BOULDER, Colo. — University of Colorado head football coach Deion Sanders spoke to the media Tuesday ahead of the team's upcoming showdown against the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
The Colorado Buffaloes are coming off a 31-26 season-opening win over the North Dakota State Bison last Thursday.
The Buffs will travel to Lincoln on Saturday to play the Nebraska Cornhuskers on NBC for a Week 2 rivalry game. The game will kick off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday on 9NEWS and NBC affiliates across the country.
The game is a rematch between Sanders and Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule. The Buffs won last year's game against Nebraska 36-14 in Boulder. Saturday's game will be played at Lincoln's Memorial Stadium.
"I have a ton of respect for Matt Rhule," Sanders said Tuesday. "He’s in − I call it our class of coaches. We all took on a tremendous task that year along with (Arizona State) coach (Kenny) Dillingham and several others. So I feel like we’re a fraternity. So I root for that class of head coaches that came in that year."
Sanders said his players will not be wearing red, Nebraska's signature team color, this week.
"The team is calling upon all Buffs to unite in solidarity by banishing the color red from our wardrobes, homes, businesses and public spaces," said Colorado long snapper Camden Dempsey on X.
Last week's season opener vs. North Dakota State was ESPN's highest-rated college football opener in seven years, garnering an average of 4.8 million viewers.
"Whether you like it or not, you want to see it," Sanders said of his program.
Colorado has not played a game on NBC since the 1995 Fiesta Bowl.
Saturday's game will be the eighth in CU history on a national broadcast on NBC, with six of the other seven being bowl games, including the 1962, 1977, 1990 and 1991 Orange Bowls and the 1993 and 1995 Fiesta Bowls.
CU Buffs 2024 football schedule
- Thursday, Aug. 29, at 6:30 p.m. - CU defeats North Dakota State 31-26
- Saturday, Sept. 7, at 5:30 p.m. - at Nebraska - NBC
- Saturday, Sept. 14 - at Colorado State
- Saturday, Sept. 21 - vs. Baylor
- Saturday, Sept. 28 - at UCF
- Saturday, Oct. 12 - vs. Kansas State
- Saturday, Oct. 19 - at Arizona
- Saturday, Oct. 26 - vs. Cincinnati
- Saturday, Nov. 9 - at Texas Tech
- Saturday, Nov. 16 - vs. Utah
- Saturday, Nov. 23 - at Kansas
- Friday, Nov. 29 - vs. Oklahoma State
The 2024 football season is Colorado's second under head coach "Coach Prime" and the first in the program's return to the Big 12 Conference.
