Colorado (1-0) at Nebraska (1-0), Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET (NBC)

BettingMGM College Football Opportunities: Nebraska with 7.

Series Record: Nebraska leads 41-29-2.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Colorado’s Deion Sanders and Nebraska’s Matt Rhule are both in their second seasons and both are tasked with bringing their programs back to prominence. This will be a good test to check the progress of the old Big Eight/Big 12 rivals. Nebraska fans have been looking forward to this game since The Buffaloes won last year in Boulder. Memorial Stadium will be renovated.

IMPORTANT MATCHUP

Offensive Line vs. Defensive Line. It would be premature to say that Colorado’s offensive line, which allowed 52 sacks last season, is much better. North Dakota State of the FCS had Shedeur Sanders on the run last week but sacked him just once. The Huskers’ pass rushers have the speed to get home. Chunk plays are a problem for the Buffs’ defense, and their pass rush is lackluster. Nebraska’s offensive line opens the door for a four-deep running back stable, and Dylan Raiola was held clean against UTEP except for one sack.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Colorado: Two-way star Travis Hunter will be on the field for most, if not all, of the game. At receiver, he proved to be too much for NDSU to handle. He will test Nebraska’s secondary as a potential top-five NFL draft pick, but he won’t be able to impose his physicality like he did against North Dakota State. At cornerback, Hunter will face bigger and stronger Nebraska receivers.

Nebraska: Raiola was really good in his college debut. He threw a nice ball and was sharp with his decision making. But that was in a blowout against UTEP. Let’s see how he responds when he finds himself in a high-scoring, close game.

FACTS & FIGURES

This game concludes a four-game home-and-away series. The Buffs won the first three games — 33-28 in Lincoln in 2018, 34-31 in overtime in Boulder in 2019 and 36-14 in Boulder last year. Colorado has never won four games in a row in the series. Nebraska last defeated the Buffs in Lincoln in 2010, a 45-17 victory that clinched a spot in the Big 12 championship game in the Huskers’ final year in the conference. … Shedeur Sanders threw for 445 yards and averaged 17 yards per completion against NDSU. He threw for 393 yards but was sacked seven times by Nebraska last year. … The Huskers’ 33-point win over UTEP was their most lopsided in three years.

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