A crowd of nearly 100k people turned up to watch the CU Buffs get absolutely smoked by the Cornhuskers. As the beaten and bruised Coloroda unit walked off the field, and even as they walked on it, the crowd was sure to let them know they were not welcome.
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However, QB Shedeur Sanders dismissed the notion that the raucous crowd played a role in his struggles against the Cornhuskers.
Despite throwing a costly pick-six that sparked Nebraska’s blowout win, Sanders downplayed the impact of the hostile environment. Talking at the post-game presser, the young QB blamed the readiness of the team for the blowout loss:
“I don’t really think the crowd affected me. I think it was just maybe everybody on the team wasn’t ready, but overall I don’t think the crowd kind of affected me personally.”
During a first down deep in Nebraska’s territory, with the Cornhuskers leading 7-0 in Lincoln, Shedeur seemed to telegraph his throw to the far sideline. Huskers’ Tommi Hill anticipated the pass, jumped the route, and returned it for a touchdown.
This costly and downright foolish mistake had the already rowdy Memorial Stadium crowd go absolutely bonkers.
Sheduer was constantly under pressure in the game that saw not only a charged crowd but also a charged Cornhuskers unit led by standout QB Dylan Raiola.
They looked out for blood as they recorded four sacks by halftime and concluded their victory over the Buffaloes with a total of six sacks, along with 10 tackles for loss, even as the Buffs’ O-Line shriveled up in front of our eyes.
Despite being an excellent QB, Shedeur cannot do much when his O-line fails to protect him. To make matters worse, the defensive line couldn’t do much either, as Raiola escaped the matchup practically unscathed.
The crowd might not have gotten under Shedeur’s skin, but they clearly fired up the Cornhuskers. The game also saw the return of the balloon-releasing celebration, which was discontinued in 2022, as fans turned the sky Cornhuskers red in an amazing visual from the game.
