Colandrea and the Cornhuskers Breeze Past Non-Conference Opposition in Opening Three
By Peter Mann
“Nebraska’s greatest asset is its people. It’s been an honour serving them,” the words of Nebraska Cornhuskers legend, Tom Osborne as he became the first living member of Nebraska’s Hall of Fame.
A unanimous decision was made to induct Osborne, the 89-year-old Nebraskan, as the greatest coach in Big Red history following what was, overall, nearly six decades with the program in varying guises.
Following a brief sojourn in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins, Osborne returned to Nebraska in 1964 as an assistant coach, taking on the position of offensive coordinator in 1969, then in 1973 as head coach.
Over the next twenty-four years, Osborne built up the Cornhuskers program to be three-time national champions, twelve-time Big Eight champions, a Big 12 champion, and winner of two Big 12 North titles; the 1990s being a great time to be a Nebraskan.
Fast-forward to the modern-day Cornhuskers, and Matt Rhule’s charges and Big Red have started a third successive season with a 3-0 record, and in doing so stretched their winning streak against non-conference opponents to ten home games.
Colandrea Leads an Impressive Opening Trio of Victories
After former quarterback Dylan Raiola ‘jumped ship’ and headed to the Oregon Ducks, the Cornhuskers saw Anthony Colandrea commit to the program following two seasons with the Virginia Cavaliers and one with the UNLV Rebels.
Prior to donning the threads of Nebraska, Colandrea had already notched up an impressive 61 TDs (49 passing, 12 rushing), doing so in 33 games; Colandrea’s collegiate debut, a 49-21 success over the Ohio Bobcats, saw him post an equally impressive opening of 275 yds, 3 TDs (pass), 23 yds, 1 TD (rush) as he and running backs Jamal Rule and Mekhi Nelson ran amok.
Week two saw him continue that opening form with a blistering four passing touchdowns in the 56-7 massacre of the Bowling Green Falcons, taking his personal tally to eight, registering stats of 222 yds, 4 TDs (pass) in a sixty-three-point game.
As the old saying goes, you can only beat what’s put in front of you, and Colandrea was again at the forefront as Rhule’s Cornhuskers added another thirty-plus points when seeing off visitors, the North Dakota Fighting Hawks, 34-7, at Memorial Stadium.
Colandrea’s 195 yds, 1 TD (pass), 19 yds, 1 TD (rush) saw his own personal tally for the season move up to ten scores (eight passing, two rushing), and the Cornhuskers’ points tally move onto 139-35 (for-against); Big Red making it ten straight home non-conference victories.
Speaking after the victory over Bowling Green, Cornhuskers wide receiver Jacory Barney Jr. said of his quarterback:
“He’s an elite quarterback.
His past shows that, and what he did in the past, and what he continues to do here.
How he works, the enthusiasm he plays with. The confidence he has.
When you expect a ball to be out there, it’s going to be out there. You saw that today.
When you go deep for a route and you expect the ball, it’s there.
It’s on the money, so all you’ve got to do is catch the ball.”
The test, though, will come when they travel to Michigan to face the Spartans in their next outing, whilst backup quarterback TJ Lateef was afforded a brief outing against Bowling Green and posted 60 yds, 1 TD (pass) of his own.
Colandrea Spreads the Wealth as Backs and Wideouts Feast
It’ll be just a matter of time before the wide receivers take centre stage in the ‘Anthony Colandrea Show,’ but for now, the Cornhuskers’ running backs are the main beneficiaries of their new gunslinger.
Freshman Jamal Rule has been at the forefront of what Colandrea has brought to the table, adding six scores of his own in the opening three games of the season; having been educated at North Carolina High, Rule committed to Nebraska late last year, rejecting the overtures of Michigan State, Syracuse, and Virginia Tech to take the starting role at Memorial Stadium.
Rule’s start to the season included an impressive collegiate debut against Ohio, totalling 169 yds, 3 TDs in a masterclass showing, including 122 yds, 2 TDs rushing; another rushing score was added in the week two success over Bowling Green, before taking his early season tally to six himself with 119 yds, 2 TDs (rush) in the victory over North Dakota.
Speaking after the victory over Ohio, Rule said in his post-game that:
“I always keep saying this, it was a longtime dream come true.
It was even better than I was expecting.
Just walking out onto the field and seeing all of the fans, I teared up a little bit because I was like, wow, it’s just great to be here.
Ohio is a great football team, but our offensive coordinator, Coach Dana (Holgorsen), puts us in a great position to score every time we step on the field.
Obviously, the first couple of drives went like that, but then we started getting out of our own way, like Coach (Matt) Rhule said.
Just getting out of our own way allowed our offense to take another step in the second half.
