CU at Nebraska Preview – “T.I.P.S.” for Buffs’ Trip to Lincoln

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Colorado at Nebraska Preview – “T.I.P.S.” for the Buffs’ trip to Lincoln

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It’s been eight years since Colorado and Nebraska last played each other. In 2010, the Buffs and Cornhuskers closed out the season as lame duck members of the Big 12 with a Thanksgiving weekend battle in Lincoln.

Since then, neither team has won a conference championship in their new league, though both have won division titles.

Nebraska finished the 2017 season with a 4-8 record; Colorado came in at 5-7.

Yet the old rivalry will be a featured matchup this weekend, taking the 1:30 p.m. (MT) time slot on ABC.

Respect for tradition? A nod to the bitter history between Colorado and Nebraska?

Nope.

Colorado is on the national stage this weekend for one reason, and one reason only.

Scott Frost.

Over 80,000 were on hand for the Nebraska Spring Game, with over 90,000 in their seats for the Akron game last Saturday night for a game which never came to pass.

The storyline on ESPN GameDay this Saturday morning will be the return of Scott Frost. The pregame intro by the ABC announcers will be about the return of Scott Frost.

It will be up to the Buffs to turn the national narrative back to the black-and-gold.

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This week’s “T.I.P.S.” for CU at Nebraska … Saturday, 1:30 p.m. MT, ABC

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T – Talent 

Nebraska will enter the 2018 season with a lineup of quarterbacks who have never started a collegiate game. What’s even scarier – if you are a Nebraska fan – the Cornhuskers will play the 2018 season with exactly one scholarship quarterback.

Tristan Gebbia, a red-shirt freshman, is not that scholarship quarterback. Gebbia was beaten out for the starting job by true freshman Adrian Martinez. Rather than stick around to be the primary backup, Gebbia left school and enrolled at Oregon State.

This leaves Scott Frost with Adrian Martinez, backed up by … sophomore walk-on Andrew Bunch. Behind Andrew Bunch? True freshman walk-on Matt Masker.

“I think Matt Masker’s taken a live football snap more recently than anyone we have,” Frost quipped. That’s actually almost a true statement. Starter Adrian Martinez missed his entire senior season of high school rehabbing a shoulder injury … but he did play in the Under Armour All-America game.

While CU may not have game tape on Martinez (other than from his junior year in high school, and whatever Nebraska was willing to divulge in their generic Spring Game), it would be a safe bet that the Buff defensive coaches will try and throw stunts, blitzes and never-seen-before pressures on the new Cornhusker signal-caller.

The rest of the Nebraska offense is in fairly decent shape.

The top rushers and receivers from 2017 are back, including one of the Big Ten’s best 1-2 wideout combos in Stanley Morgan and J.D. Spielman.

These aren’t Tom Osborne’s Huskers on offense, though. At least not yet.

Nebraska ran for just 107.5 yards per game last season, and is still lacking an elite back (junior college transfer Greg Bell may be the answer here). The offensive line returns four starters, but, as CU fans have learned, experience doesn’t necessarily translate to improved play.

The Nebraska defense last year was awful … almost as bad as Colorado’s defense.

The Cornhuskers gave up 436.2 yards per game (CU gave up 450.6). The defense gave up 5.57 yards per rush, with the opposition gaining over five yards on almost half (46.8%) of all carries (second-worst percentage in the FBS).

Seven starters return, including the entire defensive line. But, of course, it is to be determined if that is good news or bad news. The secondary has some talented starters, but the depth is thin, and may prove a liability by season’s end.

Nebraska fifth-year seniors will be playing for their third defense coordinator, though the base 3-4 defense remains. Coordinator Erik Chinander’s “no fear of failure, let it loose” approach is in marked contrast to the bend-but-don’t-break approach the Cornhuskers played under last year.

