Score Prediction + Expectations for Colorado vs. Nebraska 2024

Intro hey everybody welcome back to another edition of BU predictions here at inside Nebraska with me is Steve Mark and Tim VES I'm Zach Carpenter uh one of the most exciting games maybe that will regular season games that we'll ever cover at Nebraska I don't that's the uh the the excitement of this game is um something that we barely even have to really talk about because it's all anyone's talking about everyone knows um the stakes of this game uh with the national perception it's a national Spotlight NBC game Big 10 Saturday night 6:30 p.m. memorial stadium it's um being hyped and justifiedly so as the the biggest uh biggest regular season game in Lincoln since Miami in 2014 um there's you you and uh Steve you and Tim already broke down this game this matchup very thoroughly on uh the the Nebraska football show I just encourage you guys out there to to go and check that out on our YouTube channel or uh at Apple podcast Spotify you can listen to it uh they did a great job breaking down the breaking down the matchup and what we're going to see and exciting story lines Galore man what's uh what's if there's one thing you want like to open up the discussion about it what would you what would you break it down I mean for me there's so much like Game preview do you go the head coaching route with like Deion Sanders versus Matt Rule and the battle of the cultures which I thought Matt rule in his uh Monday press conference um fielded questions about that very well he made sure not to stoke any fly any fires and make a big deal about it leave that up to the fan bases to do so he did a good job with not getting any sound bites out there but for me it's just Nebraska's defense versus Colorado's offense led by shadir Sanders I mean that's that's my top thing that I'm interested in because you know Colorado and shadur their passing attack is so fun to watch I mean just for a football fan watching those guys toss the rock around I mean that's that's just you know some good oldfashioned football fun there and then on the other side Nebraska's defense is just F filled with veteran Playmakers at all three levels so watching those two uh units go at it is what I'm most excited for I mean it's just on top of the electricity that's going to be flowing through Lincoln Nebraska that place is going to be rocking it's going to be Extremely Loud um I think Nebraska's fan base is going to play a role in this one um and we can get into that later um with my predictions but um yeah I mean I'm I'm excited about Colorado's offense that uh shadur Sanders LED passing attack versus Nebraska's defense and um you know John Butler is g to be a big game for him and his defensive back at Nebraska yeah there's been this I mean we've been talking about this game everybody's been talking about this game since March April I mean I think it was announced as the Saturday night game back in the spring was it in the spring I believe or maybe um I guess May is technically spring um but we've been talking about it for so long that's like oh wow it's Wednesday Thursday like it's be here by the time that this is published it's going to be about uh like a little over 48 hours until kickoff that game it's like oh well I guess we're prepared I hope hope both teams are prepared because I it with the with the perception of this game and the the spotlight the spotlight that's going to be on it like I said you just want it to be everything it's hyped up to be you don't want to be like last year's Colorado Nebraska game where um you know what no I'm not I'm not even gonna bring I'm not even gonna bring last last year's game up not because just because I thought it was kind of an ugly game all around um so we're we're looking now at at at a a game that's loaded with these storylines and the perception and um Tim I wanted to bring you in here for uh for sort of a recruit in program uh holistic look at it because you and uh you and Greg Smith that Rivals um did a factor fiction that went up today and the topic was can the Colorado game jump start the Matt rule era in Lincoln so what uh what are your what are your thoughts on that I guess I'll just stop talking and te you up yeah um it's with Nebraska I think here you just have an opportunity win or lose I think the the the way I prefaced it was and I've prefaced it all summer is as long as Nebraska plays competitive football I think the environment that's going to be on display Saturday night uh the amount of recruits coming in um you know Dawson May at the Alabama forstar linebacker commit uh fourstar athlete Michael Terry is playing to come Nebraska is trying to swing momentum away from Texas as Texas continues to Trend there um Cortez Mills the Oklahoma fora wide receiver commit uh as we're speaking you know this morning I got a text Oklahoma is actually urging him to cancel that visit as of as of now uh he's still planning on making it in we'll see if he actually does come through but but he's playing to be in town the number two player in the 2026 class five-star offensive tackle Jackson cwell will be in town fourstar athlete uh Brandon Arrington will be in town these are guys that have offers from all over the country that Nebraska's battled for uh that a strong performance on Saturday NE Nebraska could regain some momentum there and more than anything too you see just from week one what Dylan rayola did offensively caught the eyes of