When Pat Shurmur was first hired as the offensive coordinator of the Colorado Buffaloes, the move was met by criticism and disappointment from a chunk of fans.

After all, quarterback Shedeur Sanders is a dynamic college quarterback and there’s a trend of teams hiring young, innovative and dynamic coordinators.

Shurmur, 59, and Sanders have proven to be an exceptional pairing, however, for the No. 21 Buffaloes (6-2, 4-1 Big 12), who visit Texas Tech on Saturday (2 p.m., Fox).

“I think better players make everybody look a little smarter, right?” Shurmur, who spent more than two decades coaching in the NFL, said during CU’s bye last week. “It’s been fun for me. Our journey together, it’s been short, but we got very close very quickly. And we sort of think alike. We’re able to kind of come to the same conclusion about what it should look like, and then he’s got to go out there and execute it. So that’s been fun.”

Through eight games, the Buffs are averaging 31.4 points per game, more than a 3-point jump over last year (28.2) and on pace for CU’s best average since 2001 (33.0).

Sanders is a Heisman Trophy candidate and projected top-10 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. He’s among the national leaders in completion percentage (second, 73.3%), touchdown passes (tied-third, 21), passing yards per game (seventh, 323.9) and QB rating (10th, 164.98).

Throughout the year, Shurmur and Sanders, as well as star receiver/cornerback Travis Hunter, have made important game-day adjustments.

“We’re able to tweak things,” Shurmur said. “We’re able to come to the sideline, and when we get together, we’re watching the iPad, and we’ll say, ‘The next time, I call this, let’s just change this route.’ And then obviously, Travis is always in the middle of that.

“So it’s been very inspiring and fun for me. I really don’t care what we run, as long as I know what it is and we have success running it. “

The adjustments haven’t been limited to game days, either.

Shurmur was asked if the offense “evolves or refines” during a season and had to give some credit to the reporter asking that thought-provoking question.

“It definitely evolves, right?” he said. “Because I like to try to run four or five things each week that (the defenses) haven’t seen. So that’s evolving. But then the refinement piece is you want to be able to run some of the same things every week and do it better, and that’s the advantage of practice. So to answer your question, I think it’s both. If you’ve got the right players and you’re doing the right things, you can refine and evolve.”

With Sanders and the passing game there has been a lot of refinement, working on perfecting that aspect of the offense. After a 34-23 win against Cincinnati on Oct. 26, a game in which Sanders was exceptional, going 25-of-30 for 323 yards and two touchdowns, he spoke about needing to be better.

“There’s some throws overall, some reads, some things I could’ve done better personally,” he said. “So we never feel great coming out of a win knowing that we did everything we can, but we still missed out on some opportunities.”

Meanwhile, the offense has evolved to include more of a ground attack.

The Buffs still rank near the bottom of the country in rushing (130th, 80.63 yards per game), but there’s been a dramatic difference in recent weeks.

Since posting a program-record low minus-29 rushing yards in a 31-28 loss to Kansas State on Oct. 12, the Buffs have run the ball 79 times for 271 yards (135.5 yards per game) the past two games.

After rushing for at least 100 yards as a team just twice in the first 14 games under head coach Deion Sanders, the Buffs have done it four times in the past six games.

“Just running the football, period, takes a tremendous amount of pressure off the quarterback, off the line,” Coach Prime said. “And now we have a lot more balance, which I’m not going to say that wins games, but it sure does help the situation.”

It’s all part of that evolution and refinement, but also the like-minded manner in which Shurmur and Shedeur approach each week.

“You have a better feel for the players that we have (as the season goes along),” Shurmur said. “I feel like we’re playing better and better each week, but that can all come to a screeching halt if we don’t keep working, so we’re going to try to the next few days, refine and evolve.”