Colorado vs Nebraska Game Preview | College Football Game Predictions

welcome back to another episode of rock boys football deal one of the more exciting games that we're really going to see all the 2024 college football season going down in six days Colorado heading on the road to play Nebraska night game Saturday night in Lincoln Nebraska as a college football fan it doesn't get any better now we just talked about the Texas Michigan game I said that's one of the more exciting football games we'll see I think there'll be more eyeballs on this football game Saturday night there are going to be a lot of people tuning in and I think one of my biggest takeaways here is yeah we saw this football game get played 12 months ago both of these teams are not only significantly different teams than what we saw 12 months ago I think both of these teams are vastly improved from what you saw 12 months ago really excited to get into this one now before we doing as always number one and most importantly let it fly in the comments section the legitimate Bad Blood between Colorado and Nebraska fans it is one of the it's a Col it's one of those robers that just make you love college football so let it fly comment section whether you agree with the boys whether you disagree with the boys whether you're mixing it up with the opposing fan base I think that's what makes College college football the best so let it fly in the comment section of course if you all do enjoy the content consider subscribing to the channel D we're gonna be talking a lot about this matchup over the next couple of days and without further Ado let's get into this one I I have a really big storyline that I want to get into first and this is this Nebraska offense going up against the Colorado defense that I thought was significantly improved from a Personnel standpoint especially in that second half and you look at that Colorado defense coming out making the second half adjustments I was really impressed specifically with the front seven line of scrimmage play that was North Dakota State team that wanted to run the football be physical and I thought Colorado for the most part really answered that call now the biggest storyline in this football game is you go back 12 months ago we talked about the same recipe can Nebraska run the football be efficient control the time possession and kind of play the football game on their terms that is still by far the biggest storyline in this football game the one difference is Nebraska has the ability to punish you vertically down the field you look at Colorado and how they played North Dakota State it was hey we're going to walk our safeties into the box we're going to play Man coverage on the outside and we're going to try to stop the run and have our defensive backs hold up I you look at Nebraska last year they didn't really have the ability to kind of attack vertically down the field and create some of those explosive plays because they just didn't have the quarterback wide receiver play I think the biggest storyline heading into this football game is not only the Dylan Roa show that he can win at a very high level as a true freshman quarterback but Nebraska has the wide receivers on the outside that can punish you as well Colorado playing their man coverage and kind of putting Bodies In The Box to stop the run my biggest storyline is can Nebraska make them pay Saturday night working vertically down the field here and you kind of said it I mean you korado does have very good Corners obviously Travis Hunter incredible game from him incredible player he does his thing and then mcken is also really good the one guy I'm going to be looking for is Isaiah N I don't think we've totally gotten to see a healthy version of isai and air pretty much for his whole college career and yesterday he looked really really good he was tracking the ball well he was getting over the top really well he's kind of the guy I'm gonna be looking for if they can get him on a favorable matchup a couple times in that game that's where I think they can get some explosiveness happening and then Jamal Banks I want to leave him out because his ability to catch the ball in traffic and do some of those things and just be a really Dependable Target for this Nebraska offense is huge but I think if they're going to get the ball over the top I'm looking for Isaiah ner I think if he can get a couple of matchups and hit some of those plays that'll make it really hard that's what you're looking for too because I think where Colorado struggled the most is it's not only just the one-on-one matchups and man coverage and can your wide receiver be better than the defensive back that's trying to cover you but there's also a Concepts man beaters that you can play that North Dakota state did a brilliant job at doing like some rub routes and pick routes when you're playing man coverage you can just win your one-on-one matches but you can also scheme up some passing Concepts that can really exploit man coverage now Colorado went to a little bit more Zone in the second half and had success but I I would think that you're going to see still a lot of man coverage I think the biggest storyline is one can you win your ones but more importantly what can Nebraska do in terms of a passing game concept to really get after that man coverage and that's where that's where I get into some of their secondary weapons let's say I mean I'm thinking of guys like Dori Barney The Freshman Carter Nelson had a couple of nice plays like they have some guys who I think can win in more ways than they had last year where they didn't really have those options I think you got your guys who can win over the top you have your Isaiah ners you have your Jamal Banks who's a really tough matchup in man coverage for any corner and then you have your guys like jakori Barney who if you get a crack of space for him underneath he's really really dangerous I think again you just look I don't think Nebraska's going to change much about how they want to beat this Colorado team and I still think like I think Colorado had good success against the North Dakota State team but I don't I don't think we should all conflate that to saying like North Dakota State's on the physicality level that Nebraska's on that Nebraska offensive line is quite a bit better I think the running back play is quite a bit better so we're gonna