3 college football teams who have something to prove in Week 2
After their Week 1 performances, Michigan, Clemson and Colorado have a lot to prove in Week 2
LINCOLN, Neb. – Coach Deion Sanders and his Colorado football team are trying to do it again – another hot start with big games against big rivals in front of big audiences on national television.
But this will be their most hostile test yet. The Buffaloes face Nebraska here in front of a sold-out crowd of about 90,000 at Memorial Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on NBC at 7:30 p.m. ET – another prime-time game for Coach Prime and his traveling show of flash and dash.
The flash comes from his bling-loving quarterback son Shedeur, who passed for 445 yards and four touchdowns last week in a 31-26 win at home against North Dakota State.
The dash comes from two-way endurance freak Travis Hunter, who caught three of those touchdown passes and only came off the field for two plays on offense and defense, according to Pro Football Focus.
Both will be hounded by Nebraska, however, as the Cornhuskers try to start the season 2-0 start for the first time since 2016. They are starting a true freshman at quarterback, Dylan Raiola, a top recruit who completed 19 of 27 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns in a 40-7 win at home against Texas-El Paso.
If Nebraska wins, it will be their first victory against Colorado since 2010, when both teams were members of the Big 12 Conference. If Colorado wins, it will be its third straight against Nebraska dating to 2018 and will put the Buffaloes (1-0) in position to start 3-0 for the second straight year, with all three wins coming on national television, just like last year.
Next week the Buffs play at rival Colorado State on CBS.
USA TODAY Sports will provide the latest updates, highlights, wild plays, analysis and more throughout the game. Follow along:
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska enters the fourth quarter with a 28-3 lead after sitting on the ball for the final six minutes of the third quarter. The only scoring after halftime has been a field goal for Colorado, but Nebraska now wants to put this game away and start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2016.
The announced attendance at Memorial Stadium is 86,906, the 398th consecutive sellout for Nebraska.
LINCOLN, Neb. – Colorado finally scored against Nebraska but elected to go for a 27-yard field goal instead of trying for a touchdown on fourth down and goal from the 10-yard line.
Colorado kicker Alejandro Mata booted it through the uprights to shrink Nebraksa’s lead to 28-3 with 10:38 left in the third quarter. The drive went 49 yards in eight plays on Colorado’s first drive of the second half.
Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is 17-of-30 passing for 178 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.
LINCOLN, Neb. – Nebraska leads at halftime 28-0 after a disastrous stretch for Colorado.
It began when one the Buffaloes’ top defenders was disqualified from the game after being flagged for targeting late in the second quarter. Linebacker Trevor Woods was penalized for targeting when his helmet ran into the head of Nebraska receiver Isaiah Neyor. By rule, he is disqualified from the game as a result, with Nebraska also gaining 15 yards from the penalty.
That brought Nebraska to the Colorado 33-yard line, where the Cornhuskers took advantage for a subsequent score. After another penalty by Colorado (pass interference), Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola fired a pass to running back Rahmir Johnson, who almost had the ball taken away by Colorado defender LaVonta Bentley. But the ball went through Bentley’s hands and into the hands of Johnson, who ran it in for an 18-yard touchdown with 40 seconds left in the first half.
The Buffs then tried to kick a 61-yard field goal to end the half but fell well short.
LINCOLN, Neb. – Colorado starting safety Shilo Sanders apparently broke his forearm and is out for the rest of the game against Nebraska, his father and coach Deion Sanders told NBC at halftime.
Shilo Sanders left the game in the first quarter and didn’t return. He was Colorado’s leading tackler last year and is in his final season of college football after graduating from Jackson State last year and then transferring to Colorado to play for his father.
Read full story about Shilo Sanders’ injury here.
LINCOLN, Neb. — Almost nothing is going right for Colorado in the first half. After driving 63 yards in nine plays and threatening to score, the Buffaloes’ 29-yard field-goal attempt was blocked by Nebraska’s DeShon Singleton with 3:33 left before halftime.
Nebraska still leads, 21-0. Colorado’s kicker, Alejandro Mata, launched a low kick, which wasn’t high enough to evade Singleton’s hand.
LINCOLN, Neb. – A big pass play by Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola has led to a 21-0 lead for the Cornhuskers with 6:44 left before halftime against Colorado.
