Buffs Turn Focus To Cornhuskers

Mel Tucker and the Buffs have turned their full attention to Nebraska.

September 02, 2019 | Football, Neill Woelk

By: Neill Woelk, Contributing Editor

BOULDER — Mel Tucker's Colorado Buffaloes returned to the practice field Monday to begin preparations for Saturday's 1:30 p.m. nationally televised home opener against Nebraska at Folsom Field (Fox).

It meant Friday's 52-31 season-opening win over Colorado State is now nothing more than a teaching tool.

"The page is turned," Tucker told the media after practice. "We give them 24 hours after the game. We're on to Nebraska."

CU players had Saturday off after a late-night finish against the Rams. Coaches and players then had a chance to watch Nebraska's season-opening 35-21 win over South Alabama on television Saturday before beginning the process of film review.

Monday, the Buffs hit the field to begin game-plan installation.

"Very explosive football team," was Tucker's initial assessment of the Cornhuskers. "They've got skill guys on offense, they've got big strong physical players on defense, they're explosive in the kicking game. Their quarterback can make a lot of plays. It's a very talented team and they're very well coached."

The game — one of the most-anticipated on CU's schedule — will be NU's first appearance in Boulder since 2009, when both teams were members of the Big 12. Since then, CU has moved on to the Pac-12 while Nebraska is now a member of the Big Ten.

It will also be a rematch of last year's thrilling 33-28 Colorado win in Lincoln. In that game, a 40-yard touchdown pass from Steven Montez to Laviska Shenault Jr. gave the Buffs the lead with 1:06 to go, and the Buffs then held off a last-ditch NU drive for the win.

There will be plenty of familiar faces from that game this year on both sides, including Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez. As a freshman in his first start last season, Martinez threw for 187 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 117 yards and a pair of scores.

Mentioned in the preseason Heisman Trophy conversation, Martinez struggled somewhat in the Cornhuskers' opener Saturday, a 35-21 win over South Alabama. NU's offense produced just two touchdowns in the game, but the Nebraska defense scored twice — a 38-yard interception return and a fumble recovery in the end zone — and the Cornhuskers also had a 76-yard punt return for a touchdown.

"Turnovers is the name of the game," said Tucker, whose team had four defensive takeaways, including one for a score, against CSU. "I'm telling you — taking care of the ball, taking the ball away — that's probably the biggest determining factor in winning is the turnover margin. They do a great job."

But while Martinez's numbers weren't great in the opener, the Buffs still have all the respect in the world for the NU quarterback.

"It puts a lot of pressure on your defense when you have a guy that can throw it, a guy that can run it as well, a guy with experience, and he's a fierce competitor," Tucker said. "Everyone's at the point of attack against these guys and we'll have to be at our best, obviously."

Nebraska is coming off a 4-8 finish last season, but was ranked No. 24 in the preseason Associated Press poll.

"They've improved," Tucker said. "You can tell that they've worked really hard this offseason. You can tell they had a good camp. They're bigger, they're stronger, they're faster than what they were."

On Monday, Nebraska head coach Scott Frost said his team did not have a great week of preparation last week and played that way Saturday. He also said he expected to see plenty of improvement in Week 2.

That's very similar to what Tucker had to say after Friday night's debut win.

"We're going to make our most improvement from the first game to the second game," Tucker said. "We have a really good idea of where we are as a football team and where we need to go."

DEFENSIVE LINE ROTATION: Throughout fall camp, Tucker said he hoped to play a rotation of defensive linemen to keep their legs fresh.

In Friday's opener, four defensive linemen played at least 30 snaps for the Buffs, led by starters Terrance Lang (64), Mustafa Johnson (58) and Jalen Sami (40). Getting some quality time in a reserve role were sophomore junior college transfer Janaz Jordan (30 snaps) and true freshmen Austin Williams (22) and Na'im Rodman.

That rotation allowed the Buffs to have their starters on the field in the fourth quarter — and that's when Lang delivered a sack and Johnson picked up a fumble and rumbled 9 yards for a touchdown. But the newcomers also held their own throughout the game when needed.

"We knew going into this deal that we were going to need to play the young guys," Tucker said. "That's why we recruited these guys and wanted to get some more big guys on our roster. We needed them and we need some guys to play right now, early. We're not afraid to play freshmen. That's a big part of what we're doing, is getting as many guys ready to play as possible. It's always good when you see young guys getting in there, getting experience, mixing it up in their first game. We're just going to build on it."

The Buffs also took the opportunity to get some reserves on the O-line a few snaps. Starting center Tim Lynott and tackles Arlington Hambright and William Sherman all got 57 snaps out of 60 offensive plays. At guard, Kary Kutsch took 53 snaps and Colby Pursell had 47. Reserves who saw action included guards Jack Shutack (10 snaps) and Casey Roddick (7), along with Kanan Ray, Chance Lytle, Frank Fillip and Josh Jynes, each of whom took 3 snaps.