Broncos running back Correll Buckhalter is going to have to find a new smack-talking partner to replace teammate Daniel Graham.
Their alma maters meet today when Colorado visits Nebraska in the final Big 12 game for both schools, and they’re not scheduled to meet again anytime soon.
Graham’s Buffaloes are bolting to the Pac-12, and Buckhalter’s Cornhuskers are heading to the Big Ten next season, ending the rivalry after 69 games — unless or until they play each other down the road in a nonconference game. The schools played six games early last century before beginning their run of annual meetings in 1948.
So Graham will have to turn his trash talk on teammates who went to maybe USC or UCLA, and Buckhalter will have to find somebody from Michigan State or Minnesota to razz.
“Well, I can smack talk against them, I guess, but it’s not the same doing it with guys that I played against,” Buckhalter said with a laugh. “It’s a little different.”
While the series has been close lately with Colorado winning four times in the last nine years, it was lopsided during Tom Osborne’s tenure. He lost to the Buffs just three times in 23 years.
Overall, the Huskers lead the series 48-18-2.
“I don’t want to get into a war of words with Graham,” said Broncos offensive lineman and Nebraska alum Russ Hochstein. “I’m excited, and I hope they win.”
Buckhalter and Graham said they were both sorry to see their schools leave the Big 12 and for the annual rivalry game played on the day after Thanksgiving to end.
“Every year, we always looked forward to that big game, the rival game, and hopefully we can end it off with a blast this Friday,” Graham said. “Nebraska was our rival game, and there’s still trash talking with me and Russ and Buck. We all remember those games. The years that I was there, it was always a close game.”
After today, all they’ll have are the memories.
