Strike 3: Bill McCartney decided when he took the gig in 1982 that Nebraska was going to be the designated rival of his Colorado Buffaloes. Their annual game wasn’t yet the end-of-season matchup (the legendary Nebraska – Oklahoma rivalry was still going strong) but Coach Mac didn’t care. He had CU schedules printed with “Nebraska” in red.
The newly formed Big 12 Conference finally agreed in 1996, and Colorado vs. Nebraska officially became a rivalry, over the objections of most of Husker Nation, who didn’t deem the Buffs worthy.
Over the years, CU proved otherwise.
Moved to the day after Thanksgiving, it remained a true college football rivalry game until both schools got fed up with the way Texas was essentially running the Big 12 and left for greener pastures/conferences after the 2010 season.
It was one of the numerous college football rivalries that died as the result of conference realignment.
Since then they’ve only played three times (2018, 2019 and 2023) with the Buffs winning all three – two on the game’s final play and last season’s convincing win at Folsom Field.
Going into the fourth and final game of the current series contract this weekend, Husker Nation is fired up and very eager to host Deion and Company.
Coaches everywhere will tell you that atmosphere and emotion don’t really play a role in a football game after the first few minutes. And while that’s true most of the time, it’s not always the case, especially in a rivalry. Sometimes emotions can run hot for a full 60 minutes and significantly impact the outcome.
It’s happened in this one.
Halloween night, 1992. The Buffs arrived in Lincoln sharing a No. 7 national ranking with the Cornhuskers. It was appropriate since the teams had tied 19-19 the season before in Boulder. The Huskers and their fans, used to having their way with CU, couldn’t stomach the fact that Nebraska hadn’t beaten the Buffs in three years. Normally cordial Memorial Stadium turned into a snake pit that night, and the revved up Big Red crushed the Buffs 52-7. Emotion carried the day all night.
November 2001. While Nebraska had dominated CU (and everyone else) in the 1990’s, the Buffs under Gary Barnett had closed the gap significantly. CU suffered narrow, gut-wrenching losses to Nebraska for five consecutive seasons, including 1997 when the Huskers won the national championship: Five points, three points, two points, three points (in overtime after CU missed a potential game-winning field goal) and three points. Five straight losses by a total of 16 points.
Frustrating for CU faithful? Ya think? All that frustration, all that emotion came flowing out and never stopped when the top-ranked Huskers arrived in Boulder to meet the No. 15 Buffaloes for the day after Thanksgiving tilt. It turned into the famous 63-26 CU thrashing that sent Colorado fandom into a frenzy and nearly sent the Buffs to the national title game.
There was the struggling Huskers improbable 30-3 upset of Barnett’s last CU team in 2005, and the Buffs 65-51 answer in 2007. Emotions were high for those games, too. But after Nebraska’s 45-17 win in the conference rival’s farewell tilt in 2010, the rivalry was vanquished and replaced by these sporadic non-conference games on the schedule.
Sometimes, all that’s needed is a spark to reignite emotions. Deion Sanders, and his “we’re everyone’s Super Bowl” hype has provided the lighter fluid. That, and the Buffs three-game winning streak over Nebraska appears to have lit things up in Lincoln again. We’ll find out if it ends up being a factor.
