LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – Memorial Stadium will be the center of the college football universe Saturday night as prime time takes on new meaning in Lincoln.

Nebraska (1-0) hosts longtime Big 8 rival Colorado (1-0) in the final game of a four-season non-conference series. The Buffaloes have won the last three meetings, including a 36-14 victory over the Huskers last year in Boulder.

GAME INFORMATION

• WHEN: 6:30 PM, Saturday, September 7
• WHERE: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska.
• WATCH: NBC or Peacock
• LISTEN: Huskers Radio Network
• VEGAS ODDS: Colorado +7.5, O/U 56.5

Week 1 of the 2024 season was a good one for Husker fans and their growing optimism, as they watched their team defeat UTEP 40-7, thanks to the arm of freshman QB Dylan Raiola, who completed 19 of 27 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns.

UTEP, however, is a far cry from Coach Prime’s boys in Boulder. The Buffaloes have a roster loaded with NFL talent, including a do-it-all wide receiver-cornerback hybrid Travis Hunter, who played all but two snaps in Colorado’s season opener against North Dakota State.

That season opener didn’t go as smoothly as Nebraska’s. The Buffaloes struggled against FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. They had to come back from a deficit to win 31-26.

But even in the close call, Colorado’s stars shone brighter than ever. Hunter caught seven passes for 132 yards and a hat trick of touchdowns, including a stunning grab in the end zone, while Shedeur Sanders, the coach’s son and another projected first-round draft pick, threw for 445 yards and four scores.

Still, questions remain about the strength of Buffalo’s defense after giving up over 400 total yards to a North Dakota State team that, while not bad, doesn’t have nearly as much talent as most of the other teams on Colorado’s schedule. On paper, that includes Nebraska.

Memorial Stadium will undoubtedly be a chaos when Deion Sanders leads his team to Tom Osborne Field, but it would be naive to think that the exuberant atmosphere and bright lights of primetime only affect the visiting team.

“The goal this week is to play at our level,” Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said during a news conference Thursday. “TV cameras and watching eyes shouldn’t affect that. It certainly does, that’s human nature, but we don’t want that.”

To drive that message home, Rhule turned to the boxing ring and turned his team’s attention to a local hero and one of the greatest athletes in Nebraska state history: Omaha native Terence “Bud” Crawford.

“I showed them the Bud Crawford-Errol Spence fight this week,” Rhule said. “You just see how Crawford goes out there and fights. He’s so stoic and dour and methodical. He walks in there, takes a punch, counterpunch, punch, counterpunch. There’s not a lot of emotion or cheering. Not a lot of bragging. But that picture of what a great boxer looks like, who’s obviously local, to me that’s what a great football team looks like.”

Bumping and counter-bumping are to be expected in a game that many expect to be an athletic contest, with two quarterbacks who can throw it all over the field. Sanders is a proven asset and could be the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL Draft, but there’s still some mystery surrounding the signal-caller on Nebraska’s side.

Raiola absolutely delivered in his debut. The box score may not have been earth-shattering, but he made plays and throws that explain why he was the highest-rated prospect in the high school class of 2024 on many expert boards. But he’s still a true freshman, and Saturday will be the biggest game of his life.

“It’s just preparation and confidence in our team,” Raiola said during his media appearance on Monday. “Coach Rhule does a great job of ramping up the practice and making it uncomfortable in practice so that when you get to the game, you just try to have fun. Our guys did a great job preparing last week and the biggest challenge is to do it again. We’re just preparing like it’s a normal game.”

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