BOULDER, Colo. — Shedeur Sanders was just trying to be nice and give his teammate a late touchdown. It almost backfired.

Sanders threw for 445 yards and four touchdowns (three by Travis Hunter) and Colorado began the second year under Deion Sanders by holding off FCS powerhouse North Dakota State 31-26 on Thursday night.

But it was the pass that Shedeur Sanders didn’t have to make that caused a stir.

With 1:41 left and a couple of run plays needed to run the clock, Sanders attempted to connect deep with LaJohntay Wester. He threw the pass short and it ended 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 nature. I’m like, ‘Come on, Dawg, not right now. This is not the time to be the good kid. This is the time to forfeit this game.'”

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

“Have you ever felt like you won and you didn’t?” said Deion Sanders, whose team was a 10½-point favorite. “Let’s just stop doing that. I’m going to do my best to hold back my anger. But we won, so I’m happy.”

The Bison’s methodical play in the first half helped keep Heisman Trophy candidate Sanders and the Colorado offense on the sidelines. But once Sanders got there, he went to work.

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

Hunter’s acrobatic, 3-yard TD with a defensive back all around him gave Colorado a 31-20 lead with 7:57 left. He celebrated by spinning the ball and dancing. Hunter still had so much energy, despite playing cornerback all night.

Hunter’s play caught the attention of NBA legend LeBron James, who wrote on social media, “MAN TRAVIS HUNTER IS RIDICULOUS!!!!! WOW.”

Like Sanders, Hunter has been mentioned in Heisman conversations.

Sanders finished 26 of 34 with an interception. He has now thrown for 955 yards and eight TDs in two openers at Colorado (he had 510 yards last season at TCU).

“It was cool,” Sanders said of his big night. “But every incomplete pass hurts me a little bit inside. I’m happy with the win, but (there are) definitely situations in that game that I personally could have handled better.”

This version of the Buffaloes’ offense looked an awful lot like last season, with a fearsome passing game but virtually no ground attack. Colorado was outscored 157-59 on Thursday night. The revamped offensive line allowed just one sack, but Sanders spent a fair amount of time scuttling around.

Colorado’s defense is still developing under new defensive coordinator Robert Livingston. Miller scored on a 20-yard scramble to make it 31-26 with 2:19. His pass on the two-point conversion was incomplete.

“There’s nothing good about losing,” Miller said. “But I do feel like this is going to give us a lot of confidence offensively and defensively.”

North Dakota State’s new coach, Tim Polasek, had his team on the verge of an upset. The Bison led 20-17 at halftime, with Miller orchestrating the offense almost perfectly. He finished with two rushing TDs and threw another. The Bison showed a national audience exactly why they are ranked No. 2 in the FCS preseason polls.

“The difference in the game is they played a few more plays than we did,” Polasek said. “I really believe that.”