LINCOLN, Neb. – The Colorado Buffaloes (1-1) traveled to Lincoln on Saturday to take on their arch-rival, the Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-0) at Memorial Stadium.
The Cornhuskers dominated the game in the trenches on both sides of the ball en route to a 28-10 victory, the first time the Huskers have defeated the Buffaloes in over 5,000 days.
The game started poorly for the Buffaloes after a quick three-and-out gave the Huskers excellent field position at the CU 49-yard line. Nebraska established the power-run game early and often, paired with a good scramble from true freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, and it jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead.
The crowd was a factor all night long, as the sellout crowd of 86,906 fans made it impossible to communicate for the Colorado offense, and hence raised the pressure of the moment from the start.
“Everyone (wants to) be him until it’s time to be him. We’ve got to be able to handle that pressure,” said Colorado head coach Deion Sanders.
The Buffs came out of the gates flat and didn’t make any adjustments to get themselves back on track before it was too late. The offensive line looked worse than it did in 2023, and couldn’t properly block any form of a stunt from the Nebraska defensive line all night. The Huskers constantly had free rushers screaming at Shedeur Sanders’ face, and the run game, once again, was a total failure.
Colorado ran the ball just once in the first quarter, a two-yard loss up the middle by Charlie Offerdahl on fourth down. CU running backs now have 88 yards on 27 carries through the first two games of the season.
“It was the flow of the game,” Sanders said as the reason why Colorado running backs only had four carries in the first half.
The passing game meanwhile, was poor when the game mattered. Colorado’s next drive after the turnover on downs started at their two-yard line and ended quickly once Sanders threw a pick-six on a late throw to the boundary.
Sanders was out of rhythm in the first half, constantly mistiming throws while taking a few sacks of his own (not everything is the offensive line’s fault!). The Nebraska crowd was loud and proud from the start, and their presence affected Sanders and the rest of the offense during the game.
The Buffs also lost two of their veteran defenders on Saturday, as safety Shilo Sanders exited early with a forearm injury and linebacker Trevor Woods was ejected for targeting just before halftime. Carter Stoutmire and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig got most of the reps at safety for the rest of the game.
Colorado’s only drive where the offense looked somewhat normal in the first half came midway through the second quarter, going for nine plays and 63 yards, but yielded zero points after Alejandro Mata’s 30-yard field goal attempt was blocked.
Penalties were also a problem for the Buffs, as the team racked up seven penalties totaling 80 yards in just the first half. Many showed shades of the 2023 Buffs, being poor mental mistakes such as an illegal substitution on a Nebraska PAT attempt.
The Huskers got the ball back with a minute and 25 seconds left in the half, and marched down the field in just three plays, capitalized by an 18-yard touchdown reception by Nebraska’s Rahmir Johnson on a ball that went right through the hands of Colorado linebacker Lavonta Bentley. He turned around and watched Johnson scamper to the end zone in disbelief, a perfect snapshot of how the night went for the Buffs.
To end the half, instead of attempting a hail mary, Coach Prime sent out kicker Jace Feely to attempt a 61-yard field goal that came up at least 10 yards short. The decision left Buffs fans perplexed and confused as their team trotted into the locker room with their heads down, trailing by 28.
Penalties were also a problem for the Buffs in the first half, as the team racked up seven penalties totaling 80 yards in the first 30 minutes of the ballgame.
“We can’t do stupid stuff,” said Coach Prime. “We’ve got to stop the foolishness.”
In the second half, Nebraska’s offense came out looking like a shell of what it was in the first half, going nowhere on their first two drives. The Buffs looked somewhat like their true selves as well on offense, but the Husker defense was not as aggressive as they were early on. The Buffs' defense held Nebraska scoreless in the second half, which is a high note to build momentum on heading into Fort Collins next week.
“Defense surrendered some things early but I’m really, really pleased with the way they played in the second half. It seems like we’re a team of second halves defensively. We just got to get it going earlier.” said Sanders.
Colorado’s defense has now allowed just six points through two second halves to start the season. Despite getting blitzed early on in both games, defensive coordinator Robert Livingston has shown an ability to motivate his players at halftime.
“It’s not more of the adjustments he makes, it’s the man he is,” Silmon-Craig said. “The way he’s passionate, that he talks to you, and how he puts belief in you… it’s just a guy you would run through a wall for.”
The Buffs' offense put together two scoring drives in the second half totaling 10 points, but they were both empty drives as the game felt over by the time they got a rhythm under their belt. An eight-play drive in the third quarter resulted in a 27-yard field goal from Mata, and a six-play drive in the fourth quarter resulted in the Buffs’ only touchdown of the game thanks to a diving catch from wide receiver LaJohntay Wester.
The touchdown drive was Sanders’ final drive of the game, as backup quarterback Ryan Staub led the offense for their final drive which ended with him being strip-sacked and turning the ball over.
This game was one of the worst showings from a Colorado team in recent memory. However, their aggressiveness of passing the ball and going for it on fourth down shows the mentality of this team and the confidence they have in themselves going forward.”
“If we’re going to go down, I’d rather go down swinging, honestly,” said Shedeur Sanders. “'Cause I know I can throw the best punch.”
The Buffs' next game is in Fort Collins on Saturday against the Colorado State Rams. This edition of the Rocky Mountain Showdown kicks off at 5:30 p.m. MT on CBS.
Cover photo by Talus Schreiber/Sko Buffs Sports
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