still need to see it in chozi Co Dan Dan ha I thought Chidi played a phenomenal game for Colorado on Thursday night and that's that's a Difference Maker on the inside of the defensive line for Colorado I think you're right though the main thing is still the main thing you look at at the recipe I think the most crucial stat line that I'm looking at is say hey cover up the scoreboard just show me time of possession and rushing yards that's still going to be the most important factor right you look at how to best beat this Colorado team it's control the time possession and keep shadar sanders off the field let's just be frank he's one of the best quarterbacks in the country if not the best that passing attack is going to be electric the best way you can stop him is just keep him off the field and let Nebraska play this football game on their terms you noted it well this Nebraska offensive line I get it was UTEP physically imposing their will and most importantly the running game was really efficient right they they were able to hit a few big plays in the rushing game but it was like the six yard chunks the eight- yard chunks the staying on schedule that is kind of what stood out to me the most these I also thought the death their running back room stood out a little bit too where they were running the ball much more physically I mean to have a guy like d you still have gay bin who obviously had a very good game against Colorado last year I think the fact that they've built the depth up to really what a big 10 running back room I think should look like I think they can play their style a little bit better than they did last year when they really had to rely heavily on Gabe Irvin and and he might wear down a little bit because he was just I mean they play a really physical style of ball they all run the ball really physically I think the fact that they now have a deeper bench allows them to kind of sustain that that that kind of punishing attitude if you're Nebraska you want that game to look exactly how it looked for North Dakota state in the first half where it was I think they they almost I think there were more than double the amount of plays run in Colorado in the first half Tom possession was much more than double like that's that's how you want this football game to look in the problem for North Dakota state is they got away from that in the second half Colorado ended up playing significantly better defense now let's I I actually have one more key I'm interested to see the Personnel groupings like we know Nebraska wants to run a lot of 12 Personnel Colorado wants to stay in the nickel like I think they look at their defensive backs and say we want our defensive backs on the field and so can Nebraska run with that 12 personnel leaving presson Hodge on the football field that's probably another storyline because again you go to North Dakota State North Dakota State played a lot of 12 even at some points 22 personnel and Colorado stayed with the nickel in terms of the Personnel if Colorado does that again can you really get after in the Run game flipping sides you look at this Colorado offense I think the biggest key is finding your matchups Colorado's brilliant at this they have four legitimate Difference Maker wide receivers I think this is one of the most underrated wide receiver rooms that you see in the country in Colorado was able to find those those matchups against North Dakota state that were favorable and when they had those matchups they won and they won big can Colorado find those kind of matchups and I don't know if the matchups are going to be on a guy like Tommy Hill but you look at Malcolm hardzog as that safety played a little nickel played a little bit in the box if you can get a guy like Jimmy horn or leonte Wester on someone like Malcolm hardzog who is not the biggest not the fastest to be quite Frank he's I think he's a very good football player for Nebraska but if you get Jimmy horn on a guy like Malcolm hsog in man coverage can you make a difference Mak him play is probably one of the bigger storylines for Colorado on offense and that'll probably be Colorado's recipe all year like yeah they're gonna probe they're gonna try to find it because you kind of said it they're gonna go play Four wide and they're gonna go see if they can get that one matchup and try to do something explosive because you kind of said it all four can do it shadur is really really good at pushing the ball down the field and not making a ton of mistakes while doing it so they can play that kind of I don't want to call like all gas no break style but that is kind of feel pretty damn close yeah feels like how they're playing it and then again if you can find your match up on a hardock a gford if they can get to that kind of spot I think for the most part Nebraska should be fine I think their two boundary Corners are very very good players but again if you find that one matchup where you get Jimmy horn running running some like an over out across the field and you just can't keep up with him that's again that's what Colorado wanted to do last year they kind of found that second half I think they're going to try it again I think the question for me is is that offensive line going to hold up in the way it has to because I thought it looked a lot better but I did think it was still a little bit shaky North Dakota State still could get some pressure and I look at a guy like Ty Robinson he looked unblockable in that game against Utah I was going to say like this this Nebraska pass rush is different from North Dakota State I think North Dakota state has a very tough physical front seven you're going to get a different front seven from Nebraska and one I think the keys here and one of the if there was something concern turning for Colorado in that matchup it was the lack of the Run game like the offensive line actually I thought was all right and pass protection but the Run game was just not great right you look at 2.6 yards per carry against North Dakota State one of the biggest storylines here is Colorado staying on schedule now that doesn't always need to look in terms you are such a one-dimensional offense in terms we're just going to throw the football a ton and not really um keep the defense honest in terms of stopping the run I think it's really hard when you go up against they defensive line that's as good as Nebraska and