Huskers Welcome Buffs Back to Memorial Stadium

NEBRASKA vs. COLORADO
SEPT. 8, 2018 | MEMORIAL STADIUM
LINCOLN, NEB. | 2:30 P.M. (CT)

BROADCAST INFO
TV - ABC (Bob Wischusen, Brock Huard, Allison Williams)
RADIO - Husker Sports Network (Greg Sharpe, Matt Davison, Ben McLaughlin)
SATELLITE RADIO - Sirius Channel 105, XM 195
INTERNET RADIO - Huskers.com
APP AUDIO - Official Huskers App

HUSKERS
Record: 0-0, 0-0 Big Ten
Last Game: Akron, canceled
Rankings: NR
Coach: Scott Frost
Career/NU Record: 19-7 (3rd Year)/0-0 (1st Year) 
vs. Colorado: 0-0

BUFFALOES
Record: 1-0, 0-0 Pac-12
Last Game: def. Colorado State, 45-13
Rankings: NR
Coach: Mike MacIntyre
Career/Colorado Record: 42-59 (9th Year)/26-38 (6th Year)
vs. Nebraska: 3-5

The Matchup
Nebraska will take its second shot at opening the 2018 season on Saturday afternoon by welcoming a a familiar foe to Memorial Stadium. The Huskers will square off with the Colorado Buffaloes with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be televised nationally on ABC, and available on the IMG Husker Sports Network.

The Huskers got only an opening kickoff in on Saturday night against Akron before thunderstorms caused a delay, and ultimately a cancellation of the contest.

Nebraska and Colorado were conference rivals for more than 60 years in the Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences, before moving to the Big Ten and Pac-12, respectively, before the 2011 season. Saturday's meeting is the first of four matchups between the two schools between 2018 and 2024.

Colorado stands at 1-0 after an impressive season-opening victory over in-state rival Colorado State on Friday in Denver. The Buffs opened a two-touchdown lead midway through the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 45-13 victory. CU showed an explosive offense, with 596 yards, including 338 yards through the air and 258 rushing yards.

This Week's Numbers
70 - Saturday's matchup between Nebraska and Colorado will mark the 70th all-time meeting between the long-time conference rivals. Nebraska and Colorado last met in 2010, in the final Big 12 Conference game for both schools. .

29 - With the cancellation of last week's game against Akron, Nebraska will open the 2018 season on Sept. 8. That is the latest date for a Husker season opener in 29 seasons, dating back to the Sept. 9, 1989, opener against Northern Illinois.

7 - Seven Cornhusker greats will be inducted into the Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame this weekend. The group is led by Hall of Fame coaches Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne and 1983 Heisman Trophy winner Mike Rozier. Also being inducted are Darin Erstad (BSB), Sarah Pavan (VB), Peaches James (SB) and Tom Schlesinger (MGYM).

Nebraska-Colorado Series
Nebraska and Colorado are familiar foes with Saturday's meeting the 70th all-time between the schools, but the first since 2010. Nebraska holds a 49-18-2 all-time edge in the series, including a 26-8 mark in Lincoln.

• Nebraska and Colorado met each season from 1948 to 2010, as members of the Big Seven, Big Eight and Big 12 Conferences. 

• From 1996 to 2010, the Huskers and Buffs concluded the regular season against each other on Black Friday. Nebraska held an 11-4 edge in the series during that time period. 

• Nebraska and Colorado combined to win the final eight Big Eight championships from 1988 to 1995. 

• Nebraska and Colorado will play in Boulder in 2019 (Sept. 7) and the teams will also have a home-and-home in 2023 (Boulder) and 2024 (Lincoln).

Nebraska has Long History of Battling Pac-12 Foes
Nebraska’s meeting with Colorado continues a tradition of playing marquee non-conference games against Pac-12 opponents. Since 1983, Nebraska has played 32 regular-season non-conference games against teams that were in the Pac-12 at game time. 

