morgan, the program’s last first-round selection came in 2008, when the Los Angeles Chargers took defensive back Antoine Cason with the 27th overall pick.
Colorado, on the other hand, has had just two first-round players taken over the last 20 years. Buffaloes’ offensive lineman Nate Soldier and defensive back Jimmy Smith were selected in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft.
Soldier played for 10 years and won two Super Bowls (2014 and 2016) starting for the New England Patriots. Smith played for the Baltimore Ravens for 11 seasons and also won a Super Bowl (2012) with the team.
While both teams lack deep draft histories, that will likely change in April.
The projected first-rounders have impressed during the 2024 college football season, appearing ready for the next level, and they will look to improve their draft stock this weekend.
The Buffaloes (5-2, 3-1), who face Cincinnati at home Saturday, are now one win away from being bowl-eligible, but their focus is on the expanded College Football Playoff as the sixth-best team in the Big 12 standings.
“We’re not who we used to be but we sure ain’t where we want to be,” Deion added.
Arizona (3-4, 1-3), in contrast, has lost three straight games and desperately needs a victory at home against West Virginia (3-4, 2-2) to turn it around.
After being limited to a touchdown against the Buffaloes, the Wildcats have scored under 20 points in three of their seven games this season.
Asked how confident he is that the offensive issues can be fixed this season, Brennan remained optimistic.
“I think there’s a lot of football left to play. Some of the things have been complicated, that has been a little bit of a revolving door of who’s available on gameday,” he said. “I’m the head football coach, it’s my job to get us right.”
They have a chance to get it right against a Mountaineer team that is coming off back-to-back double-digit losses against top-25 ranked teams.
This will be the first matchup between the two programs in history.
“That’s a good football team (West Virginia),” Brennan said Monday. “Every week in this conference, if you don’t show up ready to play, someone is gonna get after you.”
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