some 25 and 20 2026 pass catchers and another strong performance where we expecting millions and millions of viewers on TV beyond the 90 plus thousand expected in the stadium it could just have a massive impact on what Nebraska can do on the recruiting Trail the type of of uh tools I guess they'll have to be able to just just show on the on the recrui like hey you come here you get to catch passes from this quarterback you get to play in this type of environment week in and week out uh you get this type of support from the fan base um there's just a really big opportunity here I think win or lose on the recruiting Trail just as long as Nebraska plays competitive football and competitive football just looks like again just competent offense relative to what the defense showed last last year yeah Tim are you breaking news there on the Oklahoma trying to get Cortez Mills to not not come visit a little bit a little bit we kind of figured you know as soon as as soon as uh we kind of announced that he was coming a couple different sites kind of got the news at the same time and so as soon as that came out and became public Oklahoma got a little pissed off and they've been urging him to cancel all week and and it sounds like as of Wednesday morning uh they' they've kind of been able to be like okay don't make that visit but again that doesn't mean he's not going to make it in it's just as of right now Oklahoma's like don't make that visit and uh because you know they have a very strict no visit policy well it regardless that's a good sign then I think if you're if you're res like the team that he's committed to like if you they weren't worried about it feel like just generally speaking if they weren't worried about it they'd be like oh yeah go take your visit but hey who knows with Cortez Mills I mean that's the thing is you knew that was going to be coming with the the Dylan Rola effect that we keep talking about the the phrase We i' I've said at least had nauseum um that's that's one of the first recruiting effects we see now that the season started it's like oh this kid can play now the best offensive talent in the country wants to come at least see him play and see what see what this place is all about and if nothing else I guess they're going to see just an awesome give free uh free ticket for a front row seat to the game but um and you you talk about the recruiting moment momentum this could build and obviously uh goes without saying but I'll say it anyway as long as they were to carry the momentum going forward through the rest of the the regular season have a a big successful year um could start to see things shift a little bit so Steve uh without further Ado going to go into bold predictions one a piece as always and then final score prediction and bring it around the merry go around here um B predictions Steve what do we got Steve's bold prediction yeah so a lot of eyes are going to be on uh Nebraska's pass defense and then Colorado's passing offense which you know I kind of opened up this show with and rightly so it's going to be a fun battle to watch but also along the same lines I'm going to be keeping my eyes on the line of scrimmage when Colorado has the football because look I mean when Colorado played North Dakota State in their season opener last Thursday they uh Colorado only rushed for 59 yards and that's 2.6 yards per carry so they really looked like a one-dimensional offense and now I'm sure they were holding some things back offensively because they didn't want to put it on tape exactly like Nebraska did on both sides of the ball in their season opener in that 40 to7 win over UT um but you know I'm sure that Colorado is going to want to show some semblance of hey we want to run the football so when they do I'm really going to be kind of keeping my eyes on that Colorado offensive line that retooled offensive line and especially I I I think a matchup that Nebraska is really going to have success with is Nash hut hut maker against Nebraska's or against Colorado starting center Hank zelus sorry Hank if I'm pronouncing that incorrectly but uh zank zinkus I really think that Nash that's a matchup that Nash hutmacher is really going to take advantage of uh Nash is a lot bigger and stronger in my opinion than Hank is at 6 foot3 and 285 pounds and I think Hank's like a 30-year player and he started he played in 11 games last year so he's a returning Buffalo which aren't a lot of those uh he started two games at Center for them I think um so he's he has a little bit of experience but not a ton and and I think Nash Hut maker hutmaker is really gonna um just be an issue for for Colorado's offense in the interior of that offensive line and the thing the thing with that is did you see the did you see the graphic that went out the polar bear uh stomping the buffalo and then some people I'm sure a lot of Colorado fans are wondering what the heck is going on with the polar bear because they don't know Nash's nickname and that's totally fine but I thought that was kind of funny because Colorado fans might not have even understood the meme uh but anyway uh yeah I I just think you know Nash is gonna be such a presence uh in this game I think and you know especially when Colorado is gonna want to establish a run game I don't think they're really going to do it with Nash out there so my bold prediction for this one is Nash hutmaker is going to have three tackles for loss two of them are going to be