FACTS & STATS: Site: Folsom Stadium (51,748) -- Boulder, Colorado. Television:ABC. Home Record: Nebraska 4-3, Colorado 2-3. Away Record: Nebraska 1-3, Colorado 2-3. Neutral Record: Nebraska 0-0, Colorado 1-0. Conference Record: Nebraska 2-5, Colorado 3-4. Series Record: Nebraska leads, 46-17-2.

GAME NOTES: A couple of rivals trying to reach bowl eligibility meet at Folsom Stadium this Friday, as the Nebraska Cornhuskers take on the Colorado Buffaloes in Big 12 play. The Huskers are coming off their most impressive win of the season, as they trounced Kansas State, 73-31, on November 10th. The 73 points were the most scored by Nebraska since it poured on 77 against Iowa State in 1997. The win also snapped a season-high five-game slide and improved the team to 5-6 overall and 2-5 in conference play. This game is the regular season finale for Nebraska as well as Colorado, with the winner earning bowl eligibility. Speaking of the Buffaloes, they had a great chance to notch their all important sixth win of the season in their last game, but they were unable to get past Iowa State, 31-28, on November 10th. It was the second straight loss and the fourth in the last five games by the Buffaloes, who dipped to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in league play. As far as the all-time series goes, Nebraska owns a 46-17-2 advantage over Colorado and it has won the last two meetings.

Making just his second career start, Joe Ganz rewrote the Nebraska record book, setting new single-game school records for total offense (528), passing yards (510) and touchdown passes (seven) in a lopsided win over Kansas State. Ganz, who is filling in for injured starter Sam Keller (out for season, shoulder), completed 30-of-40 pass attempts in the win. In his first start the previous week, Ganz threw for 405 yards and four scores against Kansas, but he was also picked off four times in that game. Ganz helped the Huskers roll up 702 total yards in the win against Kansas State, marking their most yards in single game since 1995. Marlon Lucky also had a big game, as he rushed for 103 yards and two scores, in addition to catching six passes for 78 yards and another touchdown. One of the most versatile backs in the Big 12, Lucky has now rushed for 950 yards and eight scores on the season. He also leads the team in catches (67) to go along with 590 receiving yards and three more touchdowns. As a team, Nebraska is producing 146.1 ypg on the ground, which is good, but not nearly as impressive as the 309.3 ypg it is throwing for.

On the defensive side of the ball is where the Huskers have had their troubles this season, allowing 35.3 ppg and 473.1 total ypg. The unit has bee simply dreadful against the run, surrendering 228.1 ypg and 32 touchdowns on the ground. Generating turnovers has also been an issue for this defense, which is forcing a mere one turnover per game. In the squad's last game, Nebraska gave up 428 total yards to Kansas State, although that number is a bit deceiving considering the game was out of reach early on. The defense though, did do a good job against the run, giving up only 108 yards on the ground. Steve Octavien led the charge with nine tackles, three TFLs and 1.5 sacks. On the season, Octavien leads the Huskers in tackles (80) as well as TFls (13).

The Buffaloes have had some problems putting points on the board this season, as they rank near the bottom of the Big 12 in scoring an average of just 24.2 ppg. The team is running the ball for 138.5 ypg and passing it for 225.7 ypg, and those numbers aren't great, but they are worse when considering Colorado has turned the ball over 25 times. In the squad's last outing, the Buffaloes committed just one turnover and racked up 419 total yards, but they were not able to hang on to a 21-0 lead in an eventual 31-28 loss to Iowa State. Hugh Charles had a decent game in the loss, as he ran for 83 yards and a score, while also catching two passes for 40 yards. In 10 games this season, Charles has run for 820 yards and five touchdowns to lead the team. Quarterback Cody Hawkins completed 23-of-40 pass attempts for 262 yards and two scores last game, and he also ran for a touchdown. The redshirt freshman and son of head coach Dan Hawkins, has struggled with some consistency, as expected, but he has still done a decent job in throwing for 2,452 yards with 17 touchdowns against 15 interceptions.

Defensively, the Buffaloes haven't been all the great, but they haven't been all that bad either. The unit is giving up 27.5 ppg, while limiting its foes to 127.8 ypg on the ground and 241.5 ypg through the unit. Last game, Colorado did a solid job in holding Iowa State to 351 total yards, although it did give up 31 points in the loss. The defense wasn't able to make many big plays in that game either, finishing with just two sacks and one forced turnover. Jordon Dizon though, continued to shine, as he notched a team-best 10 tackles in the setback. Dizon has been a tackling machine this season and he not only leads the Buffaloes, but the entire Big 12 with his 144 stops.

This is a huge game for both programs, as the loser's season will definitely come to an end. The Huskers are coming off a big time win and they should be able to put up enough points on the board to outlast a Colorado team that has struggled down the stretch.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Nebraska 35, Colorado 31

Friday, November 23rd, 12:00 p.m. (et)