Husker247 Postgame Podcast: Huskers strangle the Buffs

welcome in the Husker 247 postgame podcast show I am Mike shaver joined by Michael Bruns and we are going to be breaking down Nebraska's 28-10 win over Colorado on Saturday night the Huskers won against a power five power four non-conference opponent for the first time in a while Bruns do you know when the last time they won one of these games was it 2016 Oregon uh get on my notes here that's they lost to Oregon in 17 they lost to Colorado in 18 they lost to Colorado in 19 they didn't play a nonconference game in 20 in 2021 they lost to I don't know who their non-conference game was in 2021 they have a marquee one um they lost to Oklahoma in 2022 they lost to Oklahoma and 2023 in 20 24 they won on Saturday 28 to10 in a game that in a lot of ways felt better at halftime um then maybe it did at the end of it Nebraska LED 28 nothing at half did not score in the second half we'll dive into what happened there but really I think Bruns we should start on the defensive side of the ball because Nebraska played outstanding I was thinking about it I think this is the second lowest scoring game of the of the desure Sanders era at uh Colorado I they might have had another one where he either barely played or didn't play where they scored less than 10 points but I know Oregon they scored six so I think it's I think it's six points against Oregon 10 against Nebraska and more against other programs uh just a strong defensive effort from the Huskers good game plan from Tony white and your best players showed up I mean Tommy Hill pick six Ty Robinson sack Nash Hut maker sack uh John Bullock was fantastic throughout the game M Makai Bayer before he got thrown out by the officials fantastic throughout the game MJ Sherman fantastic Prince uman well or Prince Will uman Mellen fantastic uh who am I forgetting Jamari Butler fantastic just a really strong game all the way throughout I mean even James Williams and Kai Wallen were getting in on the pass rush um tonight I mean the first what let's say I mean the the the rir Johnson touchdown catch not withstanding um I mean the that first what quarter and a half I mean I I don't know that you could have like dreamt up a better start for Nebraska I mean you go into that game knowing that defense defense is going to set the tone and you get a batted ball from TY Robinson on the first drive on the second or on the first play I think you get a sack from TY Robinson to to end that possession um you stop him on fourth down on the second Drive third Drive is the Tommy Hill pick I mean I I don't know that uh you know even if in people's wildest dreams and I think there was a lot of confidence in Nebraska's locker room that they were going to be able to really get after Colorado I don't know that you could have drawn it up much better than what Nebraska started in that first like I said like 20 minutes of football like like it was just everything was clicking even you know offensively um you know Dante Dowell was getting downhill very quickly uh on Colorado's defense Brian buchini pins Colorado deep to set up um the the pick six I mean it was it was the the the complimentary football that we saw last week and kind of turned up they kind of turned the knob a little bit more and gave you a little bit more of it I mean that that that was basically the feeling in those first quarter and a half it's like man this is you know you're kind of in the back of your head you're thinking like 527 like it was in 1992 I mean that's that's the way it started for Nebraska yeah and you know maybe they could have gotten there with a little bit cleaner of a second half but really strong play throughout defensively I I keep going back to this Bruns the the strength of this team I felt like coming into the year was going to be its defensive line and they just I you know we we expect expected them to play really well against Colorado we expected that it would be a matchup advantage against that offensive line but all four of their you know nominal starters on that defensive line had a sack by the second quarter I mean they just they dominated throughout like a guy like MJ Sherman had three hurries in addition to his one sack today Ty Robinson deflected a pass as you mentioned he had a sack he uh blocked a kick I mean we were joking like he needed an interception and a and a force fumble to completely fill out the the Box sheet uh for Nebraska's statistics defensively like you're just getting these really really strong performances Jamari Butler was fantastic on on Saturday as well I mean he had a sack he was involved in a lot of things I mean and then here's the other thing I mean these guys did this while for a large chunk of the game they were to put it mildly being held so to to have that kind of performance um speaks volumes to what they have there on that defensive line I mean I they are going to face much less explosive offenses that are probably going to have better offensive lines and better run games but Nebraska has a defensive line Bruns for the first time in a long time that I feel like can sort of dictate the game in a way that they they can really really benefit from like this is they're set up really well to go into conference play if this defensive line can stay at a high level I I really do believe that and it it goes beyond the defensive line I mean uh I I think Brian Christopherson gave him a game ball but we were all really impressed by what John bulck was doing throughout the game on uh on Saturday night yeah and you know pretty much all offseason I mean you go back to last spring um or earlier in the spring