Oh, Nebraska. After enduring the pain of a last-second defeat to Minnesota in Week 1, the Huskers did not fare any better on the road against Colorado.

Fortunately, fans did not have to wait for any last-second kicks to learn Nebraska’s fate in Boulder. After a punt-heavy first half, the Buffaloes headed to the break with a 13-0 lead, thanks in large part to Nebraska turnovers.

In the second half, Colorado was able to wear down the Husker defense, though the 36-14 final score is still a bit misleading to Nebraska’s overall defensive effort. Moving forward, there are still some positives for the Huskers, but the current warts outweigh anything of substance through two weeks.

Player of the Week: Gabe Ervin Jr.

Through two games, Ervin has already set a new career-high for rushing yards, and his effectiveness is at an all-time high. During the loss to Colorado, Ervin rushed for 74 yards on 17 carries at 4.4 yards per carry.

Rahmir Johnson also rushed for 66 yards on 11 carries, but the majority of that production came on a 44-yard run. Ervin was dubbed the team’s No. 1 RB in fall camp and has looked like the true lead RB early on.

Newcomer of the Week: Billy Kemp IV

Nebraska’s passing attack has left a lot to be desired early on. That is mostly a product of injuries to the wide receiver room and Jeff Sims’ turnover issues. However, the Huskers made an effort to get the ball to Kemp in Week 2 and it paid off.

Kemp led the Huskers with 5 catches for 57 yards. Those numbers are the most for a Nebraska player in the first two games of the season, and Kemp will need to continue leading the WR production moving forward.

Biggest surprise: Dominant defensive front shines

Colorado finished with 36 points as Shedeur Sanders threw for 393 yards, but that’s not the full tale of the tape. The Husker defense started on fire and got home to the QB time and time again. When it was all said and done, Nebraska finished with 8 sacks and 11 TFLs.

Nick Henrich and Cameron Lenhardt tied for the team lead with 2 sacks apiece and Luke Reimer also added 1.5 sacks. The Huskers have some major issues on offense to fix, but the defense provides a glimmer of hope to begin the season.

Biggest concern: Turnovers

There is really no surprise here. After 4 turnovers in the season opener against Minnesota, the Huskers turned it over 4 additional times in the loss to Colorado. 3 of those are credited to Jeff Sims with a pair of fumbled first-half snaps and a terrible interception deep in Nebraska’s own territory.

Teams will always be up against a wall when losing the turnover battle, but a number of Saturday’s turnovers directly led to points for the Buffs. Another even wiped away a potential field goal try for Nebraska.

As for the QB position, Matt Rhule said he wanted to look at the tape before having any conversation about a potential change, but Sims has been disastrous to start the year. He’s produced 6 turnovers through 2 games, a number that must change.

Developing trend: Typical Year 1 for Matt Rhule

In this era of transfer portal turnarounds, there was some hope new faces could help Rhule jumpstart Nebraska’s rebuild. There is still time for that to happen, but the opposite looks more and more likely.

Fans will undoubtedly question the decision to bring in Sims at QB, but the overall makeup of Rhule’s Year 1 is starting to look eerily similar to his debuts at Temple and Baylor. So far, Rhule is now 3-23 in first-year games at his 3 college head coaching stops.

Key stat: 222 rushing yards

Sure, turnovers are the true key stat for the program, but let’s focus on something positive to wrap things up. The ground game numbers were undoubtedly boosted by Jeff Sims’ 57-yard touchdown run, but that alone does not take away from the progress of the ground game.

The duo of Gabe Ervin Jr. and Rahmir Johnson combined for 28 carries and 140 yards, averaging 5 yards per carry against the Buffs. If the offense can cut down on turnovers — and get more production out of the QB — the ground game has some reason for optimism.

First impression about Week 3

Nebrask returns to Memorial Stadium for the home opener against Northern Illinois. While that matchup has lost some luster due to the 0-2 start, it will still be the first time for Husker fans to see Rhule lead the program onto the field in Lincoln.

That game is also set for primetime with a 7 pm ET kick on FS1. Nebraska enters that matchup as a big favorite to secure the first win of the Rhule era.