Nebraska has to 'Big Ten the hell out of' Colorado offensively

The tenor of the Nebraska–Colorado matchup in Boulder in Week 2 notably changed with the Cornhuskers flaming out against Minnesota, 13-10, and the Buffaloes stampeding past TCU, 45-42. It’s got HuskerOnline’s Sean Callahan thinking the best bet for Nebraska is to lean into their conference affiliation and muck things up a bit.

Colorado showed an adeptness for racking up yardage and points attacking the outside, but might not be as solid in the trenches. Nebraska’s best bet, Callahan said to On3’s Andy Staples, is to line up with plenty of tight ends and hammer the football on the ground.

“And their offense, it just never felt right that entire day in Minneapolis. From the opening possession, they started on the one yard line. Just never had a rhythm and a feel. A lot of it — they’ve gotta run the ball better with the tailback more consistently. Jeff Sims did what he did. They had 200 sack-adjusted rush yards but Gabe Ervin Jr., who’s a 225-pound back, that’s the guy they gotta just slam at Colorado,” Callahan said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Nebraska took Teddy Prochazka, who’s done this before, bring him in at 6-10, 330 as an extra tight end and just go full Big Ten. We’re going to wear the Big Ten T-shirt, the bumper sticker, and we’re just going to Big Ten the hell out of you. I think that’s what Nebraska has to do. They cannot make this a seven-on-seven game.”

Staples concurred, noting that while the Buffaloes have used the transfer portal to surge ahead in terms of talent at skill positions, they haven’t done so on the lines.

He’d be surprised if they’re ready to hold up to a bludgeoning from a power running game — and he knows Nebraska trying to go athlete-for-athlete with Colorado is a recipe for disaster.

“That’s what TCU did. That’s — TCU has good players but Colorado is very talented on the edges. Now that we’ve seen Dylan Edwards, we know what he is, we know what Travis Hunter is on the edges, and they’ve got that speed. But you’re right. The way to attack Colorado, I think, is on the line of scrimmage because that’s the hardest place to find good players in the transfer portal. That’s the hardest thing for them to do,” Staples said.

And as Nebraska looks for a way to zig against the Buffaloes zag and create an edge, Callahan sees some irony in the one-week role reversal.

Going into Week 1, Colorado had to go on the road amid plenty of doubt it could win. Now Nebraska heads to Folsom Field with plenty of predictions for the Buffaloes to roll.

And the way to author another shocking victory might just be to pound the ball on the ground.

“It feels like Nebraska’s almost in the situation that Colorado was in last week where everybody was doubting them and the whole country’s turning it on to see them fail and Nebraska could come out and show people something just the way Colorado did,” Callahan said.