we were writing stories about Nebraska trying to develop a fourman pass rush because I mean as good as Nebraska was defensively last year they did have to get exotic at times with pressures to try to force the issue with with opposing offenses and you know all spring they talked about it they talked about it in Fall Camp you know how can we basically rush for and get home and be disruptive and you know Nebraska Nebraska did have to commit pressure you know to to force the issue tonight with Colorado to a degree they didn't as much last week against UTEP but if you I think if you know in the rewatch I think what you're going to find is it's going to be a lot of guys up front with four you know the the four basically winning one-on ones I mean that that was that was you know Nash hutmaker sack was just beating an interior lineman up the field and getting to shador Sanders and you know the thing that I thought that they did particularly well this year that they maybe didn't as much last year is they wanted to keep him in the pocket they didn't want him to do the drifting stuff they didn't want him to roll out and escape and you know I I thought you know there were a couple times when he got loose a little bit and made some nice throws but I thought they did a really good job of you know not only were they you know pinning their ears back but they were doing it in a controlled way where they weren't allowing him to to bleed out out and extend plays and kind of expose that the back half of that Nebraska secondary yeah sticking with this defensive line I mean obviously you didn't expect Colorado to really run the ball on on Saturday night and yet they had 20 total carries some of that were just the the sacks that that Sanders ended up taking but 20 carries 16 yards I mean Nebraska's defensive front did a number to whatever Colorado wanted to do I I thought it was super telling that when everyone knew that Colorado was going to run or it was a fourth and short both times Nebraska just blew that up and it like they weren't even close like you didn't even see the officials have to hem and ha and bring out like the sticks to see where the ball was on the second one in particular John Bullock was like in the back field almost ready to take the ball away from the the quarterback um you know on the handoff like they just they diagnosed stuff really well they hold they hold up well at the at the point of attack I mean they're just so it's a really good defensive line I'm I'm really excited to see you know as we get into this big 10 schedule what they can kind of do to some of these teams and and really how they can make some teams play onedimensional and it wasn't just the defensive line I mean I think the secondary played well overall and they they kind of you know they kind of had to for Nebraska to have success on Saturday but if someone told you before this game Sanders was going to finish with 240 yards and Colorado is going to do it on 57 you know percent passing uh completion percentage you would have taken that every time without even knowing about the interception or even that he would only have one touchdown pass in this game it was just a a really strong performance throughout by that defense yeah the the defense's approach is fascinating and I think I think two things can be true I I I legitimately believe that Nebraska's roster for the most part has bought into Matt rule preaching the nameless faceless opponent thing and you know I I think that kind of allowed them to block out a lot of the noise that was kind of around this game I mean you know you got bud Crawford out there throwing passes on on the field before the game um you know you've got you know Dion Sanders over there you've got too over there you got Warren Sap over there um you know there's a lot that kind of goes on around everything and I thought they did a tremendous job of blocking that out at the same time after talking to some of the Nebraska's players after the game especially the defensive players I think that there was a little bit of extra motivation for this game given how last year played out given the narratives around the explosiveness of Colorado's offense and they are I mean they have very good skill position players but I I think that this defense whether they will admit it publicly went into this game tonight feeling like they had a point to prove that they could go in there and dominate a game and you know I I think for the most part they did that and and and they tackled well you know I I was looking I was kind of tracking the big play stuff during the game and Colorado finished with five big plays in in uh through the a their longest pass play was 30 yards um so you know I I think they they answered the bell I mean I I I I really think that that uh this is a defense that's going to be really fun to watch and and if if they're able with that front four to get pressure with just those four I mean I I I think they're going to be really really tough to score on in the Big 10 I mean you just kind of look at what's left you know between now and like Ohio State and they they have a chance to really kind of assert their will on people careful the hooers put up 77 against the uh I know I know the Western Illinois I think leather necks Le I'm not this this is not a a Tom Allen Bolton board situation I mean I I think I think Tom Allen's gone it's it's I know I know but see I see what you're doing even the smallest slight can end up on a bulletin board I get that but I mean I I do think you know this this is a and it's a defense that I don't know that it's they haven't played their best football I mean right