Nebraska's Defense Exposed One of Colorado's Huge Weaknesses

One statistic from this game spells doom for Colorado's season. It also shows a sign of potential strength for the Huskers.

Sep 7, 2024; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Matt Rhule on the sideline during the first quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images / Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

The final score may have shown a 28-10 victory for Nebraska over Colorado, but the game did not feel that close.

Colorado was down 28-0 at halftime and the game never felt competitive. The Buffaloes scored a late touchdown to make the score look more respectable, but anyone who watched the game knows that the Huskers destroyed them right from the jump. The final stats do not even tell the full story.

So what happened? Colorado's offense looked so explosive the previous week in their victory over North Dakota State. But on Saturday, the Buffaloes looked like a completely different team against Nebraska in front of a raucous Memorial Stadium crowd. Well, a lot of credit needs to go to Nebraska's defense.

Colorado could only rush for 16 yards on 22 carries for an abysmal 0.7 yards per attempt. Contrast that with Nebraska, who rushed for 149 yards on 35 attempts, good for 4.3 yards per carry. That statistic tells the story of the entire game. The Huskers did not have an incredible day on the ground but did more than enough to control the game. Colorado head coach Deion Sanders spoke after the game about the struggles of his offensive line.

Coach Prime on the offensive line.

“First game I think they did a good job, this game they didn’t. We haven’t run the ball like we’ve wanted to consistently. We gotta figure out a way to have some type of running game.”

— Jake Schwanitz (@JakeDNVR) September 8, 2024

Coach Sanders is incorrect about his offensive line's performance in Week 1. Their running game was just as bad a week ago for the Buffaloes. Colorado only rushed for 59 yards in their season opener against an FCS team. Their offensive line struggles are a huge problem that was exposed even further by Nebraska.

Does this say more about Colorado's ineffective offensive line, or does it say more about the Huskers' excellent run defense? The answer is both.

Through two games, Nebraska's run defense has been outstanding. Against UTEP in the season opener, the Huskers only gave up 56 rushing yards. Sure, UTEP is not a good team and they just lost to Southern Utah this past week, but the point remains. So far in 2024, Nebraska can hang its hat on its run defense being very stingy.

On the other hand, Colorado had big problems. They cannot block a competent defensive line at all. Not only was their run game atrocious, but they could also not protect Shedeur Sanders and gave him no time to throw the ball. That is a recipe for disaster in the future for the Buffaloes. Nebraska showed Colorado that they have a long way to go if they want to make a bowl game, much less compete in their first season back in the Big 12.

Judging by this game, Nebraska and Colorado are trending in opposite directions.