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No. 22 Buffaloes Stampede Big Red in Boulder

By Kaleb Henry Sep 9, 2023 | 4:06 PM

Nebraska football needed to turn their matchup with No. 22 Colorado into a typical Big Ten West affair Saturday.

The Huskers (0-2) did that for 20 minutes in Boulder, forcing long possessions and plenty of punts. But then the miscues became too much and the Buffaloes (2-0) stampeded to a 36-14 win.

Nebraska burned nearly five minutes off the clock on the opening possession only to lose a fumble at the Colorado 35.

Five consecutive drives ended in punts before Big Red was again with a scoring opportunity. On third and short, a mis-timed snap bounced off the motioning player before being recovered for a small loss. On the next play, Tristan Alvano doinked the field goal attempt off the right upright.

The Blackshirts forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, but that’s where the wheels came off.

Nebraska’s last three drives of the half went fumble, interception, and a punt after Jeff Sims ran out of bounds on third down to stop the clock.

Colorado turned their last three drives of the half into 13 points. As a matter of fact, the Buffaloes scored on seven-of-eight drives, only being stopped on an iffy fourth down call that should have been a field goal attempt instead.

For NU, Sims scored on a 57 yard touchdown run in the third quarter. He left early in the fourth with a lower body injury.

Replacing Sims was Heinrich Haarberg. The Nebraska native managed to go 2-for-6 for 13 yards and a touchdown just before the game ended, adding 17 yards on two carries.

Chubba Purdy threw one pass that fell incomplete.

The four turnovers in the game give Nebraska eight on the season. The Huskers have scored just three touchdowns and taken the ball away twice.

Colorado out-gained Nebraska 454-341, with 396 of that coming through the air. NU managed 222 yards on the ground, though 127 of that came on three carries.

Nebraska returns to Lincoln for the home opener next Saturday, hosting Northern Illinois.

Nebraska Athletics notes

  • Today’s game was the 72nd all-time meeting between Nebraska and Colorado and the third since 2019.  Colorado’s victory was the Buffs’ third straight in the series. Nebraska now holds a 49-21-2 all-time lead in the series, including 23-12-2 in Boulder.
  • Sophomore running back Gabe Ervin rushed 17 times for 74 yards, setting career highs in rushing yards and carries. Ervin’s previous high rushing total was 60 yards last season in a loss to Oklahoma. Ervin had eclipsed his previous high before halftime with 14 rushes for 73 yards in the first half.  His previous high for carries was 12 at Illinois in 2021.
  • Alex (WR) and John Bullock (LB) both started the game, marking the first time brothers have started the same game for Nebraska since 2019 at Iowa, when Carlos and Khalil Davis both started on the defensive line.
  • Additionally, the Bullocks are the first brothers to start the same game on different sides of the ball since Keith (I-back) and Lee (defensive line) Jones started on opposite sides of the ball against Utah State on Sept. 5, 1987.
  • Nebraska’s defense had eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss. The 10 TFL are Nebraska’s most since the Huskers had 12 against Colorado in 2018. Before today, the last time Nebraska had at least seven sacks in a game was that same contest against Colorado in 2018, when the Huskers recorded seven sacks.
  • True freshman defensive lineman Cameron Lenhardt had two sacks for eight yards in the first half, marking his first two career sacks. Lenhardt is the first true freshman to record two sacks in a game since defensive end Barry Turner had two sacks at Baylor in 2005.  The last time any freshman had two sacks in a game was redshirt freshman Freedom Akinmoladun who had two sacks against Southern Miss in 2015.
  • Fellow true freshman Riley Van Poppel added a half-sack in the third quarter for his first career sack.
  • Jimari Butler and Tamon Lynum also recorded their first career sacks in the fourth quarter. Lynum forced a fumble on his sack that was recovered by true freshman Sua Lefotu.
  • Linebacker Nick Henrich had a 13-yard sack in the first quarter for his first solo sack of his career. He added a 2-yard sack in the second quarter.
  • Senior linebacker Luke Reimer had 1.5 sacks in the game, setting a career high in sacks. His previous high was 1.0 sack in five games.
  • Quarterback Jeff Sims had a 57-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, marking his career long rush. His previous long was 50 yards vs. North Carolina in 2021, while Sims was playing at Georgia Tech.
  • Thomas Fidone II caught two passes for 13 yards, the first catches of his career. He caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Henrich Haarberg on the game’s final play, marking the first career touchdown for Fidone and first career touchdown pass for Haarberg.
  • Offensive tackle Turner Corcoran made his 25th consecutive start on Saturday.
  • Today’s game captains were QB Jeff Sims, OG Ethan Piper, LB Luke Reimer and S Isaac Gifford.