Colorado
Nebraska
Buffs Begin Preparation For Visit From Huskers
September 05, 2023 | Football, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — After taking a little time over the weekend to enjoy their 45-42 win over TCU on Saturday, Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes turned their full attention to Nebraska on Tuesday.
The two teams will renew their long-standing rivalry Saturday in CU's home opener, a nationally televised 10 a.m. contest (Fox) as Colorado kicks off the 100th year of play at Folsom Field.
Sanders is well-aware of the rivalry.
"I've learned the severity, the serious nature of this rivalry and I'm embracing it 100%," he said. "This is personal. That's the message of the week. This is personal."
But truth is, there's far more at stake this week than "just" the rivalry for both squads.
The Buffs have thrust themselves into the national spotlight with their win over the then-No. 17 Horned Frogs. When Tuesday's polls were released, Colorado checked in at No. 22 in the Associated Press poll and No. 25 in the coaches' rankings.
They would no doubt like to continue to move up in those rankings.
The Huskers, meanwhile, are aiming to reverse course after letting a win slip away in coach Matt Rhule's NU debut. Nebraska led Minnesota for much of last week's game, only to see the Gophers rally in the final minutes and escape with a 13-10 win.
It was Nebraska's 14th one-score loss since the beginning of the 2021 season, a trend they are desperate to halt.
Saturday's game in front of a sold-out, frenzied Folsom Field crowd will offer both teams the opportunity to fulfill their goals.
Guaranteed to be in the spotlight Saturday will be Colorado's offense, which spent Saturday afternoon rewriting the CU record book. From quarterback Shedeur Sanders (510 yards passing, four TDs) to freshman running back Dylan Edwards (four touchdowns) to wide receiver Travis Hunter (one of four Buffs with at least 100 yards receiving), the Colorado attack has clearly captured Nebraska's attention.
"They have the guys," Rhule said at his Monday press conference. "They can go down the field and their ball skills are elite. They have a quarterback that can make those throws … His deep-ball accuracy was excellent. His pocket movement was excellent. He played like a guy who's played a lot of football and trusted his receivers."
But Colorado's quarterback believes he can play better and perhaps produce even bigger numbers. He spent the weekend watching film of the win over TCU, but instead of focusing on the big plays — of which there were plenty — he focused on the handful of mistakes he believes he can correct.
"I feel like it was alright," Sanders said. "(But) I feel like I missed a lot of stuff. We could have bigger numbers and stuff like that. I watched the game, the bad clips yesterday, and that left a bad taste in my mouth. I'm just motivated to get out there and just have more perfection. Just a better game."
Sanders knows that Nebraska will spend the week dissecting CU film with hopes of finding a way to at least slow down the Buffs' attack. But he is confident Colorado will still be able to dictate the terms.
"We're not thinking about, 'Hey, what are they going to give us?' because we already know," he said. "We already know what most likely they're going to think, we know what they're going to do. So we just focus on OK, how can we do this better? … We just execute what (offensive coordinator Sean Lewis) calls and do the right thing and he gives us the tools to make every play right. If we're able to do that at a high level, it's going to be hard to stop."
Not that Sanders doesn't respect the Huskers' defense.
"They have a lot of talented players," he said. "They have good D- linemen, they have good 'backers, they have good DBs. It's just being very understanding of what we have on the table and understanding what they have."
Coach Prime, meanwhile, will be paying close attention to his defense this week. The Buffs gave up 541 yards offense — including 262 on the ground — at TCU.
"Defensively it looks like we played like garbage because we surrendered so many yards and points," Sanders said. "And we're going to fix that."
CU's head coach didn't, however, put the blame on defensive coordinator Charles Kelly.
"We have to stop the run," he said. "We have to tackle a lot better. Linebackers have to do their jobs. Coach Kelly called a great game. We must execute the calls. Great game, great calls, you know what's supposed to happen but when it don't happen, you get upset and I can't get upset with the coach. I'm upset with the kids because I know what's supposed to happen. And we have to hold those young men accountable, and we will and we have … But we must be better defensively."
HEISMAN HYPE: Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter are both being mentioned in the national media this week as Heisman Trophy candidates.
Hunter is gaining national attention because of his excellent play on both sides of the ball. Along with his 11 catches last week, he had an interception, three pass breakups and a touchdown-saving tackle on defense.
"Just having the audacity to get an offensive side of the ball and be dominant," Sanders said. "That gives him the upper hand. He's tremendous."
BUFFS NOTES: Coach Prime said running back Alton McCaskill is "close" to being ready to go this weekend … But he also said safety Myles Slusher won't be available because of an injury.
HONORS: Colorado's win helped CU rake in plenty of honors. The Buffs were named the Cheez-It National Team of the Week, Sanders was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, Hunter was the conference's Defensive Player of the Week and Edwards earned honors as the league's Freshman of the Week.
FIRST LOOK AT NEBRASKA: Nebraska's defense was solid in NU's opening loss, holding Minnesota to 251 yards total offense. The Gophers managed just 55 yards rushing and Nebraska registered three quarterback sacks.
But NU struggled offensively with four turnovers, including three interceptions from quarterback Jeff Sims. Nebraska did, though, average almost 5 yards per rushing attempt, finishing with 181 yards on 37 carries.
Sims led NU with 19 carries for 91 yards while Gabe Ervin Jr. had 55 yards on seven carries.
But turnovers ended four promising Nebraska possessions.
"I thought had we not fumbled the ball at five minutes I felt like we were starting to wear down the opponent," Rhule said. "With the greatest respect for them, I thought we were going to be able to run the ball out and finish with about 250 yards rushing. When you only have three drives in the first half and you have four turnovers, it's really hard to wear down your opponent."
