BOULDER, Colo. — Nebraska squandered early scoring opportunities, and Colorado sailed past the Huskers late in a 36-14 CU victory Saturday at Folsom Field. The defeat for Nebraska dealt a blow to its fragile bowl-eligibility bid and sent it home to Lincoln for Matt Rhule’s coaching debut at Memorial Stadium with an 0-2 mark.
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The Huskers, after losing 13-10 in the Aug. 31 opener at Minnesota, avoided the embarrassment of a late collapse in Boulder. It came earlier, aided by four turnovers amid a hostile environment as coach Deion Sanders’ Buffs continued their remarkable start to this season.
Shedeur Sanders threw for 393 yards. Colorado withstood eight Nebraska sacks. The No 22-ranked Buffs capitalized on a smattering of Nebraska errors late in the first half to unlock a scoreless tie. And when the Huskers scored on Jeff Sims’ 57-yard touchdown run to open the second half, cutting the Buffs’ lead to 13-7, Colorado answered with four consecutive scoring drives against a tiring Nebraska defense.
Sims left with an injury with nine minutes to play.
Read more: Matt Rhule: Nebraska meant no disrespect with pregame huddle on Colorado logo
Here are my initial thoughts:
• It’s not too early to reevaluate the Huskers’ ceiling for this season. They’ve got Northern Illinois headed to Lincoln next Saturday, with Louisiana Tech set to follow on Sept. 23. But six wins and a return to the college football postseason for the first time since 2016 looks like a daunting task for Rhule’s first team. Nebraska badly needed to get one victory in its first two games to stay on track. And the margin for error was already small. An 0-2 start likely means they’ll need to pull at least two upsets in Big Ten play for a chance to play beyond Black Friday.
• Nebraska can’t get out of its way in crunch time. The messy moments at the end of halves continued for Nebraska in Boulder after the Huskers bungled the final minutes of the second and fourth quarters in Minnesota. This time, mistakes led to all 13 of Colorado’s first-half points. In fact, before the fateful, final five minutes, Nebraska appeared in control. Yes, the Huskers had come up empty on the scoreboard — but the flow was trending in the Huskers’ direction. That is, until they inexplicably botched a third QB-center exchange of the first half. Sims couldn’t catch a snap from Ben Scott on the first play of a Nebraska drive that began with 5:38 to play in the half. Colorado outside linebacker Jordan Domineck jumped on the ball. The Buffs converted the turnover into a field goal.
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• Momentum turns fast against these Huskers. In another trend that carried over from the season opener, when things go bad for these Huskers, they go especially bad. After the field goal that got Colorado on the board with 4:20 to play in the first half, the snowball began rolling downhill. Sims, looking for Thomas Fidone, on a third-and-12 throw, was intercepted — his fourth pick of the season — by Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig. Shedeur Sanders hit Tar’Varish Dawson Jr. or a 30-yard touchdown on the next play. CU added a 32-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.
• The Huskers can’t withstand this rate of mistakes from their quarterback. Nebraska stands at minus-6 in turnover margin through two games, with Sims on the hook for four interceptions and two fumbles. His talent is not in question. But he’s hurting Nebraska with bad decisions and poor timing. His turnovers on fumbled snaps came at the CU 31- and Nebraska 24-yard lines. The second one put points on the board for the Buffs. And some of the bad decisions don’t show in the turnover column. For instance, Sims ran out of bounds ahead of a Nebraska punt with 58 seconds to play in the first half. It stopped the clock and allowed CU to keep a timeout in its pocket for a final drive of the second quarter that covered 50 yards in six plays and ended with a Jace Feely field goal from 32 yards as time expired.
• If Sims is not hurt seriously, don’t look for Rhule to consider a QB change this early. Heinrich Haarberg is a step back from Sims as a passer. And though Haarberg is a strong runner, he doesn’t offer more for the Huskers than Sims in the ground game. Would Haarberg or Chubba Purdy make fewer mistakes? Not based on anything we’ve seen. Purdy, ineffective last year, made major gains in the offseason, according to Rhule. But if Purdy is still working behind Haarberg, Sims appears likely to stay in command of this offense, mistakes and all. Rhule said after the game that Purdy has been dealing with an injury for the past week and while available was not at his best.
• Frustration is high among Nebraska fans. They were largely outnumbered in Boulder on Saturday, unlike the Huskers’ previous visit in 2019, and many of the Nebraska fans in attendance left quietly as Colorado put the finishing touches on a blowout win. This is an embarrassing moment for Nebraska, losing big against a rival program directed by a first-year coach. The Huskers helped turn Coach Prime’s home debut into a celebration. It hurts. And it hurts doubly that the Buffs have pulled off a turnaround in short time while Nebraska continues to wallow in misery.
(Photo of Nebraska quarterback Jeff Sims: Nick Tre. Smith / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Mitch Sherman is a staff writer for The Athletic covering Nebraska football. He previously covered college sports for ESPN.com after working 13 years for the Omaha World-Herald. Mitch is an Omaha native and lifelong Nebraskan. Follow Mitch on Twitter @mitchsherman
