So far, Colorado football is off to a very strong start with two wins over the Colorado State Rams and the Nebraska Cornhuskers in thrilling fashion.
Colorado football had a nice start to the season by knocking off its in-state rival in the Colorado State Rams in Week 1. However, we didn’t know how the Buffaloes would come out in Week 2 against a Nebraska Cornhuskers squad that had not played in a game yet this season. Nebraska’s first game was canceled due to a weather delay that was supposed to come against the Akron Zips.
The main reason why this game between Colorado and Nebraska was so intriguing was because head coach Scott Frost was taking the field at Memorial Stadium in his first game leading this program. Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre was also leading the Buffs into a key game that used to be a huge Big 12 rivalry while his seat was starting to heat up.
Colorado ended up getting off to the hot start with a 14-point lead in the first half behind junior quarterback Steven Montez. Nebraska true freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez was also doing a good job in his first career start. The Huskers never had a true freshman starting at quarterback in a season opener before in program history.
All things considered, this was a tremendous game when nobody could really pinpoint how this would go. Nebraska hadn’t played a game yet and Colorado was very disappointing last year coming off that magical 2016 season.
After Colorado jumped out to that early first quarter lead, Martinez brought the Huskers back in the second. Nebraska would outscore the Buffs 21-13 in the second and third quarters. Yet, that was not enough to keep Colorado off pace in the fourth quarter. Colorado scored on its last drive of the fourth quarter to go back to Boulder with a 33-28 victory.
The two heroes for the Buffs here were easily Montez and standout sophomore wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. With nine catches for 172 yards and a touchdown, Shenault Jr. delivered in a big way for the Buffs. His touchdown catch was also the game-winning score for Colorado.
This was a heartbreaking way for Nebraska to start off the Frost-era in Lincoln. Martinez was injured in the fourth quarter that forced in the former walk-on quarterback, sophomore Andrew Bunch, into action in clutch time. Nebraska was not able to score to even things up on the final drive of the game.
It was hard to tell who held momentum for the entire game. Montez did throw for more than 300 yards and three touchdowns, but he also had some missed throws too. Colorado and Nebraska kept you guessing for the entire game to deliver on what should be one of the most exciting contests of the entire college football season.