Nebraska Gets More Than Just a Win Over the Buffaloes

The Huskers get an AP Top 25 ranking and more.

Nebraska defenders Jimari Butler and Mikai Gbayor converge to bring down Colorado's Travis Hunter. / Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Nebraska may have hit the jackpot in the wake of Saturday night's 28-10 pasting of the Colorado Buffaloes.

Here are some reasons why:

1.)  On Sunday, the Huskers found themselves cracking the AP Top 25 with a #23 ranking.  Not since 2019 have the Huskers been ranked.

2.)  This week, the Huskers got a commit from 4-star LB, Christian Jones from Omaha Westside High School.  Jones is the highest ranked player in Nebraska for the 2025 recruiting class.  Oklahoma was in the running, but Matt Rhule & Company prevailed.

3.)  Nebraska continued its long=standing streak of never losing to Colorado four consecutive times.

Near misses during the streak

The series with Colorado began in 1898 with a 23-10 Nebraska win.  The two teams wouldn't play again until they met four consecutive years from 1902-1905.  NU went 3-1 during that span.  

After a two-year hiatus, the teams met again in 1907.  NU won the game 22-8.  Surprisingly, the two teams wouldn't play each other again until 1948.  That series stayed intact for another 63 years until both teams bolted from the Big 12 in 2011.

Then in 2018, Scott Frost's first year as the Husker head coach, the series was renewed with a four-year home/away series that included 2018-2019 and 2023-2024.  Coming into Saturday's showdown with Nebraska at Memorial Stadium, the Huskers were on a three-game losing string to Colorado.

Thankfully, the Cornhuskers saved the day with a win that prevented CU from a four-game series sweep.

So have there been any other times the streak was in jeopardy?

Yes,  twice.

Before Saturday's win in Lincoln, you have to go back to a four-year series that began in 2001.  Three of those games were NU losses.  Only Frank Solich's 2003 team kept the streak alive with a 31-22 Husker win.  As Nebraska fans remember, right after the win Solich was fired by then Husker AD Steve Pederson.  He was fired despite having a 9-3 record that year.  Solich's firing was the unofficial end to the 41 years of Husker football prominence.

The only other threat to the streak was Bill Glassford's teams in the early 1950s.  His teams lost to CU in 1951 and 1953.  But thanks to a 16-16 tie in Boulder in 1952, the streak dodged another major bullet.

And there you have it.

Next up: University of Northern Iowa (2-0)

Nebraska comes into Saturday night's game as a heavy favorite.  UNI is an FCS team that plays in the Missouri Valley Conference with teams such as North Dakota State, North Dakota and South Dakota State.  (Current Husker AD Troy Dannen is a UNI grad and served as its AD from 2008 to 2015.)  

The question is has UNI ever beaten an FBS football team?  

The answer is yes.  They've beaten Iowa State four times, the most recently in 2016.  Teams such as Ball State (2001), Ohio (1999) and Eastern Michigan (1998) have all fallen to the Panthers.

Should the Huskers be worried Saturday?  

Worried?  Probably not.  But Nebraska is not yet good enough to overlook any team on its schedule.  

Let's hope NU rolls Saturday night.

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