Sports calendars getting crowded? It must be late October.

While football gets a weekend off before Washington comes to Lincoln on Halloween, plenty more is happening around Nebraska Athletics. The news this week? Well, let’s see…

Women’s basketball plays its only exhibition Friday night, wrestling is less than three weeks from its first dual, track and field now has an indoor schedule and softball, despite still being months away from first pitch, added another piece to its roster this week.

So, yes, we have plenty to get to. Let’s get to it.

1. Nebraska softball adds a catcher

Nebraska softball added an interesting piece Wednesday with the signing of Southeast Community College transfer Reyse Zobel. It’s important to note that Zobel will not be eligible to compete during the 2027 season because she is joining Nebraska as a mid-year transfer. That does not mean she will spend the spring sitting around.

Nebraska expects Zobel to catch bullpens and contribute throughout practices and warmups, giving the Huskers another catcher available for all of the work that happens outside the actual games. Then there is the longer-term upside.

Zobel started 27 games during her freshman season at Southeast Community College and hit .435 with nine doubles, eight home runs and 29 RBIs. She was named the Region 9 Catcher of the Year and earned All-Region honors.

She is also another in-state addition. Zobel is from Grand Island and played at Grand Island Northwest, where she helped win two state championships and earned first-team all-state recognition in 2023 and 2024. Zobel is expected to graduate in December with an associate degree in business and her real estate license.

While she can’t help Nebraska in the box score this spring, she can still be part of what the Huskers are building.

2. Nebraska football’s bye week came with a few honors

It may be a bye week for Nebraska football, but three Huskers picked up midseason recognition this week.

Center Justin Evans and linebacker Owen Chambliss were named to The Athletic’s Mid-Season All-America Team, while cornerback Andrew Marshall earned first-team midseason All-America honors from both On3 and Sports Illustrated.

Evans has been at the center—no pun intended—of an offense that has improved its rushing production despite replacing first-team All-American Emmett Johnson. Nebraska is averaging nearly 50 more rushing yards per game than it did a year ago and five yards per carry. The Huskers are also converting more than half of their third downs, good for second in the Big Ten.

Chambliss has been one of the constants on the other side of the ball. He leads Nebraska with 46 tackles and has 3.5 tackles for loss and an interception through six appearances. His 15 tackles at Oregon were a career high and the most by a Husker in a game since 2022.

Then there is Marshall, who has quietly made throwing his direction a pretty unattractive option. According to Pro Football Focus, he has allowed eight receptions on 27 targets through Nebraska’s first seven games.

The Blackshirts enter the Washington game ranked 11th nationally in total defense and 16th in scoring defense.

3. We have an indoor track and field schedule

If January feels far away, Nebraska track and field would disagree. The Huskers finalized the indoor portion of their 2026-27 schedule this week, with nine meets between the middle of January and the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.

Nebraska opens at home with the Graduate Classic on Jan. 15-16, followed by the Mark Colligan Memorial on Jan. 23. The first road trip comes the following weekend at Kansas State’s DeLoss Dodds Invitational.

The Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational returns Feb. 5-6, and the following weekend will be a busy one. Nebraska is scheduled to compete at both the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville and the Husky Classic in Seattle on Feb. 12-13.

The final home appearance comes Feb. 19 with the Nebraska Tune-Up before postseason competition begins.

The Big Ten Indoor Championships are Feb. 25-27 in Indianapolis, followed by the NCAA Indoor Championships March 12-13.

In total, Nebraska will host four indoor meets in Lincoln.

Subscribe now

4. Nebraska wrestling will get plenty of national TV time

Nebraska wrestling has five duals scheduled for Big Ten Network this season, including four conference matchups and one pretty significant nonconference finale.

The first BTN appearance comes Jan. 3 at Purdue. Nebraska will also be on the network at Ohio State on Jan. 31 and Iowa on Feb. 12.

At home, Minnesota visits Lincoln for a televised dual Feb. 6, while Arizona State comes to town Feb. 21 for the regular-season finale.

That Arizona State matchup is especially interesting as a national-TV finish to the dual schedule before Nebraska turns its attention toward postseason wrestling.

There will be plenty to watch before January, too.

Nebraska opens Nov. 8 at home against Wyoming on B1G+, travels to Oklahoma State five days later and heads to Philadelphia the following weekend for a dual against Penn and the Keystone Classic. The Huskers will also compete at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 4-5.

Home and Big Ten duals that are not selected for television will stream on B1G+, with additional TV dates still possible.