you look at you know there there were multiple possessions where you had I mean James Williams is more of an every down player now and he was called for an off sides where I'm pretty sure he just timed up the snap too well like it it was that was the kind of penalty I mean you could have probably called holding on about I know you can do that on about any play but especially tonight I mean Nebraska just tearing after shador Sanders and you know it got kind of laughable in the second half how bad some of those holds were but um that that's that's the potential they have I mean they they said at the start of the season they want to get to 40 sacks this year they were short of that last year I think that they've got the potential to get that this year let's talk offense Nebraska put up 21 points offensively really struggled in the second half to consistently move the ball things are really disjointed you mentioned holding uh as it related to Colorado they weren't they weren't called for it as much as Nebraska was in today's game which is fascinating uh but nevertheless I mean you have to play with what you're officiating is and Nebraska just wasn't either able to stay out of its own way or create much in the second half but in the first half we saw again Bruns Dante Dowell seems like he just going to be the guy uh for Nebraska at that running back position and I let me preface that with ramir is going to get his too but ramire is in such a special situation and they they like him a lot but they clearly trust him as a third down running back as a guy to pick up blitzes as a guy that can catch the ball out of the back field as someone that they can maybe catch defenses who might think that it's going to be a pass because they're in the shotgun they have rir back there uh I I like what that pi looks like I like how those two can kind of play off of each other and there's more burst to Dante Dell than I realized I mean he effortlessly hurdled a guy in the middle of the field today now the officials took that play and made it not count as they did with many others um but there's there's a lot to like in the the potential of what a Dante Dowell running game can look like and how that could open up things for Nebraska a lot of work in progress I'll be curious if teams do what Colorado did tonight I mean Nebraska did not play well when Colorado just decided they were going to shoot its gun and Go full run blitz heavy uh throughout the second half and I don't know if it was a case if Nebraska didn't want to challenge vertically if they didn't want to just put Dylan Rola in that situation uh or whatever it was but they did not have much in the way of answers for the Colorado run blitzes or even just their their blitzing in general I mean they I thought it was probably the first time in the two games so far riela looked uncomfortable in some moments in the in the second half um and Nebraska I think finished with just like 70 yards I think total in the second half as well so a lot to be worked on but that's that's good that that's kind of honestly maybe the best way this could have went is that you get this win against Colorado it is uh cathartic in a lot of ways and you're able to enjoyy it but there's going to be a lot they can see on film as they go forward into this Northern Iowa game that they can sort of help themselves uh try to become better offense overall yeah it's it's an interesting split I so I've got the second half splits in front of me so they had 121 yards in the second half 62 on the ground 59 through the air and nine penalties for 80 yards in the second half um must been what was thinking of they had you know the the rir Johnson play was wiped out jakori Barney had another long one that was wiped out it was like there was like this strange thing going on where holding was only being called between like the linebackers and the secondary and not like around the lines and other than very specifically on the rir play about 40 yards away from where it was relevant yes and that one I will say of most of the calls that one I could honestly say was probably the closest to being relevant but still yeah no I mean Nebraska was 0 for six on third Downs in the second half it's I I think your point that you made about just kind of the takeaway from this I mean it's in some ways it's kind of like the coach's dream right like you play Just fantastic football in the first half there's going to be a lot to learn from in the second half like that there was enough that happened in that game that guys can feel good about but also when it's film session time on Sunday or Monday when they go through it there's going to be some things in that second half you're like okay we need to do this better and I Matt R talked about this after the game and I think there's a little bit of truth to it Nebraska's got Nebraska's got a figure out how to play with a lead like this is not something that they've done often it's not something that they've like done well I mean I think back to last year I mean even the games that they won in the midpoint of the year it didn't look great um you know when they were ahead and you know to today I mean they had a f minute advantage in time of possession in the second half um you know they they didn't turn the ball over I mean I think there were some some things there that are okay because you have the defense that you do you know like they they didn't put the ball in a bad spot for the most part um you know Colorado never really had kind of one of those opport unities for a really big gamechanging play so yeah I mean I I I think there's a lot that you can probably take