Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule praises Colorado, Shedeur Sanders before rivalry game

Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule hasn’t been shy about his admiration for Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

The Buffaloes beat the Cornhuskers (36-14) for the third consecutive time last season and Sanders was a major reason why. Despite being sacked seven times by Nebraska’s No. 11-ranked defense in the nation, the projected first-round NFL draft pick completed 31 of his 42 pass attempts (74%) for 393 yards and two touchdowns (rushed for another TD).

Rhule called Sanders “one of the best football players I’ve ever coached against” in July. This weekend, they’ll meet again.

Colorado opened the 2024 college football season by surviving a scare against perennial FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. Nebraska beat UTEP 40-7 just a couple days later in true freshman QB Dylan Raiola’s first start.

The rivalry will be renewed this weekend in Lincoln, Nebraska, at 5:30 p.m. MT on NBC. Here’s what Rhule had to say about Sanders and the Buffs on Monday.

Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule on Shedeur Sanders

“Well, he has a big-time arm, you know, he can use all 53-and-a-third yards of the field. He can throw the ball from sideline to sideline. He’s got a great feel for the pocket. He moves in the pocket and he can hurt you with his feet but he slides in the pocket to find guys that are open. He’s got excellent weapons around him. They ran the ball well this past game and he’s courageous and tough. He’s an elite competitor. You’re probably facing two of the first five guys drafted in the draft this week, so he’ll certainly be up there.”

Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule on Colorado’s receivers

“They have great players. They’re fast, athletic, explosive. To me, 5 (Jimmy Horn Jr.) is a difference maker. Obviously, you know 12, Travis (Hunter) is playing both ways, which is amazing, but to me, 5 (Horn Jr.) dominates the middle of the field. They brought in 10 from FAU (LaJohntay Wester) who had a ton of catches and he’s excellent and 14 (Will Sheppard) has a bunch of catches.

“You have a quarterback who can make all the throws, they can spread you out, open up the run game, utilize the receivers in the RPO game so when you try to pressure, they always have answers. They’ve got guys who can, everyone thinks of speed as running this way, these guys can run across the field and run away from man coverage so they’re excellent players.”

More: Travis Hunter is the best show in college football after torching NDSU: ‘It’s his ball’

Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule on how much last year’s film helps

“Well, they (Colorado) have two different coordinators so it’s a different offense and a different defense. We spent a lot of the summer watching the (Cincinnati) Bengals defense and just watching coach (Robert) Livingston where he’s coming from and, obviously, coach (Pat) Shurmur has been doing this for a long time, a guy that I respect a lot. You can go back to last year and see some of the players and what they do, but I don’t think there’s any secrets here about what they’re, what they’re capable of.

“They’ve got dynamic, dynamic playmakers. They’ve rebuilt the offensive line, they’re big, they’re physical and defensively, they play man coverage, they pressured a bunch in the second half to slow down North Dakota State and they play really, really hard. I mean, Warren Sapp is their defensive line coach, you know, they play really hard up front so they fly around. They have really good players and they have a really well-thought-out scheme and well-coached team.”

Matt Rhule on Nebraska, Colorado having a ‘clash of cultures’

“Not at all. They’re (Colorado) a competitive culture. They go recruit and get the best players they can get. They do well in school. They don’t get in trouble off the field. And they compete. I respect what they do.”

Matt Rhule on the the Nebraska, Colorado rivalry

“My wife and I, we went skiing this year in Beaver Creek. We met some friends and we’re sitting down like hanging out and this young lady walked up to me and she said, ‘Are you coach Rhule from the Huskers?’ I thought it was a Husker fan and I said, ‘Yeah.’ She said something to me that I can’t repeat out loud but her boyfriend was like, ‘Sorry, coach.’ I said this is what’s great about college football. We love rivalries, we love all of that, so this is a long established rivalry.

“I think it’s great for the game. I think it’s great for us, it’s great for our university. People all across the country are going to tune in this week to see this football game and they’ll see our fan base, they’ll see the class with which we play, they’ll see two great teams compete and they’ll see our campus. You have enough games like this and admission starts to go up, applications start to go up good things start to happen. It’s a great rivalry that I grew up on and a lot of those rivalries are dead now, so it’s great to play it.”

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This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: What Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule said about Colorado football