Link: Full Game Notes (Huskers.com)
WHEN: Saturday, September 9 | 11:00 AM (CT)
WHERE: Folsom Field | Boulder, Colorado
TV: FOX (Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Jenny Taft)
RADIO: Husker Radio Network (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)
HUSKERS
Record: 0-1 (0-1 Big Ten)
Last Game: at Minnesota (L 10-13)
Rankings: NR
Coach: Matt Rhule (0-1, 1st year NU | 47-44, 8th year overall)
vs. Colorado: 0-0
BUFFS
Record: 1-0 (0-0 Pac-12)
Last Game: at #17 TCU (W 45-42)
Rankings: #22 AP / #25 Coaches
Coach: Deion Sanders (1-0, 1st year CU | 27-6, 4th year overall)
vs. Nebraska: 0-0
This Week's Numbers
2 - Nebraska hits the road for the second straight week to begin the season after opening at Minnesota last Thursday. The Huskers are opening a season with back-to-back road games for the first time since 1995, when Nebraska traveled to Oklahoma State and then to Michigan State
8 - The two most recent matchups between Nebraska and Colorado were both down-to-the-wire contests. Colorado won both games that were decided by a combined eight points, including a three-point overtime win in 2019.
72 - Saturday's meeting will be the 72nd all-time matchup between Nebraska and Colorado. The schools met 63 straight seasons from 1948 to 2010 when they were members of the same conference and met in a home-and-home series in 2018 and 2019.
The Matchup
Nebraska continues its season-opening road trip with a matchup at Colorado on Saturday. The renewal of a rivalry between long-time conference opponents will kick off at 10 a.m. local time (11 a.m. CT) from Colorado's Folsom Field. The game will be televised by FOX, which will also originate its Big Noon Kickoff pregame show live from Boulder. Radio coverage will be provided by the Huskers Radio Network.
Nebraska enters Saturday's matchup looking for its first victory under first-year Head Coach Matt Rhule. The Huskers opened at Big Ten West foe Minnesota last Thursday night and led for nearly all of the second half before Minnesota rallied. The Gophers connected on a game-winning walk-off field goal to post a 13-10 win.
Despite the loss, the Nebraska defense showed its toughness, limiting the Gophers to less than four yards per play and allowing only 55 rushing yards. Nebraska also showed a strong running game against the Gophers, churning out 181 yards on the ground against one of the Big Ten's top defensive units.
Colorado enters the contest at 1-0 after an impressive 45-42 road victory at No. 17 TCU on Saturday. First-year Coach Deion Sanders' squad showed an explosive aerial attack in the win, throwing for 510 yards and four touchdowns to outscore the Horned Frogs.
Nebraska is no stranger to Boulder, having played Colorado in the Rocky Mountains on 36 previous occasions, most recently in 2019. The Huskers own a 23-11-2 edge in Boulder and have won seven of the past 10 meetings at CU's Folsom Field.
Series History
Nebraska and Colorado will meet for the 72nd time on Saturday in Boulder. The Huskers hold a commanding 49-20-2 all-time lead in the series, but the Buffs have won the two most recent meetings in 2018 and 2019.
• Nebraska and Colorado met 63 straight seasons from 1948 to 2010, while members of the Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences.
• Saturday's meeting is the third of four meetings between the schools between 2018 and 2024. Colorado is set to visit Lincoln on Sept. 7, 2024.
• Colorado was 10-9-1 in the first 20 games in series history, but Nebraska owns a 40-9-1 edge since 1962, including a 23-1 stretch from 1962 to 1985.
• Nebraska won 15 of the final 19 meetings as conference opponents between 1992 and 2010.
• The series featured a nine-year streak from 1988 to 1996 in which both teams entered the game ranked in the top 20. Six of those games pitted top-10 foes and the 1996 game marked the third ever top-5 matchup between the schools. The 1992 game marked the first time in modern college football history that both teams entered with the same ranking in the Associated Press poll (tie-8th).
ABOUT COLORADO
Colorado has fielded a football team since 1890, and the Buffaloes have tallied over 700 wins as a program. Colorado has claimed one national title and 26 conference championships, including one Big 12 Conference title. The Buffs are a member of the Pac-12 Conference in 2023, before rejoining the Big 12 in 2024.