5. Basketball season is basically here

Nebraska women’s basketball gets its first public test Friday night with its only exhibition, a 6 p.m. matchup against Wayne State at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Then it’s full steam ahead into the new season.

The Huskers will officially open the season Monday, Nov. 2 against San Jose State at noon, with the game televised statewide by Nebraska Public Media and streamed on B1G+.

The early tip is connected to Nebraska’s annual Sizemore Sportsmanship Pep Rally, which begins at 9:30 a.m. and is expected to bring nearly 4,000 middle-grade students and adults to Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Amy Williams, Natalie Potts and Logan Nissley will represent women’s basketball during the pep rally, with Andi Jackson and Teraya Sigler from volleyball, Jacory Barney Jr. and Danny Kaelin from football, and Cade Moran and Axelina Johansson from track and field also scheduled to participate.

We also got one men’s basketball schedule update this week.

Nebraska’s Nov. 22 game against Butler in Chicago will tip at 11 a.m. CT at Credit Union 1 Arena. The matchup is part of the Bad Boy Mowers Series – Chicago and will air on FS1.

Matt Rhule spent part of his Monday considering the concept of truth. It’s a philosophical puzzle that’s hard to solve in a lifetime, much less in 25 minutes at a podium surrounded by reporters, but credit to Rhule for embracing the uncertainty.

“First of all, you can be really, really disappointed right now as a player, as a coach, as the head coach, as a fan,” Rhule said. “You can also be really, really encouraged and push forward.”

That is the reality of Nebraska football during its bye week. It’s true that the Huskers played well enough to win—yet didn’t, again—against two pretty good opponents. It’s also still true this is the best team Rhule has had in Lincoln by almost any objective measure.

This is why Oregon was a swing game. Not because of what it would prove about either team, but because of what a win or loss would do to the perception of Nebraska football knowing there was a week to follow when the Huskers couldn’t change that perception at all. Nebraska lost, which led to a soul-searching press conference from the head coach which put him in league with most who follow Husker football—searching.

That’s reality, too, but what’s next? Nebraska (5-2, 2-2) is very much alive in a wide-open Big Ten.1 It has five games left to prove things are different. Those games might also confirm things are the same, which is the dominant feeling at this intermission after two more close losses. As a sort of mid-term review, let’s look at what could lead NU down either path, towards change or the same.

Read more

Nebraska women’s basketball gets exactly one exhibition before the season begins, which makes Friday’s game against Wayne State an important one.

We already have a pretty good idea of what Nebraska can do offensively. Britt Prince is back after leading the Huskers in scoring and assists, Logan Nissley remains one of the best shooters on the roster and Amiah Hargrove took a significant step forward as a sophomore. Add Natalie Potts back into the mix — plus a group of newcomers — and there should be no shortage of players who can put the ball in the basket.

That wasn’t really the issue last season anyway. Nebraska averaged 75.4 points per game, shot 45.9% from the field and had multiple players capable of stretching a defense. What Amy Williams and her players talked about repeatedly at Big Ten Media Days a couple of weeks ago were the things that happened on the other end of the floor, on the glass and in the final few minutes of close games. Those are harder things to evaluate in an exhibition, especially against a Division II opponent, but they are also what should make Friday worth watching.

Read more

It’s not mental. It’s not physical. It’s not schedule or systemic. It’s not talent or the refs. Nebraska continues to lose every game of some importance in some of the most excruciating ways possible because it has a halftime problem.

That’s my theory, at least.

It was born during the third quarter of Nebraska’s 31-24 overtime l…

Read more

Nebraska spent last Saturday showing it could play with the defending national champion. That was encouraging but it was also not enough.

The Huskers led Indiana late, controlled large stretches of the game and gave themselves opportunities to finish it. Then the Hoosiers scored twice in the fourth quarter and left Lincol…

Read more

Would it be a Friday Five at this point if we didn’t briefly recap volleyball’s Thursday night performance? Probably not.

No. 1 Nebraska handled Northwestern in Evanston, 25-17, 25-14, 25-15, improving to 18-0 overall and 7-0 in Big Ten play. The Huskers hit .287, Bergen Reilly had 39 assists and Andi Jackson led the offense with 10 kills while adding six blocks.

Another Thursday and another sweep. Now, speaking of volleyball...