away and learn from that second half at the same time I think they also did an okay job of just offensively kind of keeping it between the between the lines and keeping it on the road you know yeah absolutely I mean I think that's I think there's more good than bad that comes out of this game but it's it's definitely an opportunity to to put some film up and see where they can get better I think the offensive line is not going to walk away from that second half feeling like they did their job um and there's there's a lot that can be improved upon there as you try to build that running game because you're going to want it to be able to put teams Away by giving the ball to Dowell and actually creating the space you can move forward with it real quickly Bruns uh as we're about to wrap things up here we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about Nebraska special teams another mixed bag uh from the third phase for the Huskers you have had a blocked field goal from TY Robinson uh he said he almost blocked a second one the ball went right by his head uh he just didn't get his head in the way in time I guess um and so uh that was nice early in the game and then Brian bushin who I have been less than kind to uh in particular because of how poor I felt like last year went for someone that I had high expectations for had a really strong game I mean he hit some big once flip the field stuck uh stuck them inside their 15 twice stuck them inside their five once directly I think led to that Tommy Hill interception touchdown for Nebraska in the first quarter a great great performance for buchini but then we get into what didn't go well and it's everything from the coverage unit very first kickoff after you score you're giving up a 60 yard return and you have guys all out of sorts you had a punt blocked a missed field goal there was a kickoff from Colorado at one point that landed between three Huskers no one caught it you had to have someone dive on the ball and you give up eight yards of field position instead of an up bat catching that waving for a fair catch you just did not have a very clean third phase and really some of it you can live with but I don't know how anyone over there can remotely have any confidence in their kicking game Tristan alvano missing that field goal which I think was like a 37 y uh just had to wipe away whatever possible confidence you could have in your kicking game like it's that's not a great spot to be in when you know that you're going to play some tight games coming up yeah it's it's a concern I mean I I think it definitely is um you know you when you you know we talk about an offense that you know was still kind of trying to find its footing a little bit um you know you you need to at least be able to count on three points if you're in the neighborhood of it and you I think he's still probably working his way back a little bit more from injury than what's maybe been you know what Matt rule has said but at the same time like that's something that needs to get buttoned up I mean you you you have a pretty high potential for playing some some ones score games as you get into Big 10 play um you know that that's that's a concern I mean I'm more concerned about that than the other things I mean I Colorado is kind of a tough team to play special teams wise because I think they started playing the way that they want Nebraska did with you know they like a good high kick that falls at the two that's exactly where John Hull put it and you know Colorado's you know skill guys did what they did so you saw a little of an adjustment on the next kick but yeah I agree I mean I I think that continues to be a concern going forward is you do you have somebody that can go in there and make you kicks because I mean even you know the the miss tonight I mean it didn't end up hurting Nebraska but it it's a little bit of a momentum thing like you know that that that would have put them up I think at the time they were up 14 nothing they would have put them up 17 nothing I mean it's a little bit of a different game you don't kind of get the doubt creeping in but that's uh you know I I I think you have to give a lot of credit to Brian bushen because I I think for two games he's hit the ball really well um and that that punt that kind of set up the Tommy Hill pick that was a really big one um to to kind of get the momentum back and and get get Nebraska's defense in a good spot Nebraska by the way won the starting field position battle again uh two in a row yeah brass start throwing 34 caller out thr on 27 so um that's progress that's that's not a category that Nebraska's won very much over the last uh five or six years no no it is not all right to finish things off going to read a few comments from The Message Board appreciate everybody who gave their reaction to Nebraska Colorado just going to run through a few of these here Dodge Viper 04 just relieved I put a lot on this game and I was emotionally drained after the first quarter was waiting for the other shoe to drop so glad when all zeros came up and we had won that was kind of a common theme Bruns throughout the uh the game thread I think you know Nebraska gets up 28 nothing you know Colorado has this potential quick strike offense and then you're just not adding to the lead at all in the second half uh there was there's definitely a few people on the board who were convinced that Nebraska and it's losing Wes are about to rear its head there there was there there were a little there was some clenching I think that's fair to say little clinchy little clinchy all right what else we got here old BCS computer defense