Deion Sanders says ‘hats off to Coach Rhule’ after Nebraska’s win over Colorado

Nebraska just straight up took it to the Buffaloes, especially in the first half of the Huskers’ 28-10 win on Saturday night at a raucous Memorial Stadium.

“Hats off to Coach Rhule,” Sanders said. He paused for a second, staring at a TV on the other side of the room that was airing NU coach Matt Rhule’s postgame press conference.

“His staff coached a heck of a game. We came into class together as coaches, so I’m always rooting for them unless they play us. But I’m happy — if we’re gonna get our butts kicked, might as well be him, a God-fearing man.”

Colorado’s offense unraveled from the jump, a nosedive that never quite touched down, and Nebraska had everything to do with it.

The Buffs went three-and-out on the game’s opening drive, two straight incompletions and a sack on third down. On the next possession, following a kickoff return deep into NU territory, they turned it over after being stuffed in the backfield on fourth-and-1.

NU punted and pinned CU on its own 2, and, on the first play of the drive, Husker defensive back Tommi Hill jumped a pass from Buffs quarterback Shedeur Sanders, walked into the end zone untouched and made Memorial Stadium erupt.

Then CU went three-and-out again.

Why was it so tough for the Buffs to get going?

“I have no idea,” Deion Sanders said. “If we would’ve known that answer, I think we would’ve responded quicker. We just never got it going — until it was too late. We just never got it going.”

After four drives — already down 14-0 midway through the first quarter, with Nebraska driving — Colorado had minus-2 yards of offense.

“The way we started is just not indicative of who we are. We just never got it together,” Deion Sanders said. “Sometimes you have those games, sometimes you have those days. It was just one of those games and days, simultaneously.”

The Buffs were blanked in the first half for the first time since last year’s loss to Oregon on Sept. 23, and their 10 points are their fewest since that day — CU’s first full game without Travis Hunter after the two-way star was injured the week before.

But Colorado had Hunter. And another year of experience on Shedeur Sanders. And speedy wideout Jimmy Horn Jr. And an offensive line that was supposed to be vastly improved after the Buffaloes brought in 42 transfers this offseason.

The Huskers tackled in space against some of the best playmakers in college football. They repeatedly bulldozed through a porous offensive line. They didn’t get beat over the top by one explosive offense.

CU didn’t score until five minutes into the second half, and its lone touchdown — Shedeur Sanders to LaJohntay Wester to make it 28-10 — was too little, too late. It was also the last pass thrown by the Buffs’ starting quarterback, a projected first-round pick in next year’s draft.

Shedeur Sanders, sacked six times and pressured nonstop, was pulled midway through the fourth quarter. Deion Sanders said it was because of a hit his son took on a targeting call earlier in the second half.

“We just wanted to make sure we get him checked out and we have every precaution, because now you’re looking forward to next week,” Deion Sanders said. “That was over. By the time he got out of the game, it was a wrap.”

Nebraska running back Dante Dowdell said he didn’t know that Colorado safety Shilo Sanders suffered an injury on a running play in which the two collided early in the first half.

CU coach Deion Sanders told NBC during the game it was possible his son broke his forearm on the play.

“I don’t know,” the 6-foot-2, 225-pound rusher said with a shrug. “I just know I was trying to send a message and he just had to be that person who got the message. I didn’t think he was hurt after that play but he didn’t come back on.”