1. Nebraska took over the Big Ten awards too

It was all Huskers for the Big Ten after last week’s performances against Indiana and Wisconsin. Harper Murray was named Big Ten co-Player of the Week, Reilly earned Setter of the Week and Manaia Ogbechie was selected as Defensive Player of the Week.

Murray was especially impressive across the two sweeps, averaging 5.17 kills per set while hitting .429. Her biggest performance came against Wisconsin, when she finished with a season-high 20 kills on .471 hitting. That was also a career high for Murray in a three-set match.

Reilly directed an offense that hit .379 at Indiana and .396 against Wisconsin. Nebraska finished the week at .388 as a team, second-best nationally over that stretch, while Reilly averaged 12.33 assists per set.

Ogbechie, meanwhile, averaged 2.17 blocks per set and had seven against Wisconsin as Nebraska held the Badgers to .171 hitting.

It was Murray’s second career Big Ten Player of the Week honor. Reilly is now up to 15 career Setter of the Week awards, tied for fourth-most in conference history, while Ogbechie earned Defensive Player of the Week for the first time.

And for anyone who noticed Ogbechie was missing Thursday at Northwestern: she was out with the flu.

2. Nebraska women’s golf nearly chased down a tournament title

Nebraska women’s golf ended its fall schedule one stroke away from another trophy. The Huskers finished second at the 19-team Golf Iconic Classic in Las Cruces, New Mexico, shooting 12-under over three rounds. San Diego State won at 13-under.

Nebraska made a serious run at it Wednesday though. The Huskers entered the final round trailing the Aztecs by eight shots, then posted a 7-under 281 while San Diego State shot even par. They erased seven shots from the deficit, just not the eighth.

Ailis Tribolet finished second individually at 6-under, one shot behind San Diego State’s Kylie Warner.

Kaleigh Babineaux made one of the biggest moves of the entire tournament. Her final-round 65 was a career best and pushed her 32 spots up the leaderboard into fourth place at 3-under. She played the back nine in 31 and added an eagle on the par-5 12th.

Nebraska also had Jessica Jolly, Hannah Kono and Ammy Raemmuang finish inside the top 20.

As for the fall as a whole, Nebraska posted a 285.25 team stroke average across four tournaments, nearly seven shots better than the current school-record season average of 292.21. Babineaux, Kono and Tribolet all finished the fall with scoring averages under par.

The season pauses now until the CIEE Paradise Invitational in Boca Raton, Florida, scheduled for Feb. 1-3.

3. Archie Wilson made the most of a busy afternoon

Sophomore punter Archie Wilson was named one of the Ray Guy Award’s “Ray’s 8” for Week 6 after averaging 57.3 yards on his punts against Indiana last weekend. That was nearly a Nebraska record too. Dan Hadenfelt owns the single-game mark at 57.6 yards per punt, set against Colorado in 1999.

Wilson produced the two longest punts of his career against Indiana, first hitting a 60-yarder in the second quarter before launching a career-best 68-yarder in the fourth.

For the season, Wilson is averaging 44.6 yards across 17 punts, with seven landing inside the opponent’s 20. Nebraska ranks 20th nationally in net punting at 43 yards per kick.

Next comes another major road test for Nebraska, which heads to No. 25 Oregon for a 10 p.m. CT kickoff Saturday on FOX.

Yes, 10 p.m. Get the coffee and energy drinks ready.

Subscribe now

4. Three Huskers are wrestling on the world stage

Nebraska wrestling has three athletes competing at the U23 World Championships in Las Vegas this weekend, and all three will represent different countries. LJ Araujo will compete for Brazil at 74 kilograms. Omar Ayoub will represent Puerto Rico at 65 kilograms, while Christopher Minto will wrestle for Jamaica at 79 kilograms.

All three arrive with significant international or collegiate résumés. Araujo won bronze for Brazil at the 2024 U20 World Championships. Ayoub earned U20 World bronze for Puerto Rico in 2025, defeating Russia’s Adlan Saitiev 8-6 in the medal match.

Minto is coming off a runner-up finish at 174 pounds at the 2026 NCAA Championships. The two-time All-American also placed second at the Big Ten Championships and was named Nebraska’s Most Outstanding Wrestler last season.

Araujo begins competition Friday afternoon, with his semifinal session later that evening if he advances. Ayoub and Minto begin Saturday, with medal matches scheduled for Sunday.

5. Nebraska soccer gets its Senior Day

Nebraska soccer begins a three-match homestand Sunday with Senior Day against Illinois.

