By Rock Westfall
So far, Nebraska has received much better 2024 offseason reviews than Colorado . But on September 7, the Cornhuskers host the Buffaloes in one of the biggest early-season matchups in recent memory. On that night, a national NBC audience will see the truth revealed in, dare we say, “Prime Time!”
A Brilliant NBC Move With Plentiful Storylines
For once, the suits who often show themselves to be ignorant of college football culture and tradition got one right . On Saturday, September 7, 2024, the Nebraska Cornhuskers will host the Colorado Buffaloes at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Kickoff time is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, with NBC televising the action and its affiliate Peacock offering a stream of the game.
Nebraska of the Big Ten and Colorado of the Big 12 used to be bitter and hated arch-rivals when they were members of the Big Eight and later Big 12 Conferences. The Huskers will seek triple revenge against the Buffs.
Both programs have hit hard times in recent years, but this matchup is guaranteed ratings gold. Colorado moved the TV ratings needle noticeably last year in head coach Deion Sanders ' rookie season. In 2023, Coach Prime proved he can draw eyeballs and box office like no other coach.
On the other hand, Nebraska remains a traditional, nationally followed blue-blood brand despite a long period in the wilderness. From Bob Devaney ’s arrival in 1962 to the firing of Bo Pelini in 2014, the Cornhuskers were constantly in the national conversation. Additionally, from 1970 through 1997, the Big Red won five national championships with several other near misses. For millions of fans, it remains an era they have never forgotten or gotten over. To such aficionados, Nebraska glory is emblematic of what college football is supposed to be all about.
The showdown offers matchups within the matchups that are nearly impossible to find anywhere else in the sport. It is an extreme clash of mirror-opposite programs seeking greatness.
Deion Sanders vs. Matt Rhule – “My Way” Coaches with Opposite Methods
Frank Sinatra would gladly serenade Deion Sanders and Matt Rhule with his epic rendition of “ My Way .” Indeed, both coaches stand apart as unique, fearless, and defiant in addressing their program goals.
Sanders takes a radical approach never before tried in big-time college football. He steadfastly refuses to recruit in the traditional method of visiting homes and high schools for five-star prospects. Instead, he feverishly works the transfer portal, looking for experienced players who he hopes to plug in immediately.
Colorado’s team culture is often criticized for seeming to be built all around the Sanders family, with everyone else serving as hired help. This type of environment has led to a mass exodus of Colorado players who don’t feel a sense of value, rapport, or team.
By contrast, Matt Rhule is a demanding taskmaster who defies players NOT to come to Nebraska unless they are ready to work and earn everything they get. But offsetting that is a team culture that quickly fosters deeper, long-term relationships with players and demonstrates that it has the best interests of players at heart. In the age of coaches being scared of losing players by coaching them too hard, Matt Rhule is an emerging icon.
Rhule’s culture helped flip Georgia Bulldogs' 5-star QB prospect Dylan Raiola to Lincoln last December. It is an environment that produces a crop of players who never stop working to improve themselves and their teammates. Several Nebraska players skipped the NFL Draft for one more year in red. Nebraska has a much more close-knit team than Colorado. But will it matter?
Shedeur Sanders vs. Dylan Raiola – An Epic QB Showdown
The quarterback matchup on September 7 is as enthralling and opposite as the coaches are.
Last year in the season opener, Shedeur Sanders became an instant national sensation by leading the Colorado Buffaloes to a 45-42 upset win at the TCU Horned Frogs, who were the 2022 runner-up for the national championship.
Sanders lit up the Frogs for 510 yards and four TDs. He proved to be the best player on the Buffs but was worn down by the end of the 2023 campaign due to a thin and inferior supporting cast not capable of becoming a legitimate championship contender.
Still, Sanders is considered a first-round prospect for the 2025 NFL Draft. He is charismatic and something of a pop culture icon with numerous endorsements and numerous celebrity relationships, including with women’s basketball icon Angel Reese .
