Hate On! Colorado and Me vs. Nebraska and We

By Rock Westfall

Saturday night’s long-anticipated revenge showdown between the Colorado Buffaloes and Nebraska Cornhuskers offers everything - most of all HATE. Already being labeled “Hate Week,” "Armageddon," and a "Culture War," the matchup offers the most profound possible culture clash in college football.

Beyond that, the game is emblematic of two entirely different ways of life and fan bases within their states and nationally. Each program, in its own way, captures the imagination and attention of the national media. On Saturday night, NBC will deliver what is certain to be a blockbuster ratings bonanza that will also attract massive betting activity.

Colorado vs. Nebraska is one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the entire 2024 season. It may become an instant classic or even, with respect and apologies to Nebraska vs. Oklahoma in 1971, "The Game of the Century."  Yes - it's that big. And the result could have long term implications for both sides.

On Saturday night, college football fans can boast that, as Jim Harbaugh would say, nobody has it better than us.

At Colorado, Business Decisions are Coaching Decisions

Deion Sanders is an All-American businessman and publicity machine. With Coach Prime , everything is for sale. Most importantly, he and his sons. In fact, Colorado football has been exposed as being mostly about the Sanders & Sons ( Shedeur Sanders and Shilo Sanders ) Family Business.

Indeed, the brand generates numerous willing sponsors to bankroll the antics, which captivate a cult of half of America who used to ignore college football while inciting the other half who have long lived for the sport into a boiling rage.

Sanders refuses to apply himself to regular recruiting . Instead, he uses the transfer portal almost exclusively to stock his roster. So far the results are lacking, but the experiment is only in its second year.

Still, it is fair to ask how a successful program in the ultimate team sport can be built with a revolving door of mercenary castoff players. Additionally, the many ex-Buffs who departed derided CU’s “click culture” and everything revolving around Sanders & Sons.

Last week, Colorado barely escaped with a 31-26 home win over FCS North Dakota State, a good program that could hang with most Group of Five teams. At the end of the game, instead of merely trying to run out the clock, Coach Prime allowed his son, quarterback Shedeur Sanders, to risk blowing the entire game to pad his stats for the NFL scouts on hand.

North Dakota State had only one timeout remaining, so the game would effectively be over if Colorado took three consecutive QB kneels. If CU had done so, North Dakota State would have gotten the ball with less than 10 seconds remaining deep in its own territory.

Instead, Shedeur threw a first-down incompletion deep down the left sideline, giving North Dakota State some time back on the clock if they were to get a stop. The Bison forced a punt after two straight runs by Colorado on second and third down and got the ball back with 31 seconds left. But with no timeouts and 92 yards to go, Colorado was able to clinch the victory.

Coach Prime defended the decision-making after the game. "You want first downs," he said. "If you wanna run the clock down...you gotta look out there and say, 'I've got one-on-one right here, and I haven't seen one-on-one the whole game. So I gotta do what I gotta do to move these chains.' And that's what that is."

Of course, this episode fed into accusations that Deion is only using Colorado to build up Shedeur’s NFL stock. Previously, Coach Prime made a business decision by allowing Shedeur and his defensive back brother Shilo to skip the opening team meeting to do a photo shoot in Paris for Louis Vuitton. No doubt the rest of the team took note and resented the special treatment.

With Colorado’s Me Culture, this is the standard operating procedure. As Prime said after the North Dakota State game, more than two dozen NFL scouts on hand “saw what they came to see.” What that had to do with winning remains an open question.

A Rhule of Earning Everything You Get

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule and his program are the ultimate contrast to Colorado and Coach Prime. Rhule is not very interested in the portal , instead wanting to build a brotherhood through long-term relationships best accomplished through recruiting.

The best example of Rhule’s culture is 5-star true freshman QB Dylan Raiola , who Nebraska flipped from Georgia right before December’s early signing day. At most programs, Raiola would be spoiled, pampered, and catered to. At Nebraska, he was promised nothing except the opportunity to work hard and compete for the starting job.

Raiola earned the respect of coaches and players for his early arrivals, late departures, and insatiable study habits. There was no time off requested for luxury brand photo ops in Europe. It also doesn't hurt that Raiola is being compared to Patrick Mahomes .

At Nebraska, Rhule refuses to play favorites. Everyone must compete for their job each day and there is a level of accountability that many players, college or pro, could not handle.

In an era of coaches fearing players transferring out in a snit, Rhule coaches his players hard and encourages them to leave if they can’t take it, thus breeding the toughness required for success in the Big Ten . Rhule coaches fearlessly, and the players who stay respect and grow from it while fans love it.

The first payoff of Nebraska’s farm culture and work ethic came in Week 1 with a 40-7 demolition of the UTEP Miners.

Alien Fan Bases: Pop Culture vs. Religion

Few fans in Colorado cared about the Buffs until Deion Sanders arrived. Boulder, Colorado, is near Denver, where the NFL Broncos are the state's obsession, followed by the NHL Avalanche and NBA Nuggets.

Boulder is affluent, lily white, and “progressive.” In Coach Prime, its citizens who previously never gave college football a thought can make themselves feel good by cheering for Sanders & Sons. To the granola, brie, and wine set, Colorado football, its antics are entertainment, a social-justice statement, and fun.

In Nebraska, college football is religion, and the Big Red is the generational denomination of choice. Memorial Stadium has been sold out for every game since 1962. Nebraska fans have a well-deserved reputation for traveling to road games better than any other program in the country.

Nebraska Football has a tradition that has been passed down from grandparents to parents to kids and their kids. Five national championships from 1970 through 1997 and being in the conversation almost every year from 1962 through 2001 fed into that.

After being a consistent 9-win team through 2014, Nebraska self-destructed and has given fans a decade of misery. But now there is a sense that the Big Red is about to return to prominence.

Nebraska fans have long been hailed as the politest and most accommodating to visitors. But this week on radio and social media, there have been vows among Husker Nation of no more “Nebraska Nice.”

Big Red fans have tired of traveling to Boulder only to have their cars keyed, and tires slashed while enduring painful losses to what they see as a pretend program with fickle fans.

Husker Nation wants blood. On Saturday night, it will be screaming of a return to glory or wallowing in a gut punch that is too unbearable to fathom.

In Boulder, Colorado, a win would enable more uppity sneering at the neighboring blood-red, football-obsessed farm state to the east. Sean and Sherry Chardonnay could enjoy an extra glass after a hike, bike ride, high-end shopping at Louis Vuitton, or the Broncos game, while a loss would just be a minor blip to quickly forget about before another “business decision.”

At Nebraska, college football is life and death. In Colorado, it’s a pop culture sugar rush and a self-gratification device.

Let there be hate!