The Huskers enter at 3-3-8 overall and 1-2-5 in the Big Ten, while Illinois comes to Lincoln at 4-4-6 and 1-4-3 in conference play.

Before the 1:05 p.m. kickoff, Nebraska will honor 10 seniors: Avery Gillahan, Ella Guyott, Reese Borer, Rin Sato, Alexa Gobel, Jo Sees, Emma Prososki, Ella Rudney, Nathalie Lewis and Kayma Carpenter. Senior manager Max Kalkowski will also be recognized.

The series with Illinois has been nearly even, but Nebraska owns an 8-7 advantage and has won the past four meetings. The Huskers have not lost at home to the Illini since 2018.

The ceremony begins at 12:35 p.m. at Barbara Hibner Stadium, with the match streaming on B1G+.

And if all of that somehow isn’t enough for your weekend...

>> Nebraska men’s basketball gets its second exhibition test Friday night at BYU, with an 8 p.m. tip on ESPN+.

>> No. 5 Nebraska bowling begins the Chelsea Gilliam Penguin Classic in Ohio, where the Huskers are trying to win the event for a third consecutive year.

>> Swimming and diving head to Omaha on Saturday for a triangular against Omaha and South Dakota State.

>> And, of course, No. 1 volleyball returns home Saturday for another ranked matchup, this time against No. 13 Purdue at 4 p.m. on BTN.

>> Then there’s that 10 p.m. football game at Oregon.

Yes, it is officially that time of year because that’s not even all of it. There’s seriously so much happening this weekend.

So, pick a sport. There is probably a Husker event to watch.

Nebraska is better than Oregon right now. I’m never certain on anything—range of outcomes and all that—but I’m as close on this as I get. Here, in week seven of this college football season, Nebraska has a better football team than Oregon.

The line on this game doesn’t say it. Most of the power ratings don’t. But I believe it.

Which, of course, doesn’t mean the Huskers will leave Eugene with a win Saturday night.1 Oregon, with what has to be one of the most expensive rosters in the sport, has its playoff hopes hanging by a thread. If the Ducks lose those hopes are dead, and, relative to expectation, the season is over.

Even with last week’s loss to Indiana, Nebraska can think about making the playoff which was unthinkable three months ago. If the Huskers lose, they might still have a better chance at the playoff than Oregon, but making it isn’t the baseline in Lincoln the way it was in Eugene. Nebraska is fighting to prove it can be playoff caliber, whether it makes it or not. Oregon already was, and is now confronting that, this year, it might not be.

Edge green or edge red in that scenario? Who knows? You could make compelling arguments either way when it comes to motivation and momentum. Let’s look instead to the advantages and disadvantages these teams have put on tape and on paper so far.

Read more

Before Nebraska played Wisconsin on Saturday, the Huskers first went on a bit of a side quest.

Harper Murray, Andi Jackson and Bergen Reilly were scheduled to appear on Big Noon Kickoff that morning, hours before the Huskers would face the No. 7 Badgers in the annual blackout match at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.

Dani Busboom Kelly’s parents wondered whether that was really the best game-day routine.

“I’m like, ‘I think they’re mature enough and they can handle it,’” Busboom Kelly said after Nebraska’s sweep over Wisconsin, 25-23, 25-14, 25-20. “I’m glad that they played well or I would have heard it from my parents. We just continue to lead the charge in awareness, momentum with the sport of volleyball, and that’s just another example.”

Yeah, the Huskers handled it just fine. Nebraska’s seniors spent Saturday morning helping promote their sport to a national football audience and Saturday evening showing why they keep getting those opportunities.

The Huskers swept Wisconsin two days after sweeping No. 15 Indiana on the road. They are 17-0, the last undefeated team in Division I and the unanimous No. 1 team in Monday’s AVCA poll after receiving all 63 first-place votes. They have not dropped a set since Sept. 20.

At this point, another Nebraska sweep is not exactly breaking news. The more interesting question is becoming this: Where, exactly, are opponents supposed to attack this team?

Read more

“Your guys clearly came to play. What is the message to keep this going in the second half?” Fox sideline reporter Jenny Taft asked Matt Rhule at halftime of Saturday’s Nebraska-Indiana game.

“Honestly, I don’t even think we came to play. This is what we do every week.”

It was easy to believe Rhule at that moment. The Huskers had controlled the clock, stopped the Hoosiers’ powerful run game and led 10-3. It should’ve been 13-3 if not for a missed 40-yard field goal. It could’ve been 21-3 if the Huskers had been perfect in the red zone.

