Will Compton previews Colorado-Nebraska, what Huskers need to do to limit Shedeur Sanders

There are a handful of matchups between top 25 teams this weekend, but one matchup between unranked opponents — Colorado and Nebraska — might carry as much personal animus as any.

When the two teams line up, it will have been 5,034 days since Nebraska’s last win in the series. That’s a fact not lost on Bussin With The Boys co-host and former Cornhuskers linebacker Will Compton.

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Or coach Matt Rhule, for that matter.

“Rhule said: ‘We want Nebraska Nice on Sunday.’ He said Sunday, not Saturday,” Compton explained on The Hard Count with JD PicKell. “Nebraska’s fan base is known for being the nice fanbase, saying ‘hey, great game out there’ and ‘I hope you stay healthy,’ ‘have a great rest of the season.’ Whether they win, lose or whatever, it kind of throws you off by how nice they can be.

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“So I think it’s going to be pretty hostile on Saturday night. And I think it’s going to be incredible … Deion (Sanders) on the sideline, … my boy Colt McCoy calling it. I’m fired up for it.”

So too are thousands of Nebraska faithful.

The program has been in no-man’s land for the better part of the last decade, now on their third coach in that span. But Rhule seems to have some real answers, not the least of which is five-star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola.

Raiola is one reason Compton feels pretty confident Nebraska should be able to move the ball at will on Saturday. Colorado’s defense is the other.

“I feel like there’s vulnerabilities on Colorado’s side defensively that, again, you can take them by Dylan throwing it, you see us being able to run the football,” Compton said. “Like as long as you play complementary football, like I don’t know. I think we can beat their asses.”

The real question mark might be what happens on the other side of the ball. Colorado has its two best players suiting up on that side in quarterback Shedeur Sanders and receiver Travis Hunter.

Both are capable of making explosive plays, as evidenced by last season and this year’s opener against North Dakota State. That’s the part that gives Compton at least a little pause.

“The Blackshirts still have their work cut out for them, but again I think they’re very hungry for this game because I think everybody remembers the taste in their mouth leaving Boulder last year,” Compton said.

“We’ve got to be careful with getting in bad matchups. Again, they have a lot of speed on offense. Their offensive line seems to have some holes where guys are still getting after Shedeur, but Shedeur is so poised and he’s a very good quarterback. And he never seems to blink. Dude can throw it as he’s getting hit to where he doesn’t even get his full arm and still seems to make an unbelievable throw. Stupid.”

Preventing Sanders and Colorado from turning the game into a shootout is paramount. Nebraska can win if it takes control of the pace and plays with the lead.

That starts with preventing explosive plays.

“You can’t be predictable into playing zone and keeping it in front of you,” Compton explained. “But to me the biggest team key like if you’re going Mike Vrabel team keys to defense this week, the very first one is keeping the ball in front of you but eliminating [explosive] plays. Because I think that’s where Colorado can hurt you.

“When they spread you out and they get running and guys don’t put hands on anybody, if they’re free to run they do a really good job. So I think you’ve got to get them out of their rhythm, you’ve got to re-route them, you’ve got to get Shedeur going through his progressions. Because, again, you can do what you can but you ultimately have to contain Shedeur. You’ve got to blitz when you feel like situationally, coach (Tony) White, he’s going to know when to pressure and when not to, but I think on the back end it’s, ‘Guys, keep the ball in front of you and make them earn every yard.’ Because it’s a team that is ready for a track meet. We can’t give them one.”

Cut out the explosive plays and not only does Compton like his Nebraska program to win, he likes it to cover the 7.5-point spread.

“If we’re playing our best ball we should handle this team,” Compton said. “I’m telling you, we should handle this team.”