Nothing frustrates a Colorado Buffaloes fan more than the color red. As their bitter rivalry against the Nebraska Cornhuskers takes shape on Saturday, Buffs’ Warren Sapp had a few choice words to help defend his team’s honor at Folsom Field.

With three straight wins since 2018—their most consecutive victories since 1956, 1957, 1958—toppling Huskers’ will the only adjective. However, that’s easier said than done, as Nebraska has notoriously usurped their neighboring state with a 49-21-2 record since 1898. But it wasn’t before 1986 that the animosity boiled over, thanks to former Buffs’ coach, Bill McCartney. Did you know, the coach even banned Nebraska’s primary color inside Folsom Field? But we’ll get to that later.

For now, the Colorado Buffaloes team is very cautious, which was evident as Sapp got into a conversation with Uncle Neely, an avid Buffaloes fan, on Thee Pregame Show Network podcast. While their heroic win against the North Dakota State (31-26) is still fresh, Sapp isn’t taking things lightly. Throwing a verbal ‘proceed with caution’ sign, the coaching staff member admitted, “We’ll be in a hostile environment with everything going against us. We must start fast and play fundamentally sound football from four quarters to win this game.” 

Last year, Sheduer Sanders took a 36-14 win in a sold-our home debut. To replicate the same this year, Sapp’s three-point formula might work!

Coming up with a ‘Rhule-proof’ battle plan, the grad assistant said, “Winning, dominating and consistency are your fundamentals.”

Talking about fundamentals, the Buffs didn’t have much of that left during the 1980s. On the verge of a financial crunch with lagging ticket sales and a $1 million debt, Bill McCartney realized how the lack of a true rival was hurting their image and driving off loyalists—especially, given the Colorado Buffs’ slump at the time (7-26 in three seasons). But would Nebraska, a two-time national champion who dominated the Big Eight from 1963-84, even consider the team their opponent? The simple answer—no.

Nebraska beat Colorado 40-14 in McCartney’s first season in 1982 before winning 69-19 in 1983 on its way to an undefeated regular season. The next year, though, McCartney was able to change things around, finishing 6-1 in the Big Eight, putting it ahead of Nebraska in the league standings that season. As expected, the Nebraskans took notice. And smack-dab in the middle of those battles has been Folsom Field.

In a hilarious anecdote, in 1982, McCartney didn’t take it too lightly when he noticed Nebraska fans overpowering stands with red attire during their team’s match against the Buffs. It led to a ban of the color inside the facility. Though it’s since been lifted, red is still a pain point among Buffs fans with many buying bulk tickets just so Huskers fans don’t show up.

But behind the electrifying enmity is a smart business decision: Last year’s Buffs-Huskers match saw a sold-out Folsom field with nine million television viewers. It’s also left team coaches Deion Sanders and Matt Rhule left with a common goal and a back-and-forth fans thoroughly enjoy.

Though, recently and surprisingly, Sanders was seen walking a different path and actually showering praise on Rhule!

Deion Sanders lands an unexpected praise for the rival HC

Sapp somehow is having nightmares of Rhule’s squad painting the town red. But for Deion, 2023’s 36-14 record is enough to provide him with a continuous flow of good juju. While the CFB fans lived by the hope to witness something “personal” at the Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, here Coach Prime took an entry and threw cold water on their lofty hopes. Instead of stripping off Rhule and Co., the Buffs HC, kept his zen levels at maximum.

To everyone’s surprise, Deion dropped a big praise for the Nebraska HC, “I have a ton of respect for Matt Rhule.” But what makes him bond with the rival coach? Coach Prime confessed, “He’s in — I call it our class of coaches. We all took on a tremendous test last 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.”

Deion Sanders might be unbothered by the big face-off, but surprisingly his staffers aren’t. And guess what? Warren Sapp is just one example. Even the CU Governor, Camden Dempsey has already launched a “NO RED WEEK” notice ordering Deion’s tribe to boycott anything in red color and only hail those in the Black and Gold theme.