These 45-second halftime interviews are usually boilerplate, but Rhule said something profound here. To rephrase it in my own words it was: We aren’t playing up to Indiana’s level, we are at Indiana’s level. It’s what, I think, he’s trying to get this team to believe. It’s what this program so desperately needs, but a win is the only undeniable proof.

Belief and proof remain different things. No. 7 Indiana came back to win, 20-17, the Hoosiers’ 22^nd straight victory since the start of 2025.

“That wasn’t an Indiana team sleepwalking through this, and that’s not a Nebraska team that isn’t in their class,” Rhule said after the loss, an echo from halftime that offered more clarity.

This was a complex game, one that offered some of the best signs for the program in years and offered some serious concerns. So, you choose which way you want to go. There are two viewpoints slightly at odds below. Choose the one you prefer. Or read them both.

I choose belief

Nebraska’s defense held Indiana to 65 rushing yards, the fewest during the Hoosiers’ winning streak and the third fewest of the Curt Cignetti era. Indiana came in averaging 6.4 yards per carry (4^th nationally) and managed 3.0 against the Blackshirts. This was, probably, the biggest ask of Nebraska entering the game and NU answered it emphatically.

The tradeoff was the Huskers betting their secondary could win enough solo battles against two of the best receivers in the country, and it was maybe one or two plays away from working. Indiana is Indiana right now because it makes those one or two plays.

On offense, Nebraska’s plan indicated it knew it wasn’t just going to hand the ball off and win, even with the return of running back Jamal Rule. So, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen was creative and aggressive. The Huskers threw the ball early. They got the wide receivers and quarterback Anthony Colandrea involved in the run game.

It all basically worked. Nebraska had a plan for how it could get this game to a place it could win it, got the performances it needed from key players and basically did it. When the Huskers took a 17-6 lead with 12:01 left in the game, I felt like I was watching the best performance I’ve seen in a game of consequence in my 15 years covering the program.

It lasted exactly 10 seconds as IU put the game back up for grabs with a 75-yard touchdown pass from Josh Hoover to Nick Marsh. One drive later, Indiana took the lead for good.

I still think it’s the best performance I’ve seen from Nebraska in my 15 years doing this. The Huskers had a better success rate and were nearly 53% on third down to IU’s 10%. They averaged more points on trips inside the opponent’s 40. They lost the turnover battle, but only by one and Colandrea’s lone interception functioned as an excellent punt.

“I felt like there was two heavyweight fighters fighting,” Rhule said, and it did look that way.

None of this is as good as winning the game, but all of it is a legitimate step forward from where the program has been. Do you feel better about Nebraska winning on the road at Oregon1 next week?

The answer, undeniably, should be yes.

I need proof

Forget the penalty disparity. Forget the missed field goal. The concern that lingers from the loss is bigger than that.

Three times in the first half Indiana faced a tough fourth-down decision, came out on the field intending to go for it, called a timeout and decided against it. It seemed odd for Indiana and Curt Cignetti, a team and coach still on top of the world.

“A lot of them were, ‘God, I just wanted to go for them,’” Cignetti said after the game. “But we weren’t getting anything done and the clock’s running down and let’s just survive it…Those were all on me. At the end of the day, I decided to go conservative in the first half. There was too much time left in the game. We weren’t playing well, they were playing well.”

In the fourth quarter, after Nick Marsh’s 75-yard touchdown changed the game, IU trailed 17-12 before the extra point. Everything here screams “GO FOR TWO.” If Indiana gets it, it only needs a field goal. If it doesn’t, or kicks the extra point, it still needs a touchdown. The Hoosiers sent out the offense to go for two. Nebraska called a timeout. Indiana kicked the extra point instead.

Why did Cignetti do that? My thought in the moment was he had such extreme confidence—we know he doesn’t lack that—IU could get another touchdown.

“The 2-point play, we showed our formation. I didn’t feel like we had a great second option,” Cignetti said. “After a timeout, we kicked the ball because, still, when you’re down four, you can do that math.”

All these choices ended up working out for Indiana in the end, as did the fourth-and-1 sleight of hand that confused NU’s defense and resulted in the go-ahead score on another long Marsh touchdown.

Rhule said he should’ve called a timeout.

“I definitely thought about it,” linebacker and defensive centerpiece Owen Chambliss said of calling a timeout himself. “I definitely thought about it.”