sacks so that's what I'm saying and if Colorado chooses which could be wisely chooses to double team Nash I mean that's just good for everybody else right that creates one-on-one situations outside on the edges against those uh first year Colorado offensive tackles too so um I'm look I'm looking for Nash hutmaker to have a big presence in this game against the run and especially against the past two um helping collapse that pocket because you you don't want [ __ ] Sanders running around and buying time for his excellent excellent receivers to just run around and get past Nebraska's DBS if that's what he did last year and and should have really stung Nebraska's defense when he was able to get out of the pocket and just kind of buy some time and you know if you ever play football flag football anything like that when you have to cover somebody uh for more than 3 seconds I mean it's bad news that's just a very very difficult job to do so Nash maker I think he's going to have a great game I think he's going to have three tackles for loss two sacks believe that would be that would be setting his career single game high for tfls two and a half twice last year and two and a half sacks last year so he'd be be coming close to that too um actually I only checked 2023 because I I didn't think that I thought I thought that looking at 2023 there wouldn't be any danger of saying that if I was just looking at one season I was yeah that was correct so and and another thing that I probably should have said the first time is you know I really kind of liked how Tony white and his defensive assistants um had the rotations going against UTEP because we were both on the field on last Saturday it was so hot it had it was way like it was like a high of 85 in Lincoln but on the field on the turf at Memorial Stadium it was like well over 100 degrees it was brutal down there but Nash Hut mocker he only played 15 snaps against the miners notice that yeah a lot of the core guys on defense were hardly out there I mean it was like an NFL preseason game where they where they played most of the first half and then maybe a second uh and then maybe another Series in the second half but um you know Ty Robinson only played 21 snaps MJ Sherman uh starting Jack linebacker 19 snaps Makai Bayer 17 snaps he's he's doing excellent at at his uh inside linebacker position cam lenhardt 14 snaps Ry Van Poppel nine snaps James Williams six snaps these guys hardly play they're going to be so fresh they're going to be ready to go um and I just think that the way Tony white handled that season opener against an opponent that everybody knew they were going to win um was really impressive and I thought they um did right by those guys of keeping them fresh and and having them uh play a little bit out there but not all four quarters and then if I'm looking at it correctly between 55 and around 60° by the time uh oh yeah it's be a great Lincoln 65 by the time they kick off under the um uh the sun will just about be going down by the time uh they kick off it'll be completely down by halftime so it's not like gonna have a little CH chill in the air in the fourth quarter Lincoln Nebraska with some football it's going to be excellent yeah be I didn't even realize that it's almost I think that the snap count for some of those guys kind of speaks to the confidence that Nebraska staff had going into that game where it's like we know that if we get our business we don't turn it over 100 times that um should be able to use this just as a as the classic college football tuneup game I know several programs across the country had difficulties with that um in in the week one opener college football week one is always very strange and Nebraska was uh was able to avoid all that and stay fresh for this uh for this showdown man that's like you say all those skill players is gonna be fun Tim without further Ado you got a skill position uh bull predictions uh related to um what am I trying to say skill position related bull predictions what do you got Tim's bold prediction somewhat um okay so my B prediction here I think Nebraska finds a way to score um on special teams okay special teams on special teams um whether that's a kick return whether that's a punt return whether that's a safety uh blocked punt uh I think Nebraska finds a way to score um I think an easy one to look at um you know you know jakori Barney called a shot after the spring game um you know when he got hawked down by Tristan alvano uh on that on that kickoff return that could have been a touchdown in the spring game uh he said after the game he was like or after the game he was like uh you know no one's going to be laughing when I when I bring one back on Colorado so and you know he came close against utap a couple times where it's like hey you keep running uh he's he's kind of a guy that Matt Ru said like can't really turn it off like he's always going full speed you kind of see that the way he runs as soon as he gets to Top Gear it's kind of hard to to bring him down like even guys when they were tackling him it's it's it's kind of like a like a car accident like he just kind of slides for a bit just because of how fast he's moving um so he took that top pass too right in the first quarter I think it was he just like all right but he is not he's he's going as hard as possible for as long as possible and he's going down as long as possible so I'm curious to see kind of U you know I think Nebraska