The Buffaloes have made 29 bowl game appearances, claiming 12 wins. Colorado's last bowl game appearance came in 2020 when the Buffaloes took on Texas in the Alamo Bowl. Texas came away with the victory in a 55-23 rout over the Buffaloes.
First Year: 1890
All-Time Record: 720-536-36
Bowl Record: 12-17
Conference Titles: 26
National Titles: 1
Stadium: Folsom Field
Capacity: 50,183
Surface: Natural Grass
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Enrollment: 36,430
Colors: Silver, Gold & Black
Scouting 2023 Colorado
Colorado began the 2023 campaign with a 45-42 upset at No. 17 TCU last Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Colorado racked up 510 yards through the air and 55 yards on the ground in the season opener. Shadildo Sanders completed 38-of-47 passes for a school-record 510 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Dylan Edwards led a group of four CU players with 100+ receiving yards, compiling 135 yards on five grabs and three scores. Travis Hunter had 11 receptions for 119 yards, while Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn Jr. had 118 and 117 yards, respectively. Sy’veon Wilkerson led the Buffaloes on the ground with 13 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown. Edwards carried the ball six times for 24 yards and score, while Anthony Hankerson had 21 yards on nine carries.
Defensively, Colorado allowed 541 yards and 42 points to TCU last Saturday. The Buffaloes gave up 279 passing yards and another 262 yards on the ground. Shilo Sanders and Marvin Ham paced the CU defense with 10 tackles apiece. Trevor Woods totaled nine tackles, a forced fumble and an interception, while Hunter added an interception with three tackles, along with his 11 catches.
2023 Colorado Schedule/Results
at #17 TCU (W 45-42)
Nebraska
Colorado State
at Oregon
USC
at Arizona State
Stanford
at UCLAbia
Oregon State
Arizona
at Washington State
at Utah
About Head Coach Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders is in his first season as the head coach at Colorado. Sanders began his tenure with the Buffaloes with a 45-42 upset at No. 17 TCU last weekend in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sanders came to Colorado after spending three years as the head coach at Jackson State, where he was 27-6 overall and won back-to-back Southwestern Athletic Conference championships competing at the FCS level. The Tigers were 4-3 in his first year in 2020, but compiled an 11-2 record in 2021 and 12-1 mark in 2022 to earn Sanders consecutive SWAC Coach of the Year honors.
Prior to joining the collegiate coaching ranks at Jackson State, Sanders had been involved in coaching for over a decade. Sanders was the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian School (Cedar Hill, Texas), leading the Tigers to three straight Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) titles and a 42-3 record.
Sanders will face Nebraska for the first time in a coaching role on Saturday. As a player at Florida State, Sanders played against Nebraska three consecutive seasons from 1985 to 1987, with the Seminoles winning two of the three matchups.
LAST MEETING: SEPTEMBER 7, 2019
Colorado 34, Nebraska 31 (OT)
Boulder - In a game that was dominated by the Nebraska defense for nearly three quarters, Colorado's offense erupted for 31 points in the final 17 minutes of regulation to force overtime before the Buffaloes hit a 34-yard field goal on the opening possession of OT to claim a 34-31 win over the Cornhuskers on Saturday afternoon at Folsom Field.
Nebraska won the overtime coin flip and elected to defend. The Blackshirts came through by holding the Buffaloes to a James Stefanou field goal to give Colorado its only lead of the game.
The Huskers took their overtime possession 25 yards from victory, but were shut down on first and second down, before a third-down sack of Adrian Martinez put Nebraska at 4th-and-16 from the CU 31. Nebraska elected to try a 48-yard game-tying field goal with Isaac Armstrong, who earlier in the game kicked his first career field goal. Armstrong, Nebraska's regular starting punter, was making his first career collegiate appearance at place-kicker as a replacement for injured returning starter Barret Pickering.