Now let’s consider Nebraska’s decision not to punt with 4:47 remaining in the game and trailing, 20-17, for the first time. The Huskers are facing a fourth-and-9 from their own 44. Their win probability is 37.7%. If they get exactly the line to gain and the play takes 7 seconds, how long the actual fourth-down play took, Nebraska’s win probability increases to 49.5% (+11.8). If Nebraska throws incomplete, which happens, its probability decreases to 21.7% (-16.0).

Punter Archie Wilson was having his best day as a Husker, averaging 57.3 yards on three punts and downing two inside the 20. He had the wind at his back. If he puts the ball down inside the 20, NU has at least2 a 28.3% win probability. Fail to convert or punt, the challenge doesn’t change for the defense—get a stop as quickly as possible.

The Blackshirts did, forcing a three-and-out, but Indiana’s 33-yard punt gave NU the ball at its own 5 (win prob. 30.8%). Get the same stop and punt on a drive that starts at IU’s 20, and the Huskers have it near midfield with at least a 36% win probability, down only 1.7 points from when Rhule decided not to punt 90 seconds earlier.

Let’s just survive this? The decision to go for it wasn’t that.

The point here isn’t the math or even to second guess with the benefit of hindsight and none of the pressure of making these decisions in real time. The question to ask is which coach’s decision-making better represented the belief that “this is what we do every week?”

Rhule decided he had to win the game with nearly 5 minutes left. Cignetti knew he could play until the final whistle.

As close as the game was, it’s a difficult difference to confront.

Get more from Brandon Vogel in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

B1G Picture

I couldn’t watch UCLA-Oregon live. I checked in shortly before halftime, saw it was 10-6 and thought “that feels familiar.” I checked back in right near the end to see the Bruins win and the dots in this scenario connect themselves if you follow Nebraska. Why does UCLA, under a first-year head coach and on the road against a top 15 team, get to have nice things?

The answer became apparent with a look at the box score. The Ducks’ seven turnovers (and -4 margin) probably swung that 17-15 loss. UCLA’s win had almost nothing in common with Nebraska’s loss based on the games themselves, but to the victor go the spoils. The Bruins-are-the-next-Indiana comparisons were inevitable.

As expected, UCLA rose nine spots in the AP poll to 12^th, and barely budged in ESPN’s two predictive ratings, dropping a spot in FPI and rising three in SP+…because it needed seven turnovers to beat a presumptive contender that is now left by the side of the road.

Oregon dropped out of the AP poll but didn’t move in FPI and dropped two spots in SP+…because it needed seven giveaways to lose by two to a team everyone now considers a contender.

For its win in Lincoln, Indiana moved up two spots to fifth in the AP poll, but one spot opened thanks to No. 1 Texas losing to previously 2-2 Oklahoma.3 The Hoosiers didn’t move in FPI after the win but dropped two spots in SP+.

Nebraska? It wasn’t ranked in the AP poll last week, but it didn’t move much in the models either…because it played well. The Huskers moved up a spot to 12th in FPI and down two to 14^th in SP+.

None of this is as good as winning the game, snapping the ugly streaks against ranked teams, either. The loss is the loss, the pain is the pain. Can’t be changed.

But this is the edge predictive models have—they only look forward.

Nebraska is off to Oregon, and the two teams aren’t viewed much differently than they were a week ago outside of public perception. Maybe the Huskers will see their former quarterback. Maybe the Ducks are reeling. Maybe they’ll play like their season’s on the line. Hard to know.

Probably better to be Nebraska right now, though.

“There’s a lot of teams that lose a ball game and go on to have a great year,” Rhule said. “Indiana has every right to believe they can have a great year, and so does Nebraska.”

He went on to explain he was just talking about how Nebraska played, not a moral victory. He hoped “everyone can understand that difference.”

It’s a logical approach. Makes perfect sense. It’s just hard at times, and, given the streaks, it might be hardest at Nebraska right now.

Nebraska has spent five weeks making a pretty compelling case that this team is different than it has been. Now comes the part where the Huskers get to prove it against someone who has already done everything Nebraska is trying to do.

No. 7 Indiana arrives in Lincoln as the defending national champion, 5-0 this season and riding a 21-game winning streak. The Hoosiers are 32-2 under coach Curt Cignetti and have become one of the most complete teams in college football in a remarkably short amount of time.

But hey, Nebraska is 5-0 too.

The Huskers have won their first five games by at least 18 points, are 2-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 2017 and have scored at least 30 points every week. They haven’t faced anyone remotely like Indiana yet, but that’s exactly what makes Saturday interesting.

