Shedeur Sanders passed for 393 yards and two touchdowns, rushed for another score and No. 22 Colorado doubled last season’s victory total with a 36-14 nonconference victory over Nebraska on Saturday afternoon at Boulder, Colo.
The Buffaloes were a woeful 1-11 last season before Deion Sanders was hired as coach and engaged in a roster overhaul that brought in 84 new players. Colorado (2-0) stunned then-No. 17 TCU in its season opener last week, then defeated its former Big 12 rival for the third straight time.
Tar’Varish Dawson scored two touchdowns (one receiving, one rushing) and Jace Feely kicked three field goals for the Buffaloes. Xavier Weaver caught 10 passes for 170 yards and one touchdown for Colorado.
Jeff Sims rushed for a touchdown and completed 9 of 15 passes for 106 yards for Nebraska (0-2). But he also was intercepted once and lost three fumbles to hinder the offense for the second straight game.
Sims threw three interceptions in the Cornhuskers’ season-opening 13-10 loss to Minnesota on Aug. 31.
Gabe Ervin Jr. rushed for 74 yards on 17 carries for Nebraska.
Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig had an interception for Colorado and teammates Arden Walker, Jordan Domineck and Bishop Thomas recovered fumbles.
Shedeur Sanders completed 31 of 42 passes while enjoying his second straight big game. He set the Colorado school record with 510 passing yards in his debut.
The Buffaloes outgained Nebraska 468 to 341.
The game was scoreless until Sims fumbled a shotgun snap and Domineck recovered to set up Colorado at the Cornhuskers’ 19-yard line. Feely cashed it in with a 31-yard field goal with 4:20 left in the half.
On Nebraska’s next possession, Silmon-Craig intercepted Sims’ pass to give the Buffaloes the ball at the Cornhuskers’ 30. On the next play, Sanders threw a 30-yard scoring pass to Dawson to make it 10-0 with 2:35 remaining.
Feely tacked on a 32-yard field as time expired to give the Buffaloes a 13-0 halftime lead.
Sims broke loose for a 57-yard touchdown run with 9:50 left in the third quarter for Nebraska. But Colorado answered with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Sanders’ 12-yard scoring pass to Weaver with 6:49 left in the third quarter.
Feely booted a 30-yard field goal to make it 23-7 with 1:20 left in the period.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Sims lost the ball on a handoff exchange and Thomas recovered. The Buffaloes moved 65 yards on nine plays with Dawson taking a reverse 8 yards for a touchdown to make it 29-7. A two-point conversion failed.
Shedeur Sanders scored on a 6-yard run with 4:54 remaining before Nebraska completed the scoring on Heinrich Haarberg’s 4-yard scoring pass to Thomas Fidone III on the game’s final play.
–Field Level Media