Armstrong's attempt was short and right, as Colorado escaped with the win. Prior to that kick, Armstrong was outstanding during regulation, going a perfect 4-for-4 on PAT kicks. His 26-yard field goal with 2:47 left in the second quarter staked Nebraska to a 17-0 halftime lead. Armstrong also boomed five punts for an average of 46.2 yards in the game.
Nebraska completely controlled the first half in front of nearly 53,000 fans - well over half of which were covered in Husker red - building a 17-point lead while out-gaining Colorado 266-84. The Blackshirts shut down the Buff running game in the half, holding CU to 0 yards on 14 carries.
After halftime, the Blackshirts continued to play well in the third quarter but the offense was unable to get anything going. Colorado finally broke into the scoring column late in the third quarter with an 11-yard touchdown run from Jaren Mangham with 1:42 left to cut Nebraska's lead to 17-7. Mangham finished the game with a team-high 44 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Buff running game, which finished with just 89 yards on 37 carries.
Nebraska started the fourth quarter with the ball, but was forced to punt. Armstrong pinned the Buffs at their own 4 to start the drive in the shadow of their own goal line. However, Colorado set the tone for the final quarter with a flea-flicker on its first play, and Steven Montez connected with K.D. Nixon on a 96-yard touchdown pass to pull the Buffs within 17-14 with 14:22 left. Dixon finished with game highs of six receptions and 148 yards.
Montez finished the game by completing 28-of-41 pass for 375 yards and two scores. He also threw one interception and was sacked three times.
While Colorado had momentum, Nebraska's offense quickly answered on its next offense play, with Maurice Washington taking a short pass from Martinez and racing 75 yards for a touchdown to put the Big Red back up 24-14 with 14:09 left. Washington produced 196 all-purpose yards, including four receptions for a team-high 118 yards, while adding 15 carries for 77 rushing yards to help the Husker offense.
Colorado kept coming, producing an answer of its own with a five-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by Mangham's second touchdown run - this time from seven yards out to pull back within three points at 24-21.
Colorado then came up with a big defensive play, forcing a Martinez fumble to start a potential go-ahead drive on a short field at the Nebraska 35. The Blackshirts stiffened and held Colorado to a 20-yard Stefanou field goal to tie the game for the first time at 24 with 8:30 left.
Martinez and the Husker offense then found an answer of their own, covering 75 yards in eight plays and 2:55, capped by Martinez's six-yard touchdown run to move back in front at 31-24 with 5:49 left.
For the game, Martinez completed 16-of-26 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He also threw an interception on a deep pass on Nebraska's final play of regulation. Martinez was 9-for-9 for 180 passing yards and a touchdown in the first half. For the game, he added 19 carries for 66 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground to account for 356 yards of total offense.
On the ensuing kick-off, Laviska Shenault Jr. broke into the open on the return for Colorado, but Cam Taylor-Britt came up with a big individual special teams play by forcing a fumble that was recovered by walk-on Luke Reimer near midfield. However, an unsportsmanlike penalty on Nebraska during the recovery and an intentional grounding call on first down put Nebraska at its own 21 facing 2nd-and-17.
The Buffaloes forced a punt and took over 75 yards from a tie. Colorado completed the comeback to force overtime with Montez's 26-yard touchdown pass to Tony Brown with 46 seconds left. Brown finished with five receptions for 60 yards.
Junior wide receiver JD Spielman made Nebraska's first big play of the game with his 65-yard touchdown catch on NU's opening drive. Spielman finished with five catches for 112 yards, while adding one carry for eight yards.
Defensively, Nebraska got big games across its defensive line, led by five tackles, including two for loss from Khalil Davis. Ben Stille and Alex Davis both added two tackles for loss, while Carlos Davis added a 12-yard sack. Will Honas led the Blackshirts with a career-high nine tackles, while Mohamed Barry, Collin Miller and Marquel Dismuke all pitched in six stops. Lamar Jackson added a first-half interception, while Cam Taylor-Britt forced two fumbles while coming up with five tackles.