Can Nebraska keep up with a legitimate national title contender? We are about to find out.1

Nebraska vs. No. 7 Indiana

When: Saturday, Oct. 10 | 11 a.m. CT
Where: Memorial Stadium | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: FOX
TV crew: Gus Johnson, Joel Klatt, Jenny Taft
Radio: Huskers Radio Network
Radio crew: Kyle Crooks, Jay Moore, Jessica Coody

Records: Nebraska 5-0, 2-0 Big Ten; Indiana 5-0, 2-0 Big Ten
Last week: Nebraska def. Maryland, 48-23; Indiana def. Rutgers, 47-15
Series: Indiana leads 11-9-3
In Lincoln: Indiana leads 8-6-2
Last meeting: Indiana def. Nebraska, 56-7, in 2024
Weather: Mainly sunny with a high near 91 degrees. Winds from the south at 15-25 mph.

Setting the scene

There are a lot of ways to frame this one, if we’re being honest. Nebraska is facing its first ranked opponent of the season. The Huskers have not beaten a ranked team since Oregon in 2016 or a top-10 opponent since No. 6 Michigan State in 2015. Indiana is also the first defending national champion to visit Memorial Stadium since Texas came to Lincoln in 2006.

As for the last time the two met? Well..

Indiana beat Nebraska 56-7 in Bloomington in 2024, a game that provided a fairly brutal introduction to what Cignetti was building. That Indiana team eventually became something much bigger, as we know now. Last year’s Hoosiers went 16-0 and won the national championship. This year’s group has shown few signs of falling back, averaging 44.2 points while allowing 10.8.

As for Nebraska, the Huskers are scoring 43.6 points per game and allowing 14.2. They rank in the top 25 nationally in total offense, rushing offense and third-down conversion rate, while the defense has continued to be one of the better units in the country.

The difference is proof and Indiana has it. Nebraska is trying to earn some Saturday.

Subscribe now

Storylines to Remember

The first challenge is making Indiana uncomfortable

Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe give Indiana a punishing run game behind an offensive line that does not allow much disruption. Richard is averaging 9.3 yards per carry, while both backs are over 100 rushing yards per game.

The Blackshirts have been excellent in stretches this season, and Maryland offered a useful reminder of how quickly they can adjust. The Terrapins produced 207 yards in the first quarter last week. Nebraska allowed 188 the rest of the game. That said, Indiana is far less likely to let Nebraska survive an entire quarter before settling in.

First down matters Saturday. If Indiana gets four, five or six yards on the ground early, Josh Hoover rarely has to expose himself to the situations where Nebraska’s pass rush can take over. If the Huskers create second-and-long and third-and-long, everything changes.

Nebraska has 16 sacks and six interceptions through five games. It needs chances for more of both Saturday.

Colandrea doesn’t have to beat Indiana the conventional way

Anthony Colandrea has become Nebraska’s answer whenever a play stops looking clean. That could be especially important Saturday.

Indiana has one of the better defensive fronts Nebraska will see, with 15 sacks and plenty of additional pressure through five games. The Hoosiers are giving up only 65 rushing yards per game. Still, Nebraska probably is not going to line up and run for 250 simply because it wants to.

That is where Colandrea changes the equation. His involvement in the run game is no longer accidental. Matt Rhule made that clear this week.

“We’re going to make people defend our quarterback and it opens up the passing game,” Rhule said.

Some of it comes from designed concepts, some comes when protection breaks down and some comes when Indiana covers everyone else and Colandrea decides the open grass belongs to him. Nebraska has to live with that.

The Huskers would certainly prefer Jamal Rule, Mekhi Nelson and Isaiah Mozee to generate enough production that Colandrea does not have to become the primary rushing threat. Saturday is not a day for worrying too much about aesthetics though. If Indiana takes away conventional runs and Colandrea finds 50 or 60 yards another way, those yards count exactly the same.

Nebraska’s passing game may have to carry more weight

The fascinating part about Nebraska’s offense is that it has been good without feeling finished. Colandrea has thrown 14 touchdowns against two interceptions. Nebraska is averaging 7.8 yards per pass attempt. Kwazi Gilmer is coming off an 11-catch, 147-yard performance against Maryland. There are also still plays every week where someone gets open and the ball never arrives. Indiana’s run defense may force Nebraska to explore that ceiling.