Raiola rolled right on first down and threw across his body to the left side of the field, where receiver Jaylen Lloyd caught it one yard from the goal line for a 36-yard gain. Running back Dante Dowdell then ran it in for a score on the next play, helping Nebraska go up 21-0.
The scoring drive went 86 yards on nine plays and ate 4:46 of clock. Raiola is 10-of-12 passing for 81 yards.
LINCOLN, Neb. – At the end of the first quarter, Nebraska leads Colorado, 14-0, and has dominated the Buffaloes on both sides of the ball. The Cornhuskers have compiled 103 yards of total offense, compared to minus-2 yards for the Buffaloes.
Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola has completed 8 of 9 passes for 32 yards, while his counterpart at Colorado, Shedeur Sanders has been sacked three times and has been intercepted once – for a 7-yard touchdown return.
Sanders is 3-for-7 passing for 25 yards and has minus-25 yards rushing because of those sacks.
LINCOLN, Neb. – Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders is off to a terrible start. He was sacked twice on his first four plays and now has been intercepted by the Cornhuskers for a touchdown.
Nebraska leads in the first quarter, 14-0.
On his third possession of the game, Sanders opened the drive with a first-down pass intended for freshman receive Drelon Miller on the right side of the field. But Nebraska defensive back Tommi Hill stepped in front of Miller to grab it and return it 7 yards for a touchdown with 5:46 left in the first quarter.
The Colorado safety and Coach Prime’s son walked off the field in the first quarter, holding his helmet. No details on why he left the field were immediately provided. According to the NBC broadcast, “he is probable to return.”
LINCOLN, Neb. – Red balloons are back in the air above here Memorial Stadium. The tradition resumed in Saturday’s game against Colorado, with fans releasing them into the sky after the Cornhuskers’ first touchdown in the first quarter.
It’s the first time they’ve been allowed to fly since Nebraska’s then-athletic director Trevor Alberts announced the tradition would cease in 2022. Alberts cited a helium shortage for the decision, and Nebraska said the tradition will continue on “select special occasions.”
LINCOLN, Neb. — Nebraska has struck first against Colorado, taking a 7-0 lead on its first drive after a 12-year touchdown run up the middle by running back Dante Dowdell.
The drive went 49 yards in seven plays after the Cornhuskers stopped Colorado on its opening possessions with a third-down sack against CU quarterback Shedeur Sanders. The Buffaloes went three-and-out on that drive with Sanders throwing two incomplete passes on first and second down.
Memorial stadium has a capacity of more than 85,000 and regularly sells out for Cornhuskers football games.
“Nebraska has continued its NCAA-record streak of consecutive sellouts that dates back to 1962 and is at 396 games entering the 2024 season,” Nebraska’s website reads. ‘Nebraska celebrated its 300th consecutive sellout with a stadium record crowd against Louisiana-Lafayette in 2009.”
Tommie Frazier was on the field at Memorial Stadium as part of the 1994 national championship team introduced before the Nebraska vs. Colorado game.
Nebraska finished 13-0 that year at No. 1. Colorado finished No. 3 at 11-1. Its only loss that year was vs. Nebraska in Lincoln.
Frazier quarterbacked Nebraska’s back-to-back championship teams in 1994 and 1995. He was the Heismen Trophy runner-up to Ohio State’s Eddie George in 1995. He also won the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award that year, among his many accolades.
The game kicked off at 7:30 p.m. ET at memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Colorado had possession first but didn’t do much with it, and Nebraska quickly started its first drive.
Who’s working the NBC broadcast of the Colorado-Nebraska game?
Former NFL and Texas quarterback Colt McCoy will make his debut for NBC after recently announcing his retirement from football. McCoy, who turned 38 on Thursday, will serve as the game’s analyst in the broadcast booth alongside play-by-play announcer Paul Burmeister, a former Iowa quarterback. Reporter Kathryn Tappen will work the sidelines for the broadcast, which is part of NBC’s Big Ten Conference football package.
Nebraska is a -7.5 point favorite. Here the odds for the game tonight, provided by BetMGM Sportsbook. For other games, check out the USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub. Lines last updated Saturday at 5:45 p.m. ET.