going to have some sucess there also helps on on Colorado's end they had one special team assistant coach and he left a couple weeks before the season so I have no idea who's leading that unit anymore I have no idea how you know they weren't really challenged on special teams against North Dakota State so I'm interested to see you know kind of how Nebraska matches up because Nebraska likes to exploit that not exploit that but they want special teams to be a weapon now and we've seen you know just from one game this season we've seen considerable improvement from last season to this season with that unit as a whole so you think Drew Cory Barney's house in one kick return or punt return yeah I mean I think there's a chance but I I also think again like I'm I'm giving the caveat of a special team score you know like a safety like they had last week I don't like you know with with if Colorado at any point gets pinned with their back to the end zone I trust Nebraska's front to be able to get home as well um and shidoris is a pocket manipulator but again he's he's kind of got that tendency to stick in there and take some hits uh which you can't really do again with you're back to the end zone so if Nebraska does get him in that position I think they they they'll have their ears pinned back looking for a sack Tim vges going with a special teams related bull prediction which is uh tradition as his tradition around here and then it never happens but last week to your uh to your point um it looked very different as far as what Nebraska was trying to do I think Elliot Brown almost blocked um it looked like he got a hand on it he was that close close a couple times I think that's what I I told I leaned over to Steve in the Press Box that second one where he did did look like he got a hand I was like I think Elliott comes down with one this year so but not this not this uh this I don't think this game but I think he comes down with one this year I don't know how much I will say this I don't know how much punting Colorado is going to do in this game I do think they're going to be it's going to be a little bit of a uh trading scores back and forth where both teams are are kind of risking it going for it on fourth down and Colorado kind of does the same yeah that you bringing up the sorry Zach you bring Tim bringing up special teams reminds me of uh during Colorado's season opener against North Dakota State they had one field goal make um Alejandro mat he's their field goal kicker he made a 27 y in the first half I believe I remember it just like coming off his foot so low it reminded me of uh was it um the Maryland game last year where um Nebraska had that um punt game or they blocked a field goal and then ran it back and Quinton Newsome and Tommy Hill were high five Purdue Purdue Purdue yeah um it reminded of that kind of kick it was just like it came off the the foot so low and was it looked like to me like on the broadcast on ESP BRS broadcast that it was going to like be blocked but it didn't so maybe that's something to look maybe Tim maybe you're on something here I don't know so that's Zack's score prediction and bold prediction uh if if it is that if there's a block or I mean we're talking field goal kickers and that um and the back and forth scoring Maybe not maybe not a ton of punning in this game uh leads into my bold prediction because mine's related to the final score um and then we'll bring it around for you guys uh my final score again Nebraska isus 7 a half favorite right now recording at 12:30 on pm on Wednesday over under 58 and a half um and I have I have Nebraska winning 3127 um I first off that I think Colorado is going to be able to move the ball I don't know if you're Nebraska you're going to be so focused on limiting explosives explosives especially after last year especially considering all of that Firepower that Weaponry that they have on that side of the ball um if you can limit the the the big explosives to three or less I think um right right in that range just should throw an arbitrary number out there I guess but um I think if you're if you're limiting them to to to somewhere in that range I think you're going to be sitting an okay position but for the most part I think they'll limit those uh this Nebraska defense will limit those explosiv and going to force Colorado to sort of metricate the ball down the field and this becomes a red zone game okay can this Husker Defense Force field goals or Force Colorado into a fourth down attempt that they don't convert and they get a turnover in the Red Zone um I saw a random stat just before hopping on to record I wrote it down that Nebraska has zero interceptions in the Red Zone since 2ou since the 2022 season over and that's over a span of 65 pass attempts and in that span they've allowed 18 passing touchdowns and no interceptions 18 passing touchdowns allowed over that 65 pass attempt span I know it's weird stat it's a convolute wordy stat but it's wor tied worse than FBS and um the the stat is pretty much representative of they don't turn you over in the red zone They didn't turn teams over last year very often but we saw last week we saw last week that that that they finally started they finally started implement or or getting those takeaways forcing those takeaways that rule and Tony white have been harping on all offseason over and over to the point where it's like almost Overkill it's like all right like you focus too much on those