Nebraska Football: Scott Frost debuts to an old rivalry vs. Colorado
Nebraska football and head coach Scott Frost will take on an old rival in Colorado on Saturday afternoon. Here’s everything you need to know.
It’s 1982. Tom Osborne is building up a national powerhouse in Lincoln, Nebraska that would win three national titles. Meanwhile, in Boulder, Colo., a Michigan assistant coach by the name Bill McCartney takes over as the head coach of the Buffalos and designates the Nebraska Cornhuskers as their top rivals to show his team means business.
Four years later, McCartney would lead the Buffalos past the Cornhuskers for the first time since 1967 and would later beat Tom Osborne to the punch and win the 1990 National Championship before the Huskers could take home their first title in 1994 under Osbourne.
Welcome to one of the most prominent college football rivalries of the 1980’s. Back when the Big Eight reigned in the MidWest, this very game was often decided as the conference championship game and many of these games were decided by two touchdowns or less when all was said and done.
The rivalry continued into the Big 12 with the most notable matchup coming in 2001. No. 2 Nebraska, led by quarterback Eric Crouch, entered into Folsom Field where Colorado was ready and waiting to hand the Huskers their first loss. The rivalry was renewed in 2013 and the 2018 matchup will be the first of four installments leading into the 2024 season.
With this being said, let’s look at the 2018 squads. Nebraska’s biggest storylines over the offseason were the head coaching change and a new quarterback. Scott Frost coached a UCF team from a 0-12 season to an undefeated season in only two years before accepting a job as the coach of his alma mater. Frost stole a four-star recruit named Adrian Martinez away from Tennessee and he is now the Week 2 starter for the Huskers.
We didn’t get much from Nebraska last week as their matchup with the Akron Zips was canceled due to rain. Martinez won the starting quarterback job in fall camp and even though his strength is in his legs, he’s got a sure-fire target in Stanley Morgan Jr. to go to.
The Colorado Buffalos opened up with a win over in-state rival Colorado State in dominant fashion by allowing only 14 points. Quarterback Steven Montez started off hot going a perfect 12-for-12 with three touchdown passes before he missed a pass. The ground game hasn’t missed a beat after losing Phillip Lindsay with the addition of Virginia Tech-transfer Travon McMillan who rushed for 103 yards and a touchdown. The defense allowed 176 passing yards to a Rams team that threw for 537 yards a week earlier.
With the stage set, let’s look into the latest installment of this once great rivalry.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 8
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Lincoln, Neb.
Venue: Memorial Stadium
TV: ABC
Live Stream: WatchESPN or FuboTV
Players to Watch
Colorado
- QB, Steven Montez
- WR, Laviska Shenault Jr.
- LB, Nate Landman
- RB’s, Travon McMillan and Kyle Evans
Nebraska
- QB, Adrian Martinez
- WR, Stanley Morgan Jr.
- LB, Dedrick Young
- S, Aaron Williams
- DE, Ben Stille
Keys to Victory
Colorado needs to put pressure on Adrian Martinez. The kid is going to be a fantastic player under Scott Frost, but a kid nonetheless. Colorado needs to get Martinez rattled so he begins to make mistakes.
Offensively, Steven Montez needs to look similar to last week in that he completes passes consistently. Nebraska’s secondary is a big step up from Colorado State’s, but it shouldn’t be anything too overwhelming. Get in a rhythm, score points as often as possible, and rattle Martinez and they should be on the right track for a win.
Nebraska does have a few advantages over Colorado. For starters, they basically got a bye week to focus on this game and didn’t lose any meaningful players in the first game due to them not having one. Secondly, Adrian Martinez has looked really good all offseason and is learning under one of the best coaches in football right now.
The skill talent on offense is better in comparison to that of Colorado with experienced receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. and JUCO-transfer running back Greg Bell. Defensively, Nebraska needs to show that they have more than just talent. A lot of those guys have the tools to hinder Montez, but they need to bring them together this game.
Betting Lines
Line: Nebraska -4
Over/Under: 59
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Prediction
Offense, Offense, Offense for four quarters. The Over/Under is too low for this caliber of a game. Both sides are going to play hard all game long, but the Cornhuskers are going to start things off right under new management with a win and a strong showing from the quarterback out of Fresno, Calif.
Final Score: Nebraska 35, Colorado 31