Nebraska Football Game Preview: Colorado

Date: Saturday, September 7th, 2024

Location: Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE

Time: 6:30 p.m.

TV Broadcast Info: TV – NBC (Paul Burmeister, Colt McCoy, Kathryn Tappen)

Radio Info: Husker Radio Network with Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning and Jessica Cody. A list of affiliates can be found at Huskers.com/Listen.

Colorado – Nebraska History: Nebraska and Colorado will meet for the 73rd time on Saturday night. The Huskers hold a commanding 49-21-2 all-time lead in the series, but the Buffs have won three straight meetings, all since 2018.

Preview: The preview of this one is simple when scouting Colorado, it starts and ends with Shedeur Sanders. If you can slow him down in the passing game, you have a really good chance of winning. If not, well then good luck. There is no denying his talent, which should lead to an eventual top 2-3 draft pick in next year’s NFL draft.

Doing the team’s stats for a preview just after one week is a little hilarious, but here are the facts and figures anyway. Offensively, the Buffaloes average 31 points per game. They had 59 yards rushing on 23 attempts last week, so expect that not to be much of a factor. They did however throw for 445 yards and 4 TDs, so expect that to be a huge advantage for the Buffaloes.

Defensively, Colorado gives up an average of 26 points per game. The Buffaloes gave up 157 yards rushing on 43 attempts last week. They also gave up 292 yards through the air, so a balanced attack by Nebraska could be valuable. Colorado’s defense was also on the field for nearly 37 minutes, so it is possible to control the clock and keep their high-powered offense off the field.

Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images

The Polar Bear and Co will look to stop Dallan Hayden in the run game. Hayden led the way with 9 carries for 20 yards last time out. Charlie Offerdahl had 5 carries for 15 yards. The duo of Jimmy Horn Jr. and Travis Hunter will be a handful for the secondary. Horn had 7 catches for 198 yards and 1 TD, while Hunter had 7 catches for 132 yards and 3 TDs. My suspicion is Tommi Hill will draw Hunter for defensive duties, but I’m not sure who would get Horn.

Defensively, the Buffaloes were led by Senior inside linebacker Trevor Woods and Graduate Senior Shilo Sanders, who each recorded 6 tackles. LaVonta Bailey and Chidozie Nwankwo recorded the 2 Colorado sacks. Look for Travis Hunter to be paired against Isaiah Neyor, which could free up the likes of Fidone and Bonner.

The offensive talent will be on full display Saturday, but I wasn’t horribly convinced by either their run game or their overall defense. Colorado likes to run and gun, so it will be imperative for the Huskers to control both lines of scrimmage. They do that and I believe Nebraska wins, but fail to do so, and a track meet suits Colorado. Either way, it will be a lot of fun Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.