The Cornhuskers’ focus will be to try and force turnovers (under Chinander last season, UCF was second in the nation in takeaways, with 32)

Translation: Nebraska will try and use pressure – and 90,000 rabid fans – to try and rattle the CU offense. “You really can’t (prepare),” said CU quarterback Steven Montez, “but the crowd noise doesn’t really effect you too much once you get locked in. You know it is loud, but in your mind and in your ears, you don’t really hear it too much.”

If Montez & Co. can stay focused, there should be some opportunities for some big plays as the Nebraska defense sells out trying to make big plays of their own.

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I – Intangibles

The renewal of the Colorado/Nebraska rivalry is huge for Buff fans.

For the players? … Not so much.

Most of the players on both sides of the ball were in elementary school the last time the two teams played.

Mention: “Sal is dead. Go Big Red” to current player, and you’ll get a blank stare.

Left guard Brett Tonz has never played against the Huskers, but said being a sports fan and a Buff have given him and his teammates some knowledge of the history.

“I don’t know as much as some of the older Colorado football players and alums,” said Tonz. “But I’ve definitely been a huge sports guy, and I kind of kept up with the rivalries in college football and the pros. I know kind of the bad blood and what it really means. This game, it means a lot.”

Said linebacker Nate Landman: “I was talking to Coach Hagan (running backs coach Darian Hagan) today and he said he never lost to them, so hopefully we are going to keep that tradition up. I’m excited. It’s going to be a big game with a huge crowd. I’m excited.”

I’m not even convinced that the game means as much to Nebraska fans as it does to Buff fans. Ask a Cornhusker fanatic if he would rather have a win this year over Colorado or over Wisconsin, my guess would be that the answer would be the Badgers.

Ask a Buff fan if he would rather have a win over Nebraska or a win over Washington?

I’m going with Nebraska as the answer you would receive.

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P – Preparation/Schedule 

The shoe is on the other foot.

Last week, Mike MacIntyre, as he had the year before, bemoaned the fact that Colorado State had the opportunity to play a game before the Rocky Mountain Showdown.

“That gives them a big advantage, at least at the beginning of the game for sure,” MacIntyre said of the Rams getting a game in before the Buffs. “We’re going to have to find a way get the tempo of the game … Hopefully we’ll be able to come out of the gates fast, but that gives them a huge advantage, to me. I’m concerned about that.”

Okay, now the Buffs have the benefit of playing a game before the opposition. Nebraska’s game against Akron was cancelled due to thunderstorms, making the Colorado game the Nebraska season-opener.

So, a clear “huge advantage” for the Buffs … right, coach?

“They haven’t played a game yet so that gives us a little bit of an advantage having played already,” Colorado head coach Mike MacIntyre said on Monday. “The other side of it, though, is we’ve never seen them play (for this staff) at Nebraska. All (the film) we’ve watched is Central Florida film and (Nebraska’s) spring game. I was hoping to get a little film on them. They got a little film on us with different things we’re doing.”

I do believe the Buffs gained an advantage in the Cornhuskers losing Akron as an opening game opponent.

My beef with playing CSU as the first game of the season has always been that it gives the Rams a month to prepare for their Super Bowl game against the Buffs, an advantage which is mitigated when they play a “Week Zero” game.

Nebraska hasn’t been game-planning for Colorado for the past month. While certainly some film work this summer went into getting the team ready for the Buffs, the focus the past few weeks had to be on Akron.

Last year, Akron did not win a game out of conference, and lost to Penn State 52-0 and Florida Atlantic 50-3. Just the sort of opponent you would like to have a as a first-year head coach with a first-year quarterback.

Colorado certainly ups the ante for the Cornhuskers as they game plan for the first game of the Scott Frost era in Lincoln.

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S – Statistics

Let’s enjoy these while we can, shall we?