Nebraska is expected to start true freshman Dylan Raiola against Shedeur and the Buffs. Raiola lit up a highly productive spring for the Huskers and will be working with Kansas City Chiefs legend Patrick Mahomes in the weeks ahead.
It’s not an accident that Raiola, who wears the same #15 as Mahomes, is being compared to the three-time Super Bowl champion. Raiola flashes a similar type of play style that is drawing comparisons. Unlike Shedeur, Raiola is in the Matt Rhule image of constant study, work, and self-improvement with an understated personality.
The Best Fans In College Football vs. A Fair Weather Fad
Since 1962, Nebraska has sold out every football game played at Memorial Stadium. Big Red Football is a way of life in the Cornhusker State and is culturally passed down from one generation to another. Nebraska football remains the biggest thing in the state and a point of conversation that never ceases. Nebraska fans are loud and strong but known for their tremendous hospitality towards visiting fans. Husker fans are true believers in their program and the sport of college football.
On the other hand, Colorado lacks a large following of passionate fans who actually care about the program. Even in their national championship glory days of the early 1990s, they rarely sold out games and never a season. But when Deion Sanders arrived, Folsom Field sold out an entire schedule for the first time.
But unlike Nebraska fans, today’s Colorado fans resemble those who go to church only on Christmas and Easter. Many of these CU fans are from out of state and are specifically much more about Deion than the Buffs.
Celebrities are a major part of the current fan caravan of the Buffs. They often show up at CU games, making for an NBA-type vibe. But when Deion Sanders leaves Colorado, so too will these new and pop culture-centric Colorado “fans” who never followed the program or college football until it went Prime Time.
Big Red Bitterness
Colorado has a three-game winning streak against Nebraska, and it sticks in the craw of the program and Husker faithful.
Last year, Nebraska was blown out at Colorado 36-14 in a game that should have and could have been much closer if not for four costly turnovers that turned a slim 13-7 third-quarter Colorado lead into a rout.
There is no getting around the fact that Husker Nation considers Colorado a fake college football program with fake, fair-weather fans. Thus, it’s hard for Husker fans to respect a normally marginal and mediocre program that they believe Nebraska should dominate.
Of course, the problem is that Nebraska has failed to dominate Colorado, which those casual, part-time, Buff fans find flippantly amusing. If there is one game Colorado fans consistently care about, it is the Nebraska showdown.
Undeniable High Stakes and Hard Feelings
On September 7, two high-profile programs with national aspirations will clash in an undeniably pressure-packed, high-stakes affair. Nebraska and its fans believe they have the upper hand this time, but the Big Red has proven nothing to justify that confidence, at least not yet.
Naturally, there will be an overflowing sea of red at Memorial Stadium, with fans fed up with the Huskers' time in the wilderness and failures at the hands of the Buffs. And there will be millions of Coach Prime fans watching on NBC, passionately rooting for their pop-culture idol.
One football team and millions of its fans will celebrate an evening of triumph and hope that could propel bigger future accomplishments. But for the other program and its fans, it will be an evening of utter despair and hopelessness, especially if that losing team is in red.
If it is Nebraska on the short end, it may prove to be the beginning of another lost season and one in which the Big Red Hype Machine stalled yet again. It would be a loss that Husker fans will find excruciatingly intolerable. A loss to Colorado would be an unbearable defeat that would shatter Big Red fan’s dreams of a return to glory. It would be a gut-wrenching reality check. Again.
Yet defeat is a distinct possibility for Nebraska. On September 7 it will be time for Nebraska to prove they are back. And until that happens, it would be smart for Husker Nation to check its enthusiasm, optimism, and historic humble entitlement at the door, even against such a shallow, chaotic program and fickle fan base.
Indeed, it is often asked, how much more can the loyal Nebraska faithful endure? Would a prime-time home loss to Coach Prime and Colorado on NBC be the breaking point of no return?
Can Nebraska finally be delivered from evil?
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