CU At the Game - "T.I.P.S." for beating Nebraska

The Buffs enter the rivalry game against the Cornhuskers with the same season-saving risk as last year—ose and you’re done; win and you get a bowl bid.

Unlike last year, though, the 5-6 Buffs will not be playing at home. Also, instead of facing a 5-6 Nebraska squad in disarray, Colorado will be facing a Cornhusker team which has won four of its last five games, and has scored less than 28 points in only one Big 12 Conference game this season.

How can the offensively-challenged CU squad pull off the upset in Lincoln? I give you this week’s "T.I.P.S."

T - Talent

Well, it’s official. The Buffs are a triage unit of historic proportions. Heading into the Nebraska game, CU has lost 109 games due to injury or illness, with all but ten of those 109 games from players on the two-deep or regular contributors on special teams.

Associate Athletic Director Dave Plati, CU’s Sports Information Director for the past 25 years, reports that he has no record of the Buffs having so many key players lost to injury in one season.

For the Nebraska game? In addition to those who are out for the season, like Ryan Miller and Rodney Stewart, the Buffs are hurting in the defensive backfield. Senior safety Ryan Walters, who played only one series against Oklahoma State, remains in a protective boot, and is listed as questionable for Nebraska.

The Buffs’ other senior safety, D.J. Dykes, who missed all of the Oklahoma State game with an undisclosed illness, is also unlikely to play this Friday. This leaves the responsibility of containing the Nebraska passing game to red-shirt freshman Anthony Perkins and true freshman Patrick Mahnke, both of whom saw most of the action against the Cowboys on November 15th.

As to the offense Perkins and Mahnke will be trying to stop, there was a report this week that Nebraska starting quarterback Joe Ganz had injured his shoulder. Ganz had an MRI on Monday (November 17th), and sat out practices earlier this week.

According to Nebraska officials, Ganz suffered only a "minor shoulder injury", and will be ready to go against Colorado on the 28th. Whether Ganz will be able to go full speed, or if the Cornhuskers are just trying to redirect the media and the Buffs, we won’t know until kickoff.

If Ganz is a full go, he will lead a potent offense against Colorado. Ganz is 12th in the nation in total offense, putting up over 300 yards per game (Cody Hawkins, in contrast, is averaging just over 150 yards of total offense per game). The favorite receivers for Ganz are wideouts Nate Swift and Todd Peterson, who, like Ganz, are seniors.

The running game was supposed to be led by another senior, Marion Lucky, who was the leading returning rusher in the Big 12 this season. Lucky, however, has been supplanted by sophomore tailback Roy Helu, Jr., as the Cornhuskers’ feature back.

Fortunately for the Buffs, the Nebraska defense, statistically one of the worst in the nation in 2007, is only marginally better in 2008. The Nebraska pass defense is 90th in the nation, giving up 234 yards per game, while the Cornhuskers are ranked 91st

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