• Nebraska is 23-9 against the Pac-12 in regular season games since 1983. In that stretch, NU is 6-1 vs. Arizona State, 5-3 vs. UCLA, 3-1 vs. Oregon, 2-0 vs. California, 4-2 vs. Washington, 2-0 vs. Oregon State, 1-0 vs. Washington State and 0-2 vs. USC. The record against Pac-12 foes does not include conference games against Colorado in that time frame. 

• Nebraska has also played five bowl games against Pac-12 teams in that time period, going 2-3 in those games. 

• Nebraska played at least one non-conference game against a Pac-12 foe for 17 straight seasons from 1983 to 1999.

Huskers Elect Four Captains
Four Husker seniors were elected by their teammates as captains for the 2018 season. On offense, the captains are OG Jerald Foster and WR Stanley Morgan Jr. Representing the defense are NT Mick Stoltenberg and LB Luke Gifford.

2018 Nebraska Team Captains
Jerald Foster, Sr., OG, Lincoln, Neb.
Stanley Morgan Jr., Sr., WR, New Orleans, La.
Luke Gifford, Sr., LB, Lincoln, Neb.
Mick Stoltenberg, Sr., NT, Gretna, Neb.

• This marks the second straight season Nebraska has had three Nebraska natives as captains. Prior to last season Nebraska had not had three homegrown captains since 2001.

• This marks the 13th straight season at least one native Nebraskan has been elected as a captain.

• Foster and Gifford were teammates at Lincoln Southeast High School. This marks the first time high school teammates have served as captains in the same year since Jerry Tagge and Jim Anderson in 1971. Tagge and Anderson both went to high school at Green Bay West in Wisconsin. Foster and Gifford are the first pair on in-state high school teammates to serve as captains together.

• Foster is serving as a captain for the second straight season, and becomes just the 11th two-time team captain in NU history. This marks the sixth straight season an offensive lineman has served as a captain.

Martinez Set for Historic Start
True freshman Adrian Martinez is expected to make his first start against Colorado on Saturday.

• Martinez is in line to be the first true freshman quarterback to start a season opener in NU history. He would be just the second freshman quarterback to start a season opener, joining redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez in 2010.

• Martinez would join Tommie Frazier (1992) and Cody Green (2009) as the only true freshmen to start at quarterback in Husker history.

Frost Set for First Season
Scott Frost will lead his first Nebraska team as head coach this fall. Frost is in his third season overall as a head coach after guiding Central Florida to a 19-7 record the past two seasons.

• Frost was the consensus 2017 national coach of the year after leading UCF to a 13-0 season. UCF was the only FBS unbeaten team in 2017.

• In Orlando, Frost led the greatest two-year turnaround in college football history. He inherited an 0-12 team and led the Knights to a bowl game in his first season in 2016. That set the stage for Frost to become the first coach in FBS history to turn a winless team into an undefeated team in just two years.

• Frost brought all nine of his UCF assistant coaches with him to Lincoln. Barrett Ruud also followed Frost to Lincoln after serving as a quality control administrator with the Knights. Ruud was promoted to inside linebackers coach in January, when the NCAA permitted schools to add a 10th assistant coach.

• Before becoming UCF’s head coach in 2016, Frost spent seven seasons at Oregon (2009-15) and two years at Northern Iowa (2007-08). Included in those stops were stints as the Ducks’ offensive coordinator from 2013 to 2015 and as the Panthers’ defensive coordinator in 2008.

• Dating back to Bob Devaney in 1962, Nebraska head coaches are 5-1 in their first game as Husker head coach.

• Frost has been a proven winner in his coaching career. In 11 seasons as a full-time assistant or head coach, Frost’s teams have posted a 122-25 record, averaging more than 11 wins per season. Frost has been a part of seven conference championship teams in his 11 seasons and has twice coached in the national championship game.

• Frost’s teams have been ranked in the top 15 in 10 of his 11 seasons, including eight top-10 final rankings and six top-five final rankings.

• A Nebraska native, Frost is the fifth Husker player to return to Nebraska as head coach. His staff also features former Husker players Greg Austin (2003-06), Ryan Held (1993-96) and Barrett Ruud (2001-04).