answered the call Big Time dominated every aspect offense was fine couple second half Phantom Holdings go away and people probably feel better seemed like the game plan was to get the ball out quick and prevent any mistakes from briola we won so can't complain but would have liked to see some more Rhythm here overall win is a win let's go one and0 next week uh 90s born Husker it's nice to have a quarterback that can overcome both questionable play calls and bad officiating I I'm a broken record with this I don't really feel like the play calls were that bad I mean some of it is Nebraska's going against a ninan box every now and then and they clearly were not interested in trying to attack vertically which we could get into that conversation too um but honestly if if some of the calls go another way it's they had some big plays dialed up they just didn't either hit on them um or they were just taken off the board by offici I love that I love the play that was the Barne play just off of Jaylen Lloyd's fingertips oh that one yeah in the first quarter yeah that was that was that was really nice I and I'm I'm still a little confused as to how that didn't like it it that that was made to hit you know yeah well he got his hands on it I just I don't know if he alligator armed it or what I mean I I think if you asked Jaylen he would probably think that he should catch that ball you know 10 out of 10 times and it just didn't it didn't happen uh there for him but uh yeah that was that's one of those that you would have you certainly would have liked uh Greek freaks said made a bad team look bad without needing Rola which is is true I mean that's that's one of the things about this win is this def defense can carry this team like you have the five-star quarterback you have uh some offensive Playmakers but if Nebraska gets in one of these sort of we would call them big 10 West slap fights uh they have a team the Big 10 West is gone they have a team that was built to be very very competitive in that horrible horrible division the Big 10 is dead long with the big 10 that kind of a thing Big 10 West that kind of thing y definitely that kind of thing uh Corn Husker Odus some of this I just like to say people's names to see if I'm saying it correct message me if I'm completely wrong I think this was the defense's best performance under Tony white taking into account quality of competition how do you feel about that one BRS uh I it's hard to argue I mean yeah I mean I we we were I mean going into the game we were talking about how this was going to be the probably the best quarterback they were going to see to Ohio State right yeah I agree and the only other game I can think of is that Maryland I thought had a really good offense for the most part last year and Nebraska had them shut down almost the entirety of that game and then of course when you needed that final stop you couldn't get off the field yeah well I mean people in the comments in the hype cast they were talking about how Colorado is just going to run up and down the field on Nebraska so I mean so it goes shout out the commenters we don't need to we don't need to read those comments you're welcome to come back and comment some more and tell us how wrong we're going to be yeah you're always welcome uh fully hused it feels like this team actually believes in itself keeps stacking wins and we could be very good and let's finish with this one from go big bread an absolute step in the right direction I think that's inarguable even if you wanted this game to go a little bit better Nebraska covered the spread they doubled the spread nearly tripled the spread uh could have scored more probably should have scored more ultimately walked away with an 18-point win two and0 for the first time since 2016 Northern Iowa next week things feel a little different around here Bruns it's weird Sun Sun's going to be a little bit brighter in the morning Mike birds are sing a little louder you're just going to be singing chirping it's going to be a it's going to be a great day at the the apple orchards here in the area great yeah I mean apple orchard sound nice but uh NFL week one tomorrow is calling my name you know that and what should be a bevy of recruiting reaction we had somebody wanted to to kind of us to dive into that I don't know that we have a lot of time here to do that but uh I'm excited to hear what the recruits had to say I know that they were going to love that atmosphere I don't know who wouldn't have loved that atmosphere even before the game you could kind of feel that mixture of excitement enthusiasm and that little tension that Creeps in because you know there's a the big football game on the way be exciting to hear what the recruits have to say after that and who knows maybe never ask will be adding to their 2025 or future classes as well as early as this weekend or this week so we'll see all that you can get all that coverage at Husker 20 247.com brunch you have anything you want to leave the people with uh no it's 115 in the morning I'm ready to uh work a little bit and hit the sack here I think what uh what late night football game is still being televised right now uh I need to get an update on Oregon State and San Diego State that might still be going on he needs an update folks he needs it he needs it like he needs air give me the update all right everybody be sure to check out what we got going on at Husker 247.com for Michael Bruns I'm Mike schaer we are Husker 247 I'll be back on Sunday with a Sunday side session joined by Connor haer we'll have more podcasts throughout next week and of course plenty of coverage at Husker 247.com