After CU’s 45-13 domination of Colorado State, the Buffs are ranked highly in a number of significant categories:

– 1st in the Pac-12 (and 21st nationally) in passing offense (338.0 ypg.);
– 1st in the Pac-12 (and 16th nationally) in total offense (596.0 ypg.);
– 3rd in the Pac-12 in both rushing offense (258.8 ypg.) and scoring offense (45.0 ppg.);
– 3rd in the Pac-12 (and 34th nationally) in rushing defense (103.0 ypg.);
– 4th in the Pac-12 (and 25th nationally) in scoring defense (13.0 ppg.)

In addition, Steven Montez is first in the nation in completion percentage (22-of-25, 88.0%) and third in the nation in passing efficiency. Laviska Shenault is second in the nation in all-pupose yardage (216.0 ypg.) and fourth in the nation in receptions (11.0 rpg.).

Also, while not entirely relevant, the stats below are worth noting for Buff fans trying to fend off rabid Husker fans with whom they may be forced to deal this week:

Nebraska 2017 national rankings:

– 119th in rushing offense (107.5 ypg.);
– 114th in rushing defense (214.8 ypg.);
– 100th in total defense (436.2 ypg.);
– 115th in scoring defense (36.4 ppg.);
– 128th in tackles for loss (3.7 per game);
– 118th in sacks (14 all season);
– 115th in turnovers gained (12 all season).

Food for thought as Buff fans try and remember that Nebraska went 4-8 last season … and didn’t look particularly good getting there.

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Prediction …

Can Scott Frost make that much of a difference?

Can Frost turn around the Nebraska program, and lead the Cornhuskers to their first conference title since 1999?

The Husker Nation clearly believes so.

Pundits agree, but don’t see it happening right away. Nebraska’s five road games in 2018 are: Michigan; Wisconsin; Northwestern; Ohio State; and Iowa … not a formula for a trip to the Big Ten title game.

Still, prognosticators are bullish on Frost:

Athlon (ranking Frost as the No. 1 of 21 new hires): “There are no guarantees in the world of college football, but will be a significant surprise if Frost does not return Nebraska to national prominence”.

Lindy’s: “If there are 100 rankings of college football coaching hires out there, then there are 100 with Frost and Nebraska right at the very top. This is a once-in-a-lifetime hire”.

Street and Smith’s: “Frost is a dynamic personality who flipped UCF from winless to undefeated in two seasons. If he has the same impact in Lincoln, then it won’t be long until the Huskers are competing for Big Ten titles”.

Colorado plays Nebraska in 2018 and 2019 (in Boulder), then again in 2023 (Boulder) and 2024 (Lincoln).

If the pundits are correct, then it behooves the Buffs to get the Cornhuskers while they are down, because they won’t be down long.

After watching the Buffs this past Friday, I believe that can happen.

Yes, Colorado State is down this year, but the Buffs made it look easy. How easy? “We obviously didn’t run very much of the offense,” said Steven Montez of the CU domination. “I thought that was fairly obvious”.

Last week, the watchword was patience: Could the Buffs handle the emotion of the moment? Could the Buffs take care of business early and not allow the Ram players to gain any confidence that the Hawai’i game was the anomaly?

Yes. And Yes.

This weekend, the watchword is poise.

Can the Buffs handle the crowd and the inevitable adversity which will come on Saturday afternoon? Can the Buffs prove that 2017 was their anomalous season, not the  2016 season?

Ten days ago, I would have said: Nebraska 34, Colorado 27 (adding yet another frustrating loss for the Buffs in the CU/Nebraska series). True freshman Adrian Martinez would have had a game under his belt, and be better acclimated to playing at the Power-Five conference level.

Now? … I’m going with the Buffs’ momentum from their opening win. I’m also figuring that even the great Scott Frost will be leery about what his true freshman quarterback can handle in his first game in almost two years. This will help keep the Nebraska offense in check, giving the Buffs their chance at national acclaim (and votes in next week’s Associated Press top 25 poll) …

Colorado 31, Nebraska 24.

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This post, about the Nebraska game, from the 2018 Season, is filed under Article.
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