Colorado still has a lot of the same flaws it did a year ago.
The Buffaloes were exposed by Nebraska on Saturday night as the Cornhuskers rolled to a XX-XX victory in Lincoln. Nebraska took the game over from the start and raced out to a 28-0 lead at the break.
Those four touchdowns included two drives of 70 or more yards, a pick-six and a wild TD catch by Nebraska running back Rahmir Johnson.
After Nebraska took a 7-0 lead, Tommi Hill intercepted Shedeur Sanders for a 7-yard pick-six when Sanders made an ill-advised far sideline throw into zone coverage.
Johnson then capped off the first-half scoring with his TD catch off a pass that was deflected by Colorado linebacker LaVonta Bentley.
As Nebraska was putting up points, Colorado was unable to run the ball and Shedeur Sanders was getting sacked. Doesn’t that sound familiar? Sanders, who was sacked over 50 times in 2023, was sacked four times in the first half and the Buffaloes finished with minus-17 rushing yards over the first 30 minutes.
And when Sanders wasn’t getting sacked he was getting hit frequently too. As Shedeur was having to get up off the turf more often than he’d like, his brother Shilo was in the locker room. At halftime, Deion Sanders said that Shilo had suffered a possible broken forearm in the first half.
It’s clear that Matt Rhule’s team is much better than previous Nebraska teams. This should be a team that breaks a once-unfathomable eight-season bowl drought.
Nebraska hasn’t won more than five games in a season since 2016 when it went 9-4 under Mike Riley. That’s also the last time Nebraska started a season 2-0. Yes, Nebraska has had at least one loss by the end of Week 2 in each of the last eight seasons.
A second-year leap would also correspond with the jumps that previous teams coached by Matt Rhule have made in their second seasons. Temple improved by four wins in Rhule’s second season and Baylor improved from 1-11 in Rhule’s first year to 7-6 in year two.
A six-win leap for this Nebraska team would be an 11-win season. That’s probably a bit out of reach. But you can’t blame Husker fans for being optimistic. Especially after beating a Colorado team that vaulted to supernova status in Week 2 a year ago with its win over Nebraska.
Freshman QB Dylan Raiola was much better in the first half than he was in the second, but he’s shown plenty in the first two weeks of the season to prove why he was a five-star recruit. There will be growing pains in conference play, but the schedule doesn’t get really tough until the second half of the season.
After an offseason of adding players to ostensibly improve the roster, this Colorado performance looked a lot like 2023 Colorado performances.
One bright spot was the defense. Yes, Nebraska’s offense had its moments in the first half, but the defense was much better over the final 30 minutes even though linebacker Trevor Woods had been ejected for targeting and defensive lineman Chidozie Nwankwo also suffered a forearm injury.
The offense, however, is still incredibly one-dimensional. And relies way too much on Shedeur Sanders’ ability to make a play and Travis Hunter’s greatness. Sanders didn’t re-enter for final four minutes of the game after he took a big hit to the head earlier in the fourth quarter. He also left the field entirely at the 2-minute warning.
It’s going to be another long season if the Buffaloes can’t figure out their offensive line issues. Colorado finished the game with 244 passing yards and just 16 rushing yards.
The line added numerous transfers in the offseason and a new offensive line coach in former NFL lineman Phil Loadholt. So far, the group has not gelled yet. It was overpowered consistently by Nebraska’s defensive line.
Without a functioning line and an ability to run the ball, Colorado’s path to bowl eligibility is again especially steep. Especially in the Big 12.
