Shedeur Sanders works hard to make sure he has a good rapport with all of his receivers.

The relationship he has with Travis Hunter, however, is special, and it was on full display in Colorado’s 31-26 season-opening win against North Dakota State on Thursday at Folsom Field.

“They got their own little thing going on,” CU head coach Deion Sanders said. “I ain’t mad at it, because it works. They got their own thing.”

Their thing was clicking against the Bison. Sanders completed seven passes to Hunter for 132 yards, including three touchdowns.

“It’s just a certain chemistry that they have where Shedeur, he’s gonna place that ball,” Coach Prime said. “If that guy’s right beside him, he’s gonna place that ball. First of all, there ain’t no 50-50 ball with Travis. If the ball is up close, it’s his ball. So he’s that kind of athlete.”

Shedeur and Hunter are both projected as top picks in the 2025 NFL Draft, and it would be difficult to find a better quarterback-receiver duo in the country this year.

Of course, the Shedeur and Jimmy Horn Jr. connection is pretty good, too. Horn caught seven passes for 198 yards and a touchdown against NDSU. LaJohntay Wester is a newcomer who barely got going on Thursday, but he still had five catches for 58 yards and has bigger days ahead.

Will Sheppard is another star just getting to know Shedeur and he, too, is likely to have some bigger games than the modest two catches for 23 yards he had in the opener.

The bond between Shedeur and Hunter, however, goes back a ways. This is their third year together, as they were also teammates during Hunter’s freshman season at Jackson State in 2022.

Shedeur said the connection goes back to when Hunter took a chance on JSU. The No. 1 recruit in the nation in the 2022 class, Hunter snubbed Florida State and numerous other Power 5 offers to play for Coach Prime and the Tigers. It was an unprecedented move for a five-star to choose to play for an FCS school, and an HBCU in particular.

“There’s really a connection, because he made the decision to defy the odds, to go in a different route, and come to Jackson State at the time,” Shedeur said. “That’s something that I look back and now I really respect him a lot for, because a player of his caliber didn’t have to do that, you know, but he did, and that’s powerful right there.”

Limited to eight games in 2022 because of injury, Hunter caught just 18 passes for 188 yards and four touchdowns that season. But, during their final game at JSU, Shedeur and Hunter provided a glimpse of what was to come in the future.

Hunter hauled in four passes for 47 yards and two touchdowns during the Celebration Bowl in 2022. Both TDs came in the fourth quarter, including a 19-yarder on the final play of regulation to force overtime. Shedeur threw a ball that only Hunter could have hauled in for that score.

The brilliant duo has taken that connection to another level at CU. Hunter caught 57 passes for 721 yards and five touchdowns last season, despite missing three games.

“Years and years and years of connections, years of talking about different things,” Shedeur said of how they developed chemistry.

They have also taken advantage of Hunter being a great cornerback, as well.

“He plays defensive back, so he understands body position, he understands a lot of things that our receivers don’t understand,” Shedeur said. “So that’s like the pro of having him on there when he practiced all week on defense sometimes. Then he gets out there and he handles his business and it’s just, we locked in mentally.

“That’s the overall goal I’m trying to get with all the receivers, really, because everybody knows each game somebody’s gonna shine.”

Horn shined on Thursday. Wester and Sheppard will get their big games, and there are others capable of busting loose. But when No. 12 is on the field, Shedeur knows he can always look in that direction and if he throws it, it’s likely to be caught.