Moneyline (ML): Colorado +220 (bet $100 to win $220) | Nebraska -275 (bet $275 to win $100)Against the spread (ATS): Colorado +7.5 (-115) | Nebraska -7.5 (-105)Over/Under (O/U): 58.5 (O: -105 | U: -115)
LINCOLN, Neb. – Colorado coach Deion Sanders didn’t get a very warm welcome from the Nebraska crowd before the game. He came out of the locker room about 65 minutes before kickoff after a throng of fans had gathered along his path to the field. Then after entering the field through the end zone with his bodyguard, he jogged toward the Nebraska student section, which greeted him with a profane chant:
“(Expletive) CU.”
Sanders, 57, has been here before, as a player for Florida State in 1986. He was credited with four tackles in that game, which Nebraska won, 34-17
Last game in Colorado-Nebraska contract
This game marks the last of a four-game contract between the two rivals that was signed in 2012. Colorado won the first three games: at Nebraska in 2019, at home in 2019 and at home again in 2023, when the Buffs won, 36-14.
It’s not clear when the two will play each other again. There has been no announced plan for when the series will resume.
As old members of the Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences, the two teams had played each other annually from 1948 through 2010. Both then left the Big 12 to join other conferences, forcing them to make a contract for non-conference games if they wanted to keep playing each other.
Nebraska leads the all-time series, 49-21-2.
Coaches Deion Sanders, Matt Rhule offer a study in contrasts
Saturday’s game between Colorado and Nebraska poses a fundamental question about the rapidly changing modern era of college football:
Which is the right way to build a team these days?
The head coaches of both programs started at the same time, in late 2022. But since then, Colorado’s Deion Sanders and Nebraska’s Matt Rhule have taken wildly divergent paths in their quest to rebuild two rival rosters.
A detailed look at their differences is discussed in this story here.
If you find yourself searching for Coach Prime’s sunglasses, here’s all the info you need on his signature look.
Here are the kickoff times and TV info for Top 25 teams in the US LBM Coaches Poll. (All times are Eastern): No. 16 Kansas State at Tulane, ESPN, noon Arkansas at No. 17 Oklahoma State, ABC, noon No. 3 Texas at No. 9 Michigan, FOX, noon Bowling Green at No. 8 Penn State, Big Ten Network, noon Tennessee Tech at No. 1 Georgia, ESPN+, 2 p.m. Iowa State at No. 21 Iowa, CBS, 3:30 p.m. Baylor at No. 11 Utah, FOX, 3:30 p.m. Eastern Michigan at No. 25 Washington, Big Ten Network, 3:30 p.m. Northern Illinois at No. 7 Notre Dame, NBC, Peacock, 3:30 p.m. Jacksonville State at No. 24 Louisville, ESPN+, 3:30 p.m. Middle Tennessee at No. 5 Ole Miss, SEC Network, 4:15 p.m. Florida A&M at No. 15 Miami (Fla.), ESPN+, 6 p.m. South Florida at No. 4 Alabama, ESPN, 7 p.m. Buffalo at No. 10 Missouri, ESPN+, 7 p.m. No. 20 Kansas at Illinois, FS1, 7 p.m. Nicholls at No. 19 LSU, ESPN+, 7:30 p.m. No. 12 Tennessee at No. 23 N.C. State, ABC, 7:30 p.m. Western Michigan at No. 2 Ohio State, Big Ten Network, 7:30 p.m. Houston at No. 13 Oklahoma, SEC Network, 7:45 p.m. Appalachian State at No. 22 Clemson, ACC Network, 8 p.m. Boise State at No. 6 Oregon, Peacock, 10 p.m. Northern Arizona at No. 18 Arizona, ESPN+, 10 p.m. Utah State at No. 14 Southern Cal, Big Ten Network, 11 p.m. College football picks Week 2
Here are USA TODAY Sports’ expert picks for all of Saturday’s ranked games.
Gannett may earn revenue from sports betting operators for audience referrals to betting services. Sports betting operators have no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. Terms apply, see operator site for Terms and Conditions. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, help is available. Call the National Council on Problem Gambling 24/7 at 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ, OH), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN). Must be 21 or older to gamble. Sports betting and gambling are not legal in all locations. Be sure to comply with laws applicable where you reside.
Source link : http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=66dd0ef337464b99b8e566ade0372525&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.usatoday.com%2Fstory%2Fsports%2Fncaaf%2F2024%2F09%2F07%2Fcolorado-nebraska-deion-score-live-updates-highlights%2F75107005007%2F&c=7653426344297473869&mkt=en-us
Author :
Publish date : 2024-09-07 10:54:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.