maybe it becomes detrimental but it wasn't last week um and I have for a very specific bold prediction I have uh Tommy Hill again I said it last week that he's was going to get a pick six I'm just going interception for this game just an interception for Tommy Hill in the red zone um I don't know what possession it comes on but um I think that that he's going to grab one in the Red Zone because I don't think shador Sanders is gonna be is gonna be afraid at all to to challenge Tommy Hill I don't think Dylan R is gonna be is gonna be afraid to challenge Travis Hunter um I think you guys talked about it on on your show um he's not gonna RI is not gonna challenge Travis Hunter actively he's not GNA do it on purpose just to like say hey I I'm the five star or anything like that like but if if the Read's there if the progression is there and he has a shot I don't think I don't think either quarterback is going to be afraid in this game that's what another thing that makes this so exciting shador is the the veteran future likely top five top 10 pick potentially um and rola's second career start true freshman I think both of them are very gonna be very composed and make ton of plays in this game um when it's needed to where when it's necessary for Rola and um I think I think he winds up making one more play a couple more plays and shador um going against like you said Steve that that uh Nebraska pass rush so um I have 3127 um it and a gut feeling that two weeks ago hit was the team with the ball they say the team with the ball last is going to win this game you know that cliche I think the team with the ball second to last is going to win this game there's no evidence for that it's just a gut feeling stupid gut feeling um prediction from my end so that's what I got got him going uh just under that that point total um at 58 total and Nebraska not to not cover as uh they did Cover last week Steve what do you got for a final score yeah I'm going Steve's score prediction Nebraska 34 Colorado 27 I just think it's going to be a really difficult environment for uh the Buffs to leave Lincoln with the win I think the more Memorial Stadium's crowd is going to really play a role here it's going to be extremely loud in there I think it's going to cause one or two false starts from Colorado's offensive line or or somebody from Colorado when they're out there I I just think the crowd is going to have a real effect in this one and just Dylan R looks so comfortable last uh last week that I think it's going to transition into this week and um all those plays that they held um in Fall camp for this moment for for Saturday's game they're that they didn't show last week against UTEP those are going to come come out right now and I just think is going to go well I I think it's a very difficult environment for Colorado to win in I think uh Nebraska gets out of there with a 34-27 win yeah I'm in the same yeah I'm in the Tim's score prediction same boat uh 3527 pretty similar to Steve I just have a touchdown 27 35 27 but yes I have I have uh I have five touchdowns instead of four touchdowns and two field goals um one that's just part of um we just haven't seen it from the kicking game just yet uh with Alano but also um on Nebraska's and I think I agree with generally everything Steve said I think the the difference here this is going to be a closer game than maybe some expect I I don't know I mean again I I've seen some on both sides kind of run away with uh their predictions and expectations for this game on on what their team's going to do the other but I really think this is going to be a close contest You Know Travis and shador and that wide receiver room at uh Colorado can keep them in most any game including this one um I think the the difference here is Nebraska's got the home field advantage and it's a real deal home field advantage yeah and my the 27 for me was going back to the field goals I think if they stand tall in the red zone and force um Force Colorado and to to settle for a couple field goals instead of uh getting in getting another touchdown or converting two touchdowns I think those are those are where just the way I'm projecting it out or where the the margins come because yeah I I think I I could see this being a close game Nebraska win close game Colorado win um I could see Nebraska pulling away in the in the fourth quarter I just don't because of that environment because the matchup the way everything's set up right now I don't see a Colorado blow out or cruising to a win like they did last year U but they they they certainly could come into Lincoln and and steal this one um but I I don't I just don't foresee that happening and Tim and I am am going against our uh our predic our preseason predictions for any games were played I had Nebraska winning this game all the way up until I made I put the prediction on paper and then now I'm switching back to what I was thinking about for all that time so uh again 6:30 pm. on Saturday night on NBC it's going to be a really fun time uh we'll be there uh providing coverage uh on the inside Nebraska YouTube channel inside nebraska.com encourage you guys like this video subscribe to the YouTube channel get all these videos dropped directly into your feed and uh subscribe to the inside nebraska.com website there we'll have a lot more coverage uh the next couple days and after the game so for Steve Mark and Tim FES I'm Zack Carpenter we'll catch you guys again next time