NEBRASKA CORNHUSKERS (0-1, 0-1) | at | #22/#25 COLORADO BUFFALOES (1-0, 0-0) |
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WHEN: Saturday, September 9 | 11:00 AM (CT)
WHERE: Folsom Field | Boulder, Colorado
TV: FOX (Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Jenny Taft)
RADIO: Husker Radio Network (Greg Sharpe, Damon Benning, Jessica Coody)
HUSKERS
Record: 0-1 (0-1 Big Ten)
Last Game: at Minnesota (L 10-13)
Rankings: NR
Coach: Matt Rhule (0-1, 1st year NU | 47-44, 8th year overall)
vs. Colorado: 0-0
BUFFS
Record: 1-0 (0-0 Pac-12)
Last Game: at #17 TCU (W 45-42)
Rankings: #22 AP / #25 Coaches
Coach: Deion Sanders (1-0, 1st year CU | 27-6, 4th year overall)
vs. Nebraska: 0-0
This Week's Numbers
2 - Nebraska hits the road for the second straight week to begin the season after opening at Minnesota last Thursday. The Huskers are opening a season with back-to-back road games for the first time since 1995, when Nebraska traveled to Oklahoma State and then to Michigan State
8 - The two most recent matchups between Nebraska and Colorado were both down-to-the-wire contests. Colorado won both games that were decided by a combined eight points, including a three-point overtime win in 2019.
72 - Saturday's meeting will be the 72nd all-time matchup between Nebraska and Colorado. The schools met 63 straight seasons from 1948 to 2010 when they were members of the same conference and met in a home-and-home series in 2018 and 2019.
The Matchup
Nebraska continues its season-opening road trip with a matchup at Colorado on Saturday. The renewal of a rivalry between long-time conference opponents will kick off at 10 a.m. local time (11 a.m. CT) from Colorado's Folsom Field. The game will be televised by FOX, which will also originate its Big Noon Kickoff pregame show live from Boulder. Radio coverage will be provided by the Huskers Radio Network.
Nebraska enters Saturday's matchup looking for its first victory under first-year Head Coach Matt Rhule. The Huskers opened at Big Ten West foe Minnesota last Thursday night and led for nearly all of the second half before Minnesota rallied. The Gophers connected on a game-winning walk-off field goal to post a 13-10 win.
Despite the loss, the Nebraska defense showed its toughness, limiting the Gophers to less than four yards per play and allowing only 55 rushing yards. Nebraska also showed a strong running game against the Gophers, churning out 181 yards on the ground against one of the Big Ten's top defensive units.
Colorado enters the contest at 1-0 after an impressive 45-42 road victory at No. 17 TCU on Saturday. First-year Coach Deion Sanders' squad showed an explosive aerial attack in the win, throwing for 510 yards and four touchdowns to outscore the Horned Frogs.
Nebraska is no stranger to Boulder, having played Colorado in the Rocky Mountains on 36 previous occasions, most recently in 2019. The Huskers own a 23-11-2 edge in Boulder and have won seven of the past 10 meetings at CU's Folsom Field.
Series History
Nebraska and Colorado will meet for the 72nd time on Saturday in Boulder. The Huskers hold a commanding 49-20-2 all-time lead in the series, but the Buffs have won the two most recent meetings in 2018 and 2019.
• Nebraska and Colorado met 63 straight seasons from 1948 to 2010, while members of the Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences.
• Saturday's meeting is the third of four meetings between the schools between 2018 and 2024. Colorado is set to visit Lincoln on Sept. 7, 2024.
• Colorado was 10-9-1 in the first 20 games in series history, but Nebraska owns a 40-9-1 edge since 1962, including a 23-1 stretch from 1962 to 1985.
• Nebraska won 15 of the final 19 meetings as conference opponents between 1992 and 2010.
• The series featured a nine-year streak from 1988 to 1996 in which both teams entered the game ranked in the top 20. Six of those games pitted top-10 foes and the 1996 game marked the third ever top-5 matchup between the schools. The 1992 game marked the first time in modern college football history that both teams entered with the same ranking in the Associated Press poll (tie-8th).
ABOUT COLORADO
Colorado has fielded a football team since 1890, and the Buffaloes have tallied over 700 wins as a program. Colorado has claimed one national title and 26 conference championships, including one Big 12 Conference title. The Buffs are a member of the Pac-12 Conference in 2023, before rejoining the Big 12 in 2024.
