The Nebraska Cornhuskers walked away with one of the better wins of the Matt Rhule era on Saturday evening at Memorial Stadium, dominating Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes 28-10 on national television. The Husker’s offense and defense showed why Nebraska fans are so excited about the team’s potential this fall.
The win was the Husker’s first over the Buffaloes since 2010, when Bo Pelini led the Huskers to a 45-17 victory over Colorado.
Now at 2-0 on the season and finding themselves ranked inside the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2019, Cornhuskers Wire provides five takeaways from Saturday’s victory.
The kid is alright
He wasn’t facing the ’85 Chicago Bears by any means, but it was another promising performance by former five-star quarterback Dylan Raiola. The true freshman once again played well beyond his years and was calm, cool, and collected throughout the evening en route to completing 23-of-30 pass attempts for 185 yards and a touchdown. If he continues to play at this level, the Huskers will have a real chance on any Saturday.
Huskers have a chance at a special defense
While the Colorado defense is undoubtedly a major weakness, the Buffalo’s offense, by all means, is quite dangerous. The Husker’s defense had no issues handling the Colorado offense, keeping them to just 260 total yards, including 16 rushing yards on 22 carries. Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders was kept to a 61% completion percentage for 244 yards and one touchdown while also throwing a pick-six. It was a fantastic performance from the Blackshirts on Saturday and one they’ll be able to build momentum on.
Third down offense must improve
There were a lot of positives from Saturday’s win, but there are certainly areas of improvement that are needed. The first area is the third down offense. The Huskers were just 3-for-12 on third down against Colorado, a number that will absolutely have to improve once Nebraska enters Big Ten play.
Discipline
Another area of improvement will have to be the penalties. Rarely when you have double-digit penalties and 100+ penalty yards will you win a game, let alone win by double-digits. The Huskers found themselves on the right side of the equation on Saturday, but when they face better teams later this season, they cannot afford to be as undisciplined.
Nine wins is possible in 2024
We’re looking way ahead, but after two weeks of the college football season, there is no reason that nine wins shouldn’t be possible for the Cornhuskers. Look at their remaining schedule; the only games in which the Huskers will potentially be an underdog are October 5 against Rutgers, October 26 against Ohio State, and November 16 against USC. Matchups against Wisconsin and Iowa to end the season could be considered toss-ups, but over two weeks, neither the Badgers nor Hawkeyes have been impressive.
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This article originally appeared on Cornhuskers Wire: Five takeaways from Nebraska’s 28-10 win over Colorado
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