Staff has Familiar, Fresh Faces
All 11 members of Nebraska’s 2018 coaching staff are in their first season with the Huskers. None of the 11 had ever been a full-time coach at Nebraska before, but the staff still has plenty of Husker ties.

Head Coach Scott Frost played for Nebraska from 1995 to 1997 and served as a graduate assistant coach during the Huskers’ preparations for the 2002 Independence Bowl. Running backs coach Ryan Held also played for Nebraska (1993-96) and was an undergraduate coach on Nebraska’s 1997 national championship team. Barrett Ruud (2001-04) and Greg Austin (2003-06) are also former Huskers, although neither had ever coached at Nebraska prior to this season.

The fresh faces on staff are seven assistants who are Nebraska newcomers: defensive coordinator Erik Chinander, offensive coordinator Troy Walters, special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach Jovan Dewitt, tight ends coach Sean Beckton, defensive line coach Mike Dawson, defensive backs coach Travis Fisher and quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco.

Although all 11 members of the staff will be coaching in the Big Ten for the first time this fall, the staff boasts plenty of big-time experience. The staff owns a collective 25 years of coaching experience at nine different Power Five programs. Austin, Chinander and Dawson also spent a combined five seasons coaching in the National Football League.

FORMER HUSKERS ON 2018 STAFF
• Scott Frost, Head Coach (1995-97)
• Greg Austin, Assistant Coach (2003-06)
• Ryan Held, Assistant Coach (1993-96)
• Barrett Ruud, Assistant Coach (2001-04)

Staff Aims for Another Offensive Turnaround
Nebraska aims for an improved offense in Scott Frost's first season, after Frost and his staff orchestrated the greatest two-year offensive turnaround in NCAA history at Central Florida.

• In two seasons in Orlando, Frost and his offensive staff helped UCF improve by an average of more than 27 points per game and by more than 270 yards of total offense per game.

• The staff inherited a UCF offense that ranked 125th nationally in scoring and 127th in total offense in 2015. Two years later, the Knights led the nation in scoring and ranked fifth in total offense.

• In 2017, Nebraska ranked 84th nationally in scoring while UCF led the nation. The Knights' averaged more than 48 points per game, while the Huskers' season high was 44 at Penn State.

• Nebraska ranked 87th nationally in total offense in 2017, while UCF was fifth. The Knights averaged 530.5 yards per game, while the Huskers' high mark of the season was 471 yards at Purdue.

Staff Also Seeks Another Defensive Turnaround
Nebraska's defense struggled in 2017, but hope that the Blackshirts can show dramatic improvement lies in the immediate turnaround Erik Chinander and his fellow defensive assistants orchestrated at UCF in 2016.

• Chinander and his defensive staff inherited a UCF defense that ranked 113th in total defense in 2015 and 117th in scoring offense. The staff inherited a unit that had allowed 464.1 yards per game and 37.7 points per game.

• Those totals are similar to what Chinander and company inherited at Nebraska, as the Huskers ranked 100th in total defense (463.2 ypg) and 115th in scoring defense (36.4 ppg).

• In his first season at UCF, Chinander earned a nomination for the prestigious Broyles Award - presented annually to the nation's top assistant coach - after helping the Knights allow nearly two fewer touchdowns per game and 94 fewer yards per game.

Youth Dominates NU Roster
Nebraska's 135-player roster features 50 newcomers who were not on last year's roster, including 38 true freshmen and 12 transfers (6 junior college transfers, 4 FBS transfers and 2 FCS transfers).

• Nearly two-thirds of the squad is comprised of underclassmen, as 89 of the Huskers’ 135 players are either freshmen or sophomores.

• Of the 25 players on the offensive depth chart, 16 are underclassmen and seven are newcomers.

• Of the 27 players on the defensive depth chart, 11 are underclassmen and six are newcomers.

Nebraska's full notes package can be found in the PDF file at the top of this page