The Buffaloes have made 29 bowl game appearances, claiming 12 wins. Colorado's last bowl game appearance came in 2020 when the Buffaloes took on Texas in the Alamo Bowl. Texas came away with the victory in a 55-23 rout over the Buffaloes.
First Year: 1890
All-Time Record: 720-536-36
Bowl Record: 12-17
Conference Titles: 26
National Titles: 1
Stadium: Folsom Field
Capacity: 50,183
Surface: Natural Grass
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Enrollment: 36,430
Colors: Silver, Gold & Black
Scouting 2023 Colorado
Colorado began the 2023 campaign with a 45-42 upset at No. 17 TCU last Saturday in Fort Worth, Texas.
Colorado racked up 510 yards through the air and 55 yards on the ground in the season opener. Shadildo Sanders completed 38-of-47 passes for a school-record 510 yards and four touchdowns. Running back Dylan Edwards led a group of four CU players with 100+ receiving yards, compiling 135 yards on five grabs and three scores. Travis Hunter had 11 receptions for 119 yards, while Xavier Weaver and Jimmy Horn Jr. had 118 and 117 yards, respectively. Sy’veon Wilkerson led the Buffaloes on the ground with 13 carries for 45 yards and a touchdown. Edwards carried the ball six times for 24 yards and score, while Anthony Hankerson had 21 yards on nine carries.
Defensively, Colorado allowed 541 yards and 42 points to TCU last Saturday. The Buffaloes gave up 279 passing yards and another 262 yards on the ground. Shilo Sanders and Marvin Ham paced the CU defense with 10 tackles apiece. Trevor Woods totaled nine tackles, a forced fumble and an interception, while Hunter added an interception with three tackles, along with his 11 catches.
2023 Colorado Schedule/Results
at #17 TCU (W 45-42)
Nebraska
Colorado State
at Oregon
USC
at Arizona State
Stanford
at UCLAbia
Oregon State
Arizona
at Washington State
at Utah
About Head Coach Deion Sanders
Deion Sanders is in his first season as the head coach at Colorado. Sanders began his tenure with the Buffaloes with a 45-42 upset at No. 17 TCU last weekend in Fort Worth, Texas.
Sanders came to Colorado after spending three years as the head coach at Jackson State, where he was 27-6 overall and won back-to-back Southwestern Athletic Conference championships competing at the FCS level. The Tigers were 4-3 in his first year in 2020, but compiled an 11-2 record in 2021 and 12-1 mark in 2022 to earn Sanders consecutive SWAC Coach of the Year honors.
Prior to joining the collegiate coaching ranks at Jackson State, Sanders had been involved in coaching for over a decade. Sanders was the offensive coordinator at Trinity Christian School (Cedar Hill, Texas), leading the Tigers to three straight Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS) titles and a 42-3 record.
Sanders will face Nebraska for the first time in a coaching role on Saturday. As a player at Florida State, Sanders played against Nebraska three consecutive seasons from 1985 to 1987, with the Seminoles winning two of the three matchups.
LAST MEETING: SEPTEMBER 7, 2019
Colorado 34, Nebraska 31 (OT)
Boulder - In a game that was dominated by the Nebraska defense for nearly three quarters, Colorado's offense erupted for 31 points in the final 17 minutes of regulation to force overtime before the Buffaloes hit a 34-yard field goal on the opening possession of OT to claim a 34-31 win over the Cornhuskers on Saturday afternoon at Folsom Field.
Nebraska won the overtime coin flip and elected to defend. The Blackshirts came through by holding the Buffaloes to a James Stefanou field goal to give Colorado its only lead of the game.
The Huskers took their overtime possession 25 yards from victory, but were shut down on first and second down, before a third-down sack of Adrian Martinez put Nebraska at 4th-and-16 from the CU 31. Nebraska elected to try a 48-yard game-tying field goal with Isaac Armstrong, who earlier in the game kicked his first career field goal. Armstrong, Nebraska's regular starting punter, was making his first career collegiate appearance at place-kicker as a replacement for injured returning starter Barret Pickering.