so whether it's a quick game whether you know the quick game should they get in the football quick in space kind of an extension of the Run game or just the Run game taking a step from what we saw on Thursday night that's a massive storyline because you look at something that I think Colorado wants to definitely avoid those third and long situations where you get guys like Tai and Nash and Jamari Butler pinning their ears back and getting after shadur that's something you want to avoid all football game how do they stay on schedule whether it's the Run game or the quick game that's going to be something I'm looking for too and that was something that I I frankly I think Colorado they were able to do it against North Dakota State for the most part there were obviously a couple drives so they were able to stall them out a bit but for the most part even Colorado was kind of hitting their plays down the field we don't really I still think we're looking for what is their identity to kind of probe and March down the field really consistently and against far inferior opponents I know shadur can just rip those teams up he get the ball out quickly and on time all the time but again when you play like when they'd play a UCLA or some of those really really good defense that they'd play I think Nebraska's starting to work their way into that sort of group I think Colorado still you still want to see what their kind of identity is for just a down in down out keeping them on schedule not only relying on hitting those big totally agree because it was a little bit relying on the big play which is awesome to have it's one of the most important metrics in all col that is why they score the way they score team can do it it's I I wish Michigan could do or Michigan fans I wish they could hit some big play but oh they just grinded out in the Run game I mean yeah but you got to have a little bit of that identity I think as well when you get in those big big matchups that they're going to find themselves and later this year two two other things that I I'll kind of point out before we get into our pick can you keep shadur in the pocket he is excellent at extending plays keeping his eyes downfield and when you give those wide receivers a lot of time yeah to get open they're going to get open and they're going to kill you you know what I mean it's not just like okay we're going to move the chains no we're going to go 40 yards for a touchdown you got to be able to keep sh during the pocket who's a guy that wants to hold the football and give his wide receivers opportunities to make plays it's kind of a balancing act because you want to go get after shadur but you also want to keep in the pocket how do you kind of walk that line for Tony white that's going to be a really big story and then tackle and space Nebraska did a really good job of it against utap only four Miss tackles all game Colorado wants to get their Playmakers the football in space can you go tackle a guy like draylon Miller or a guy like Jimmy horn or leonte Wester Travis hunter in space probably another question that you want to see Nebraska answer D let get into the pick here Nebraska going to be around a touchdown favorite that's what it was before the football games this weekend I would think that it's probably going to stick around at at seven points here I'll give you the floor first you're gonna take some heat either way you go where you going here I'm probably going to lead Nebraska at that six and a half level which I think is where this game comes in just because I think people are going to sleep on how much of a difference Dylan RI is going to make and I know it almost can't be underst or overstated but I think so much of the conversations around what we talked about their ability to push the ball down the field I think Nebraska couldn't do what they wanted to do because when they inevitably find themselves in a third and long like a third and six third and seven third and eight and that's almost unavoidable you get a false start you get a penalty you get a holding you're gonna find yourself in those in a couple of drives and that would always kill their Drive I think Dylan rol's ability to make some things happen and extend drives I think it'll like turbocharge Nebraska's ability to really just pound teams into the ground I think that's going to be slept down I think they have that now I think that gives him really good Nebraska was dead in the water last year on third down so you have the ability to just up that third down percentage by 10 to 15% which would just put you average like it's so it's so big in terms of controlling the clock and time of possession that that that is a really big Point d i I'm gonna go Colorado here now I I I with six and a half points you know you look at Colorado I still think that what we just saw from shadar Sanders like he's one of if not the best quarterbacks in the country he's going on the road into a hostile environment against the true freshman and I I I am so high on this Nebraska team but I kind of want to see it from Dylan I I kind of look at shadar and say we've seen it from shadar so I'm gonna go Colorado You're Gonna Go Nebraska I don't feel good about I don't know if you feel good about it either this is gonna be no this is a tight one just because like obviously last year you saw like the first half is exactly what Nebraska is going to have wanted aside from the turnovers in the second half is exactly what Colorado would have wanted I just think again I think people sleep on the fact that that Nebraska defense would just inherently get beat down in games because they didn't have an offense that could stay on the field particularly consistently I think Dylan Rola gives them a chance to really Crank that time of possession up and really become like that boa constrictor that I think they they're that's on boa constrictor I think that is how Matt Ru would want to describe this football team in 2024 I yeah you give me seven points I with one of if not the best quarterbacks in the country that's probably what I'll take but don't feel good about it though we're going to talk about this game from so many different angles over the next couple of weeks again whether you agree with the boys whether you disagree with the boys let it fly in the comments section we appreciate you guys rocking with it and we'll talk to youall later