Matt Rhule said there was no disrespect meant by a pregame meeting he held with the Nebraska football team at midfield ahead of last Saturday’s matchup with Colorado.
Buffaloes quarterback Shedeur Sanders did not take too kindly to the fact that Nebraska stood on Colorado’s logo before the game started.
The 21-year-old even told reporters after Colorado defeated Nebraska 36-14 that he “went in there and disrupted it.”
“We do it at every stadium,” Rhule told reporters on Monday. “I asked Shedeur if he wanted to pray with us. We just take a moment as a team.
“I want that field to be safe for everybody.”
However, that wasn’t how Sanders viewed it after the game and made his feelings known about Rhule.
The Colorado QB, and son of head coach Deion Sanders, called it “personal.”
“It was extremely personal,” he said. “We go out there to warm up, you got the head coach from the other team trying to stand in the middle of the Buff. It’s OK if a couple players do it, but when you got the whole team trying to disrespect it, then I’m not going for that at all. I went in there and disrupted it. The Buffaloes mean a lot to me. That’s when I knew it was extreme disrespect.”
The other issue the younger Sanders had was the way he perceived Rhule had talked about his father ahead of the game.
That is what caused the quarterback to lose all respect for Nebraska’s program.
“The coach said a lot of things about my pops, about the program. But now he wants to act nice,” Sanders said. “I don’t respect that because you’re hating on another man. You shouldn’t do that. So all respect was gone for them and their program.”
Rhule denied disrespecting Deion Sanders.
“I’m coaching this team with class, and I’m not changing. And I went over there and shook that man’s hand. I’ve never disrespected an opponent a day in my life and never will,” he said.
Nebraska is 0-2 as Rhule looks for his first win with the program on Saturday when the Cornhuskers take on Northern Illinois.
Colorado, which started the season unranked but is now No.18 in the country, has a matchup with Colorado State this weekend.