Prime takes new approach before Nebraska, roots for Matt Rhule

The approach of the Colorado Buffaloes as they head to Lincoln is much different than the heat they were spewing a season ago, as second-year coach Deion Sanders spoke respectfully of the rival Nebraska Cornhuskers on Tuesday.

It’s a big-time matchup as each school has a high-profile coach working to turn around a historically great program and build after decent debut years. The clash is also get back game for Matt Rhule and the Huskers, who traveled to Boulder last fall and got beat up 36-14. Ahead of the contest Rhule and Sanders exchanged messages in the media, including Coach Prime calling the head-to-head ‘personal.’

This year both teams have started the season with a win, as Coloraod topped North Dakota State and Nebraska eased past UTEP.

“I have a ton of respect for Matt Rhule,” Sanders said. “He’s in my class of coaches. We took on a tremendous test that year, along with Coach Dillingham and several others. So I feel like we’re a fraternity. So I root for that class of head coaches that came in that year.”

It may bother some Buffs fans to hear that Sanders actually roots for Rhule given that the two schools are longtime Big 12 rivals. While Colorado has returned home, the Cornhuskers remain in the Big Ten, and this is the last scheduled game with the Buffaloes already have known opponents all the way out to 2038—so it will be a while before the black and gold faces the red and this is likely the last time we see Sanders coach against Rhule.

Rhule, Sanders and Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham have had very different paths to get to where they are in leading power programs but the three each inherited pretty dire situations and seem to have positive momentum now.

“He (Rhule) was a professional, did a phenomenal job, maybe not the job that he aspired to do, but he has a ton of experience, and I love what he’s accomplished in his college coaching career, so I look for them to be physically tough imposing and try to run the football they have a freshman quarterback that had a pretty good day last week,” Sanders said of Nebraska. “But we got to do what we do. We got to go in there and do what we’re capable of doing. And I think we showed glimpses of that in the second half of our first game against a formidable opponent.”

Nebraska hasn’t beaten Colorado since the two left for their current conferences, despite leading the all-time series 49-21-2. Still, it’s the Cornhuskers that are seven-point favorites this weekend.

For a long time, folks around CU athletics weren’t allowed to wear the color red and players have shared that message for this week. Sanders win in his first year against Nebraska comes in contrast to CU’s legendary coach Bill McCartney. Hired in 1982, Coach Mac designated Nebraska as Colorado’s primary rival. It took McCartney four years to beat the Cornhuskers for the first time in 19 years. That 1986 win in Boulder—the first since 1960—goes down as one of the biggest games in Buffaloes’ history. It kicked off a run of success that lasted through the 1990s and culminated in 2001’s 62-36 Buffs win to give them the Big 12 north. A win on NBC in Lincoln this year, may make just about everyone believe anything is possible with a squad led by two projected top 10 NFL Draft picks.