BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Shedeur Sanders accounted for three scores, Colorado’s defense forced four turnovers and the 22nd-ranked Buffaloes beat longtime rival Nebraska 36-14 on Saturday in the home debut of Deion Sanders at sold-out Folsom Field.

After Coach Prime's team was the story of Week 1 with an upset of TCU, the Buffs showed it was no fluke.

Shedeur Sanders threw for 393 yards and two scores, while running for another touchdown. He capped his 6-yard romp with the dance steps his dad made famous during his playing days.

The Buffaloes (2-0) needed a moment to wake up given the early kickoff. But once they did, they were unstoppable. After punting on their first four drives, Sanders and the offense scored on seven of eight possessions to turn the game into a rout. The Buffaloes outgained the Huskers (0-2) by a 454-341 margin.

The fans ran onto the field to celebrate with a second remaining. After a momentary delay, the official announced it was over and more rushed out.

The contest featured two coaches trying to turn around programs that have fallen on lean times. Deion Sanders has elevated Colorado to the point where the Buffaloes had 53,241 fans in attendance — their largest crowd in 15 years — and tickets going for roughly $400. His counterpart, Matt Rhule, is still looking for his first win at Nebraska.

Xavier Weaver hauled in 10 passes for 170 yards and a score, while Jace Feely connected on three field goals.

Shedeur Sanders stayed cool despite being under constant pressure and sacked seven times. He distributed the production, just like he did in a 45-42 win at TCU last weekend.

Tar’Varish Dawson had a big afternoon, with a 30-yard touchdown catch and an 8-yard score on a reverse.

The defense held the Cornhuskers in check until Colorado's offense got revved up.

Nebraska quarterback Jeff Sims fumbled two snaps, lost another on a botched handoff and had a pass picked off. He was knocked out of the game in the fourth quarter when he appeared to have his left leg rolled on as he scrambled to make a throw.

Travis Hunter, the versatile cornerback and receiver, rarely left the field. He finished with three catches for 73 yards, while also making four tackles. Hunter played 129 snaps at TCU.

The fans showed up early to get good seats as Folsom Field kicked off its 100th season in electric fashion. The crew for Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff” was on hand, too, and welcomed Colorado royalty Kordell Stewart and Michael Westbrook to the set. Hall of Fame receivers Michael Irvin and Terrell Owens also were at the game.

BEST SEAT

The seat everyone wanted on the Colorado sideline? The newly unveiled “turnover throne,” of course. Jordan Domineck, Arden Walker and Bishop Thomas recovered fumbles, while Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig had an interception.

THE TAKEAWAY

Nebraska: Nebraska has dropped its last five nonconference road games.

Colorado: The Buffaloes have their first three-game winning streak over the Huskers since the 1950s.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Colorado should be on the rise once again.

UP NEXT

Nebraska: Host Northern Illinois on Saturday.

Colorado: Host another rival, Colorado State, on Saturday night.

HUSKERS FALTER AT NO. 22 COLORADO

Nebraska got a third-quarter touchdown by Jeff Sims to pull within 13-7, but the Huskers were unable to get any closer as No. 22 Colorado cruised to a 36-14 victory over the Huskers at Folsom Field in Boulder, Colo., on Saturday afternoon. 

Nebraska forced a turnover on downs to open the second half, before racing 66 yards in just four plays capped by Sims’ 57-yard touchdown run to bring the Big Red within six with 9:50 remaining in the third quarter.

The rest of the second half between the historic rivals belonged to Colorado.

The Huskers managed 341 total yards, including 119 passing and 222 rushing, while the Buffaloes had 468 total yards, including 396 through the air and 72 on the ground.

Sims completed 9-of-15 passes for 106 yards and an interception, while Heinrich Haarberg completed 2-of-6 attempts for 13 yards and a score for Nebraska. Billy Kemp IV was Nebraska’s top target, hauling in five catches for 57 yards. 

Gabe Ervin Jr. led the NU ground game with a career-high 74 yards on 17 carries. Sims added 67 yards on 10 attempts with a score, while Rahmir Johnson contributed 66 yards on 11 totes.

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders connected on 31-of-42 passes for 393 yards and two touchdowns, while Xavier Weaver led the CU receiving corps with 10 grabs for 170 yards and a score.

The Nebraska defense compiled eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss on Saturday afternoon, which are the most tackles for loss for the Huskers since recording 12 against Colorado before 2018. Before Saturday, the last time the NU defense had at least seven sacks in a game was that same contest against the Buffaloes in 2018, when the Huskers recorded seven sacks. 

The Huskers and Buffaloes played to a scoreless first quarter after Nebraska’s opening possession was halted with a fumbled snap on the 31-yard line in Colorado territory. The opening drive saw the NU offense reel off a pair of big plays with a 21-yard pass to Kemp IV and a 17-yard reception by Nate Boerkircher.

The Blackshirts stifled the CU offense early with three sacks on Colorado’s first possession in the second quarter, including a pair from Cameron Lenhardt and another by Nick Henrich. With two sacks, Lenhardt became the first true freshman to record two sacks in a game since defensive end Barry Turner had two sacks at Baylor in 2005. 

Starting on its own nine-yard line with 12:06 remaining in the first half, the Huskers drove into CU territory with 64 yards on nine plays, including runs of 26 and 13 yards by Ervin Jr. Kemp IV pulled in a leaping 18-yard grab along the NU sideline to keep the momentum for the Big Red, before the drive ended with a missed 45-yard field goal attempt by Tristan Alvano.

