How many times over the last 15-20 years of watching this football program have we seen the same story? A game with a lot of hype with national attention, on national TV, in prime time, with a chance for Nebraska to prove themselves – only to see the game basically be over by the middle of the 1st quarter with the Huskers on the losing end?
That was this week. Colorado vs Nebraska. A rivalry as old as time. Colorado had won the last 3 matchups – two of them being close heartbreakers and last year being a blowout. The talk all week was how Nebraska was going to punch the Buffaloes in the mouth and be physical from the start. There was going to be a raucous crowd, yada yada yada. We had heard it all before. It was time to show it for once.
Nebraska did just that. From the tunnel walk to the final snap, these guys were ready to play and showed Colorado who Memorial Stadium belongs to. I thought the Huskers had a good chance to win the game all week, but given what we had seen in these type of games over the years, I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. It never did.
The word “domination” in the dictionary should have this boxscore next to it. Nebraska got six sacks, but they were in the backfield all night even when they didn’t get sacks. For once, Nebraska was the aggressor. It was evident early in the first drive, when Dante Dowdell had a chance to score a touchdown if he made a move but went right at Shilo Sanders and ran him over, setting the tone. The physicality never let up at any point during the game on the way to a 28-10 win, and Colorado is lucky it was that close.
Big Red finally won a game where the attention was on them. They finally won a game that was worthy of giving them attention. There is finally some positive momentum in the program again after over a decade of tripping over their own feet. This team remembered last year and what happened in Boulder. They made sure this time was different, and were the aggressor from the opening kickoff.
The defense is picking up right where they left off and they look better than last year, and the offense looks competent enough to win some games. The additions from the transfer portal have looked good early this season, and how often does this happen to Nebraska? It doesn’t, the portal seems to always be some cast offs from somewhere that couldn’t cut it at this level.
I don’t necessarily think this Colorado team is any good, but that’s the point, how many times has a not-great team still embarrassed Nebraska on a stage like this? They took care of business and finally backed up their words, and that was a sight to see.
Matt Rhule is doing what he does. He’s rebuilding. He’s building, and for the first time in a long time, Nebraska football has something to point to and sell to recruits. They have a star quarterback that looks like he can actually play the position for the first time since Zac Taylor. The future is bright, Husker football is fun again, and I was beginning to wonder if I would ever say either of those phrases again.
