University of Colorado
Nebraska vs. No. 22 Colorado Game Preview: These aren't your father's powerhouse teams
Colorado has been the talk of college football for the greater part of eight months, but it's different now because Deion Sanders gave the naysayers something to believe. The man executing the plan won over millions of people who doubted him and that's only a view from the surface.
Colorado was a program in desperate need of sweeping changes. Desperate times call for drastic measures and many viewed the hire of Coach Prime as being drastic, including Florida State who passed on inking their one-time playmaker. His original vision of rejoining the program he built up in the late 80's was shattered.
Rick George believed Sanders was going to come in and change everything, which was exactly what he did. In doing so, Coach Prime has flipped the college football watching world on its ear. Those people who underestimated Sanders from the start had no way to escape the avalanche of truth they faced. Instead of looking at his track record of accomplishments from high school through his start at Colorado, they chose to lean on what has or hasn’t been done previously in college football.
What Coach Prime did to overturn the roster, set his standard and put a team on the field against a top 20 opponent that was efficient and without discipline-based mistakes is unprecedented. The result showed up in the box score for the Buffaloes. Shedeur Sanders threw for over 500 yards with four 100-yard receivers. The coach's son and Deacon Jones Award winner set nine CU records in his FBS debut.
Nebraska has felt the pain of having to start fresh. They went out and made Matt Rhule the next coach to lead the Huskers into a new era. The defunct NFL coach collected a fair amount of money courtesy of the league's richest owner, David Tepper, and was bounced by the Carolina Panthers after going 3-16 in his final games.
Rhule's Nebraska debut was less than stellar with a 13-10 loss against Minnesota last Thursday. The least amount of points scored in an opener in 42 years. Huskers starting QB Jeff Sims threw for a staggering 114 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. Nebraska didn’t have a single receiver over 56 yards.
Two very different programs headed in opposite directions.The traditionalists or ‘old heads’ of college football see this game a bit more evenly matched due to nostalgia of the past. Nebraska was built off the success of Tom Osborne's accomplishments. And yet, it's a pinnacle they haven't matched in the past two decades and it doesn't appear they're headed back in the early going with Rhule.
Colorado came into the season with an unknown, unproven roster of 68 new players and showed the world a blueprint for the new age of college football. The lack of respect from those who refuse to buy into what is happening in Boulder is only side noise. What matters is the scoreboard at the end of the game. CU's offense was efficient and explosive with Sean Lewis showing off the talent of Shedeur Sanders.
Colorado is a 3-point favorite for their first home game which is against bitter, longtime rival Nebraska. It's almost always a virtual draw with a slight home field advantage. The oddsmakers once again think the Buffs will have a let down, thus why it's kept so close.
If Colorado was an objectively bad program from the last 20-30 years, what do these analysts think Nebraska is with Matt Rhule's team looking terrible against Minnesota? The Buffs have not been a national power since the 90's, but neither has Nebraska.
They have three significant bowl wins since their last National Championship in 1997. While Colorado has four significant bowl wins since their only National Championship in 1990. It's pretty equal for both sides, if we're honest. Let's not forget the current conditions with Colorado looking a whole lot better than Nebraska after one game. However, to say Nebraska has an edge in this matchup because the past five years or so is horrendous. While TCU may not be as good as people expected them to be, they are much more formidable than Minnesota.
In that game, Nebraska will lean heavily on their ability to run the ball. This means Colorado’s run stoppers need to account for Sims as a dual-threat. If the Buffs score at even 60 percent the clip they did against TCU, the Huskers will be forced to throw the ball. If that happens, they won’t stay with Colorado for long. Maybe the crux of the debate falls on defense. After all, even Deion Sanders said after TCU that the defense has a lot to clean up.
Nebraska had three sacks and five tackles for loss against Minnesota, almost exactly what TCU did against Colorado. So, the Buffs offensive line will look to improve as well.
In reality, the only reason anyone is predicting Nebraska will be competitive and not that everything points to a big Colorado win is about the noise and disruption Coach Prime brings to the FBS College Football landscape. Because it “dern” sure isn’t from the analysis. That’s fine. We can pretend that Matt Rhule is the second coming of Tom Osbourne and Jeff Sims is the second coming of Tommy Frasier. Just make sure to keep that same energy when Colorado notches a second win of the season. Even if they don’t, Coach Prime keeps receipts.
We're not living in the 1990s and neither of these teams are what they were back then. The difference is Coach Prime has completely rebuilt the standard and expectation at CU in nine months and is already seeing unparalleled results. While Matt Rhule looks to be just another coach doing the same stuff Nebraska has done over the last few decades.
The best they can with the players they can get. This is not your Father’s CU. But also, this is not your Father’s Nebraska. The old heads and established traditionalist analysts need to stop looking at it that way or it’s going to be a long season for them.
No. 22 Colorado welcomes Nebraska into Folsom Field for a rekindling of the Big Eight rivalry. The Buffs have won the previous two games in the series in a home and home split.
GAME INFO
Kickoff: 12:00 PM ET
TV: FOX (National) *available on FUBO for streaming
Radio: KOA (Mark Johnson, Gary Barnett)
Current Line: Colorado -3
Weather Forecast: 80°, sunny at kickoff
