Huskers Safety Marques Buford Jr. Watches and Learns

Like most fans who love his sport, Nebraska safety/defensive back Marques Buford Jr. spent Saturday morning, noon and night watching college football.

Watching was pure entertainment, as college football often is. But it was a little bit more. Buford said he learned some things. Things that might help him refine his craft.

“I was watching stuff all the way from the game in Ireland, to FCS, low D-II football this weekend,” said the Huskers senior who will play on ESPN on Thursday night in the season opener against Cincinnati at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

“It was fun, you know. Football season coming back around is always a good feeling … There’s just something about, the air starts to feel a little different.

“I feel like it was great to able to watch those games and nitpick little stuff from them. Watch not just from a fan point of view but get into a film-watching mindset with it sometimes and noticing different stuff like that we talk about in our team meeting with Coach [Matt] Rhule — emphasis on how not to beat ourselves. We saw a lot of that stuff this past weekend.”

Some bad memories for Buford

Watching Iowa State defeat Kansas State in Dublin on Saturday also brought back painful memories to Buford. He was a sophomore who started when the Huskers played Northwestern in Ireland on Aug. 27, 2022. Nebraska lost to the Wildcats, 31-28. The Huskers had a 28-17 lead in the third quarter.

“It’s night and day [the current Nebraska team when compared with the 2022 team],” Buford said. “I felt like that was a good team but I feel like this is a great team that I’m on.

“I loved all those guys that were on that team but I feel like it’s definitely a different feeling around here in the building. Just on a day-to-day basis everybody has the same goal and we’re all enforcing the same standard so it’s really exciting.”

Challenging opener for Huskers

Cincinnati redshirt junior quarterback Brendan Sorsby will present a challenge to Buford and the Huskers defense on Thursday night. Sorsby is mobile. He can successfully throw on the move. He keeps plays alive with his legs.

“For us, just make sure our keys are always right, our eyes are in the right spots and at the end of the day it’s a full 11-man game,” Buford said about defending Sorsby.

“So, it’s going to be the d-line working with the linebackers and the linebackers working with us to make sure that we keep this guy [Sorsby] under wraps.

“I’m excited for it. Football, you know, it’s a competitive game and I’m glad we get to see a quarterback like him first week.”

Nebraska's Marques Buford Jr. has played defensive back and safety with the Cornhuskers. | Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Buford, who is from Chicago, has played 40 games in four seasons with the Huskers. He has played defensive back and safety. He is listed as the starting safety on the depth chart for the Cincinnati game. In his career, he has 115 tackles, seven tackles for loss and three interceptions. For the second consecutive season, he will wear a prestigious, single-digit uniform number, No. 3. Nebraska’s single-digit numbers are voted on by their teammates for the “toughest” players.

Buford said about defensive coordinator John Butler, who was promoted from defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator to his current position before the Pinstripe Bowl: “I love Coach Butler. I couldn’t be more confident in having anybody else calling out what we’re going to be running out there on the field this week.

“He’s a fiery, passionate guy. He comes to work everyday. You can’t want anything else from a coach that’s going to be leading you out there to play.”

Buford is an academic superstar off the field. He earned a degree in child, youth and family studies in December.

His awards:

* Academic All-Big Ten (2022, 2023, 2024)
* Eight-Time Nebraska Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll
* Brook Berringer Citizenship Team (2023)
* Tom Osborne Citizenship Team (2023, 2024, 2025)

Going to Kansas City

Buford has another reason to be pumped up with Thursday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs.

“It means the world to me,” said Buford, whose younger brother Mario is a Nebraska sophomore defensive back. “I’m super excited for it.

“I’ve never personally played in an NFL stadium in my college football career. So I’m really excited for that. That’s just being some place I’m aspiring to be in the near future. It just gives me a little peek into what it’s like playing on an NFL field.”

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