Written by Paul Fritz
Colorado remains undefeated after an incredible performance, coming from behind in the hands of Steven Montez and Laviska Shenault Jr. Going into Nebraska, Colorado saw their first true test to demonstrate the improvements they made upon last season.
At a completely packed house in Memorial Stadium, Colorado came in with a fearless game-plan. If this was the Colorado team of last season, they may have employed a more controlled and conservative game-plan against a solid team in a hostile environment. This is a different team. With a new offensive force in Shenault Jr and K.D. Nixon, it is clear that the Colorado Buffs are a legitimate Pac-12 forerunner.
The game started with the Buffs finding the end-zone early on two occasions. The first being a quick slant route where QB Steven Montez found Senior team-captain Jay MacIntyre for the first points of the game. On their next opportunity, the Buffs found themselves within the red-zone once again and tried something a little different. Within the 10-yard line, Shenault Jr, lined-up in the wildcat formation. Shenault demonstrated pure strength and adversity as he pummeled two defensive lineman to find his way into the end-zone, making it 14-0 Colorado lead early in the 1st quarter.
Nebraska and their true freshman QB Adrian Martinez would not let Colorado off easily. Before the end of the quarter, Martinez split several defenders for a 41-yard touchdown. This truly set the tone for the game in the sense that Colorado felt they had a stronghold but simply hadn’t accounted for the play-making ability of Martinez.
From there-on, Nebraska accomplished 329 rushing yards behind Martinez’ stellar performance of throwing for a total of 304 and 3 touchdowns. With such an energetic environment in Lincoln and the momentum the Cornhuskers were able to establish, it only shows how resilient and determined this Buffs team is to persevere in the face of adversity. After a James Stefanou field goal from 40 yards out, it was 21-17 Nebraska lead at the half.
In the 2nd half, both teams were brick-walls defensively. The game seemed a stand-still until playmaker, Nate Landman, intercepted a short pass from Nebraska’s QB Martinez. The interception shifted the momentum entirely with the score at 28-27, in the Cornhuskers favor, with just 5 minutes left in the game. Unfortunately for Colorado, their sure-footed kicker in James Stefanou could not convert on the 43-yard attempt, leaving Nebraska an opportunity to close out the game.
As fate would have it, Nebraska’s QB Martinez suffered an injury on the very next possession that took him out for the rest of the game. Since the new QB in walk-on Andrew Bunch could not drive his offense down the field, Steven Montez and the Buffs were given new life; a life they weren’t ready to lose.
Wasting no time in their 1 minute and 17 second drive, Montez and the Buffs’ offense converted on 3 third-down opportunities. The fierce offensive performance was capped off with a 40 yard touchdown pass from Montez to Shenault Jr, giving them the lead 33-28 with only a minute left. Shenault ended the game with 177 total yards and 2 touchdowns, proving that he can make this Buffs’ squad take their offense to the next level.
Coming out of Nebraska, Colorado is now 2-0 and have found the offensive momentum they have been searching for since 2016. The Buffs will host the New Hampshire Wildcats next Saturday at 3:00 p.m. for their 1st game at Folsom Field this year. Nebraska will remain at home to take on the Troy Trojans Saturday at 10:00 a.m.