Meanwhile, in notching his first touchdown in Nebraska red and white, he added:
“It was great, unreal.
It was good to see all the fans, you know, just happy for me, seeing my brothers on the sideline happy for me.
You know, it was great, it was crazy.”
Mekhi Nelson and Isiah Mozee have also been recipients of Colandrea’s perfect arm thus far in the Cornhuskers’ running backs room, the pair having added another three scores themselves.
Pennsylvania native Nelson, in his junior year with Nebraska, has already equalled last season’s tally of two touchdowns, doing so in the season opener with Ohio.
In 2025, Nelson registered two rushing touchdowns in a dozen games; he took two in the opener when posting 64 yds, 1 TD (rush), 65 yds, 1 TD (pass) – he could easily add more over the coming weeks and months.
As for Missouri’s Mozee, the sophomore star has already bagged his first score of 2026, one more than he did in thirteen outings last season, putting up 55 yds, 1 TD (rush) in the victory over Bowling Green.
Another running back, New Jersey’s Kwinten Ives, has also been the recipient of Colandrea’s marksmanship, taking a score for himself in the Bowling Green massacre.
In addition to the running backs, the Cornhuskers’ offense has seen its wide receivers in receipt of seven touchdown scores, with Kwazi Gilmer claiming three and Jacory Barney Jr. two; Californian Gilmer claimed one against Ohio and two against Bowling Green, and Florida’s Barney notched up 115 yds, 2 TDs (rec) in the latter of those opening games.
On registering his first score of the season, Barney Jr. said postgame that:
“We just put it in the past and attacked the next drive.
The next drive that came up, I knew that we’d go back to it.
The coaches still believe in me after that. We’d execute on the next play.
That’s the mindset we had, and I apologized for that. We did what we did the next drive.”
The other recipient of Colandrea’s arm was Quinn Clark, against North Dakota; kicker Kyle Cunanan continues to lace the boots and has already leathered up 19 XPs, and, in the victory over North Dakota, 2/3 FGs (long 40 yds).
Cornhuskers and Fighting Irish Announce Home-and-Home in 2032/2033
The Nebraska Cornhuskers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish have recently announced that they will face each other during the 2032 (Nebraska) and 2033 (Notre Dame) regular seasons.
When the two programs do finally meet, it will be the first time in over three decades—the last being 2000-2001.
Between them, they’ve notched up an impressive thirteen national championships (Fighting Irish eight, Cornhuskers five), with the Huskers’ Athletic Director, Troy Dannen, saying of the announcement:
“The series with Notre Dame is the type of matchup that college football fans circle on their calendars years in advance.
Our fans have a tremendous appreciation for the history of college football and iconic venues.
We are excited to welcome Notre Dame and their fans to Lincoln in 2032, and I know our fans will travel to South Bend in full force in 2033.”
The 2000 Cornhuskers finished 10-2, winning the Big 12 North (co-champion) and Alamo Bowl (66-17 vs Northwestern Wildcats), having defeated Notre Dame 27-24 in overtime in Week 2; whilst the 2001 program, again Big 12 North co-champions (lost Rose Bowl 14-37 to Miami Hurricanes), posted an 11-2 season which saw a home 27-10 victory against Notre Dame in Week 3.
At the time of the last meeting between the two programs, the Cornhuskers were led by Frank Solich, who went on to have a relatively successful sixteen seasons with the Ohio Bobcats; meanwhile, the Fighting Irish were led by Bob Davie, who went on to have eight seasons with the New Mexico Lobos after his run at Notre Dame.
Cornhuskers' Next Three: Could They Define the Season?
Matt Rhule’s 3-0 Cornhuskers go into their next three matchups against Big Ten Conference rivals knowing that a strong showing could bode rather well for the rest of the season.
A trip to Spartan Stadium to face the 2-1 Michigan State Spartans is up next (26 September), followed by early October matchups with the 2-1 Maryland Terrapins (3rd) and presently undefeated 3-0 Indiana Hoosiers (10th), both at Memorial Stadium.
If Colandrea and company come through those matchups relatively unscathed, the second half of the 2026 season could become an interesting one indeed – one lives in hope anyway…
Peter Mann
COLLEGE FOOTBALL ANALYST
PETER IS A LIFELONG SPORTS FAN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR BASED IN COUNTY DURHAM. HE HAS FOLLOWED THE NFL AND THE RAIDERS SINCE THE 1980s, AND LOVES BOTH SPORTS AND FAMILY HISTORY. PETER HAS A DEGREE IN SPORT & EXERCISE PSYCHOLOGY, AND CAN BE FOUND ON TWITTER @petermannwriter.