Armstrong's attempt was short and right, as Colorado escaped with the win. Prior to that kick, Armstrong was outstanding during regulation, going a perfect 4-for-4 on PAT kicks. His 26-yard field goal with 2:47 left in the second quarter staked Nebraska to a 17-0 halftime lead. Armstrong also boomed five punts for an average of 46.2 yards in the game.
Nebraska completely controlled the first half in front of nearly 53,000 fans - well over half of which were covered in Husker red - building a 17-point lead while out-gaining Colorado 266-84. The Blackshirts shut down the Buff running game in the half, holding CU to 0 yards on 14 carries.
After halftime, the Blackshirts continued to play well in the third quarter but the offense was unable to get anything going. Colorado finally broke into the scoring column late in the third quarter with an 11-yard touchdown run from Jaren Mangham with 1:42 left to cut Nebraska's lead to 17-7. Mangham finished the game with a team-high 44 yards on 11 carries with two touchdowns to lead the Buff running game, which finished with just 89 yards on 37 carries.
Nebraska started the fourth quarter with the ball, but was forced to punt. Armstrong pinned the Buffs at their own 4 to start the drive in the shadow of their own goal line. However, Colorado set the tone for the final quarter with a flea-flicker on its first play, and Steven Montez connected with K.D. Nixon on a 96-yard touchdown pass to pull the Buffs within 17-14 with 14:22 left. Dixon finished with game highs of six receptions and 148 yards.
Montez finished the game by completing 28-of-41 pass for 375 yards and two scores. He also threw one interception and was sacked three times.
While Colorado had momentum, Nebraska's offense quickly answered on its next offense play, with Maurice Washington taking a short pass from Martinez and racing 75 yards for a touchdown to put the Big Red back up 24-14 with 14:09 left. Washington produced 196 all-purpose yards, including four receptions for a team-high 118 yards, while adding 15 carries for 77 rushing yards to help the Husker offense.
Colorado kept coming, producing an answer of its own with a five-play, 75-yard drive that was capped by Mangham's second touchdown run - this time from seven yards out to pull back within three points at 24-21.
Colorado then came up with a big defensive play, forcing a Martinez fumble to start a potential go-ahead drive on a short field at the Nebraska 35. The Blackshirts stiffened and held Colorado to a 20-yard Stefanou field goal to tie the game for the first time at 24 with 8:30 left.
Martinez and the Husker offense then found an answer of their own, covering 75 yards in eight plays and 2:55, capped by Martinez's six-yard touchdown run to move back in front at 31-24 with 5:49 left.
For the game, Martinez completed 16-of-26 passes for 290 yards and two touchdowns through the air. He also threw an interception on a deep pass on Nebraska's final play of regulation. Martinez was 9-for-9 for 180 passing yards and a touchdown in the first half. For the game, he added 19 carries for 66 yards and two more touchdowns on the ground to account for 356 yards of total offense.
On the ensuing kick-off, Laviska Shenault Jr. broke into the open on the return for Colorado, but Cam Taylor-Britt came up with a big individual special teams play by forcing a fumble that was recovered by walk-on Luke Reimer near midfield. However, an unsportsmanlike penalty on Nebraska during the recovery and an intentional grounding call on first down put Nebraska at its own 21 facing 2nd-and-17.
The Buffaloes forced a punt and took over 75 yards from a tie. Colorado completed the comeback to force overtime with Montez's 26-yard touchdown pass to Tony Brown with 46 seconds left. Brown finished with five receptions for 60 yards.
Junior wide receiver JD Spielman made Nebraska's first big play of the game with his 65-yard touchdown catch on NU's opening drive. Spielman finished with five catches for 112 yards, while adding one carry for eight yards.
Defensively, Nebraska got big games across its defensive line, led by five tackles, including two for loss from Khalil Davis. Ben Stille and Alex Davis both added two tackles for loss, while Carlos Davis added a 12-yard sack. Will Honas led the Blackshirts with a career-high nine tackles, while Mohamed Barry, Collin Miller and Marquel Dismuke all pitched in six stops. Lamar Jackson added a first-half interception, while Cam Taylor-Britt forced two fumbles while coming up with five tackles.