Colorado capitalized on back-to-back turnovers from the NU offense to jump ahead 10-0 in under two minutes. The Buffaloes opened the scoring with a 31-yard field goal by Jace Feely with 4:20 remaining after a fumbled snap by Sims on Nebraska’s own 25-yard line.

The Buffaloes needed just one play following an NU interception to grab a 10-point lead with a 30-yard pass to Tar’Varish Dawson by Sanders with 2:43 left.

Feely’s field goal from 32 yards out as time expired gave Colorado a 13-point advantage at the half.

Following a turnover on downs by the Buffaloes to begin the second half, Sims broke free for a 57-yard scamper down the right sideline to bring the Big Red within six with 9:50 remaining in the third quarter. 

Colorado responded immediately with a 12-yard scoring reception by Weaver on a drive extended six plays earlier with a 41-yard pass to Weaver on third down from its own 37-yard line. 

The Buffaloes tacked on a field goal and a pair of touchdowns to grow the lead to 29, before Thomas Fidone snagged a four-yard touchdown reception on the game’s final play to make it 36-14.

Isaac Gifford led the Husker defense with a team-high eight tackles. Luke Reimer totaled five tackles and 1.5 sacks, while Lenhardt and Henrich chipped in three tackles and a pair of sacks each.

Mikai Gbayor and Malcom Hartzog recorded six tackles each, while Riley Van Poppel, Jimari Butler and Tamon Lynum picked up their first career sacks on Saturday.

Shedeur Sanders sticks up for his dad before kickoff, stands behind defense after beating Nebraska

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Deion Sanders pledged to fix the one blemish of the Colorado Buffaloes' dazzling debut last week at TCU, where they yielded 541 yards and gave up a half dozen touchdowns.

“Defensively, it looks like we played like garbage because we surrendered so many yards and points,” Sanders said during the week. “And we're gonna fix that.”

It didn't take Coach Prime or the No. 22 Buffs long to deliver on that promise.

The Buffaloes throttled the Nebraska Cornhuskers 36-14 in their home opener Saturday when they amassed four takeaways and two fourth-down stops, allowing just one score on a dozen drives before the backups gave up a meaningless last-second touchdown.

“Hats off to the defense,” said Coach Prime, who credited the unit with keeping the Buffs grounded until the offense finally got going — they scored seven times in eight possessions after starting the game with four punts.

“I truly appreciate going through this game with my team so we know how to respond when adversity hits,” Buffs quarterback Shedeur Sanders said. “Because last week, it was back and forth, back and forth” in their 45-42 win over the Horned Frogs that sent shockwaves through college football. "But this week, OK, the defense stepped up. Offense was really slacking."

Maybe it was the 10 o'clock kickoff, but the snoozing Buffs finally woke up with two field goals and a 30-yard touchdown catch by Tar'Varish Dawson over the final 4:20 of the second quarter to give the Buffaloes a 13-0 halftime lead.

Maybe it was another fiery halftime speech, but the Buffs poured it on after turning the ball over on downs on the opening drive of the second half.

Shedeur Sanders capped the 23-0 outburst with a 6-yard touchdown run, then broke into an imitation of his father's famous “ Deion Shuffle," back when his dad was known as “Neon Deion” during his Hall of Fame playing career.

“The dance, it's in my blood,” Shedeur Sanders explained. “So, I give it 10 out of 10. I think I did it better than him, honestly.”

Baloney, retorted his dad.

“It was horrible," argued Deion. "Shedeur's not a dancer. I can't dance, either. The only dancer in our family is Bossy, my daughter. She's the only one that really has rhythm. The rest of us didn't get that. The Lord passed us when it came to dancing.”

One thing Shedeur Sanders did inherit was his father's famous bravado.

The quarterback took offense when Nebraska coach Matt Rhule gathered his players during pregame warmups on the CU Buffalos black-and-gold midfield logo. Sanders hustled over to break up the huddle and move the Huskers along.

“If a couple of players do it, that's fine, just enjoy the scenery,” Shedeur Sanders said. “But when you got the whole team trying to disrespect it, I'm not going for that at all. So, I went over there and disrupted it.”

After all, “This is personal,” was Coach Prime's theme for the week. Not only was that a nod to the storied nature of the old rivalry, but the Buffaloes took note of some critical comments out of Lincoln in the spring.

Notably, Rhule spoke about being excited to coach the players he inherited when he took over the program while others were more excited about players coming over via the transfer portal.

The Buffs viewed that as yet another shot at Coach Prime, who made no secret about using a ton of transfers to transform a moribund program that went 1-11 last year and has been in a death spiral for more than a decade.

“The coach said a lot of things about my pops, about the program,” recounted Shedeur Sanders. “And now that he wants to act nice, I don't respect that because you hated on another man. You shouldn't do that."

The coach appreciated his son having his back.

“To take the onus on himself when someone talks about me, that's how he grew up,” explained the elder Sanders. “If someone talked about my kids, I handled it. That's the expectation of a father — not a baby daddy, but the father — I'm a real father, and I take pride in that. And I try to teach my sons the same.”

While Shedeur Sanders piled up nearly 400 yards through the air, older brother Shilo Sanders, a defensive back, helped the Buffaloes dominate on defense, eventually knocking quarterback Jeff Sims (left ankle) from the game.

“Overall they played really well and we're proud of them,” Coach Prime said of his defenders. “But we still have to fix some things if we want to be who we want to be.”