Colorado football head coach Deion Sanders spoke highly of his opposing coach this week. Following Colorado's 31-26 comeback victory over North Dakota State to start the 2024-25 season, the Buffaloes now take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Week 2 of the college football season. Ahead of the rivalry matchup, Sanders spoke to the media on the ‘great respect' that he has for his opposing HC Matt Rhule, per 104.3 The Fan host Mat Smith on Tuesday.

Sanders also mentioned “that from now on their press conference policy is changing to begin with questions from one of our wonderful female colleagues like @nikkiedwardsss, @Romi_Bean or @taylorjsadusky,” per Smith on X, formerly Twitter.

After banning a reporter for ‘attacking his faith', Sanders has apparently taken a more positive approach to addressing media members. Colorado has a much greater test in Week 2 of the college season. Nebraska's coming off a 40-7 win against UTEP, led by a quality debut from freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola. There is mutual respect between the two teams, and their coaches Sanders and Rhule.

“First of all, I have a ton of respect for Matt Rhule,” Sanders said. “He’s in – I call it our class of coaches. We all took on a tremendous test that year (2022) … So, I feel like we’re a fraternity. So, I root for that class of head coaches that came in that year…Pro. He’s a professional; did a phenomenal job (with the Carolina Panthers), maybe not the job that he aspired to do, but he has a ton of experience, and I love what he’s accomplished in his college coaching career.”

 

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The two teams met in September 2023, where Colorado upended Nebraska 36-14. Rhule and the Cornhuskers left Boulder with some hard feelings.

Matt Rhule's focus is on winning this season, rather than rivalry

Rhule and Co. were 0-1 heading into last year's road contest. Now, the tables have rotated a tad. The game will be played at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, NE, and this time, the Cornhuskers have a confidence-boosting win under their belt.

The rivalry continues to have fans on both sides excited, but considering the disappointing campaigns that the Buffaloes and Cornhuskers wound up having last season, it's probably best for both teams and coaches to keep their minds on football. Less on the off-field antics.

That said, it'll be interesting to see if the respect lasts for the entire week, or if that all changes when the teams take the field on Saturday.