Colorado vs. Nebraska preview: Home advantage, juice will help Buffs overcome Huskers

Did Colorado and Nebraska switch scripts to begin the 2023 college football season?

Everyone was expecting to see Matt Rhule come out and regain his title as the program rebuilder, but he fell short while Colorado went out and captured America’s hearts. Now, even Vegas is riding the Buffaloes’ hype train and have slotted Deion Sanders’ squad as a three-point favorite at home after defeating then-ranked TCU and finding itself ranked (No. 22) in the AP Top 25 Poll.

Jacob Hester, a former LSU and NFL fullback-turned host of OffCampus on Sirius XM, joined On3’s Andy Staples on his show to discuss the betting odds for Saturday’s matchups and reveal their predictions who their pick is heading into the weekend.

“With everything surrounding this game — there’s pressure on Colorado now. The world knows what they did Saturday against TCU,” Hester told Staples. “This is at Folsom Field, it will be at its peak — and these are proud football fans. … You’d have to go back to the early 2000s where they’ve had the opportunity to have a team like this and have a real chance of doing something special.”

The Matt Rhule era at Nebraska started off flat after falling to Minnesota on a walk-off field goal during Week 1. Meanwhile, Colorado’s 45-point performance against the reigning national runner-ups is one that Buffaloes fans will be talking about for years to come.

Colorado QB, and Coach Prime’s son, Shedeur Sanders, threw for a school-record 510 yards and four touchdowns during the afternoon on the road. Now, alongside his father, will enter Week 2 as heroes returning home to Folsom Field for Saturday’s game against the Cornhuskers.

“He has the home-field advantage — all the juice they having coming into this week — It’s if they do a good job not reading the headlines, and not seeing their name on the marquee blinking,” Hester said. “Coach Prime has been through that, and he’s done it at Jackson State, too. They were the talk of the town at that level.

“He’s had to handle that before; a bulk of those players who had played for him at Jackson State — honestly, I don’t worry about that. I think this is an opportunity for them. I don’t think they fold under that pressure, either. I think they go out there as the aggressor and just out-athlete Nebraska … I think [Colorado] dictates the pace, [it’s hard to see] them stay close to that three number.”

Staples agreed, but at the same time — he’s terrified. Just like many, Staples wasn’t too high on Coach Prime and the Buffs this time last week. Now, he’s taking Colorado to not only defeat Nebraska, but to cover the spread as well.