The Hoosiers play plenty of zone and the challenge for Colandrea will be identifying where the space develops before the pass rush gets home. This is also where Nebraska’s offensive line faces its biggest test. Elijah Pritchett and Tree Babalade have to deal with edge players who can actually ruin an afternoon. The interior will get tested too.

Rhule has liked the way Nebraska’s depth is developing up front and Gunnar Gottula’s versatility continues to matter. The Huskers have rotated linemen more freely as the season has progressed. Saturday is the day that depth stops being theoretical.

Nebraska doesn’t need a perfectly clean pocket all afternoon. It does, however, need enough of them to punish Indiana when the Hoosiers commit resources to stopping the run.

The corners are going to have to make some choices

Nebraska’s secondary has been very good this season. That said, Indiana will still force Andrew Marshall, Victor Evans, Danny Odem and everyone else involved in coverage into uncomfortable decisions. Charlie Becker has 27 catches for 477 yards and Nick Marsh has 23 for 341.

Defenses have frequently given both plenty of cushion because getting beat over the top is worse than surrendering the easy completion. Indiana is perfectly happy taking those free yards.

That creates an interesting choice for Nebraska. Play too softly and Hoover can keep completing the easiest throw available. Crowd the receivers and Nebraska risks giving two NFL-caliber talents room behind the coverage. The good news is that the Huskers have gotten pressure without having to live entirely on reckless blitzing.

If the front gets home, Nebraska’s corners can play more aggressively. If Hoover consistently gets the ball out before the rush has a chance, the defense will have to adjust.

There may not be a perfect answer, honestly.

Nebraska cannot beat itself while trying to beat Indiana

Nebraska committed 16 penalties against Maryland. On the other side of things, Indiana had zero last week. We can’t ignore that contrast.

The Huskers were good enough to overcome the mistakes against Maryland. They probably cannot assume the same thing Saturday.

Indiana has committed only one turnover all season. Nebraska has two. These are two of the best teams in the country at protecting the football. That makes everything else more valuable.

A false start that turns third-and-2 into third-and-7 matters. A hold on a return matters. A missed tackle that creates eight extra yards matters.

That’s why Rhule spent part of this week talking about the relationship between practice and those details.

“Yeah, I don’t know if guys have to like practice, I think they have to respect it,” he said.

Saturday is the kind of game that explains why. Nebraska does not need perfection. What it does need is to avoid handing Indiana the kind of free possessions and free yards that a defending national champion rarely gives back.

What the numbers say

10.8 — Indiana’s points allowed per game.

14.2 — Nebraska’s points allowed per game.

29 — Nebraska has 29 offensive plays of at least 20 yards this season.

32-2 — Indiana’s record under Curt Cignetti.

43.6 — Nebraska’s scoring average.

44.2 — Indiana’s scoring average.

65 — Indiana’s rushing yards allowed per game.

Odds and ends

>> Nebraska has won each of its first five games by at least 18 points. The last Nebraska team to open a season with five straight wins by at least 18 was the 1983 team.

>> Nebraska has scored at least 30 points in all five games, something the Huskers had not done to begin a season since 2014.

>> Indiana has won 21 consecutive games, one of the longest winning streaks by a Big Ten program in the past 80 years.

>> The teams have split their four meetings since Nebraska joined the Big Ten.

Well, here we are. Nebraska has already cleared several hurdles this season, from winning their first road game to responding to adversity against Maryland. The Huskers are now 5-0.

Saturday is still different. Indiana arrives in Lincoln knowing exactly who it is. That makes this the first game where Nebraska doesn’t simply need to play well. It has to force an excellent team away from the things it does best.

Win a few early downs. Make Hoover hold the ball. Find a way to loosen Indiana’s run defense. Give Colandrea chances to create. Avoid the penalties that made Maryland harder than it needed to be. Somewhere along the way, make one play that changes the game.

Nebraska has spent five weeks giving us reasons to believe it can handle a bigger test. Well, here it is. This is the bigger test.

Another Thursday night meant another sweep for Nebraska volleyball. No. 1 Nebraska went into a sold-out Wilkinson Hall and took care of No. 15 Indiana, 25-15, 25-19, 25-19.

And speaking of volleyball, that is where we’ll start this week. Let’s dive in.1

1. Nebraska now has four players on the AVCA watch list

Nebraska already had Andi Jackson, Harper Murray and Bergen Reilly on the AVCA Player of the Year Watch List. Now you can add Manaia Ogbechie to that list.

The sophomore middle blocker was one of 16 players added to the list Thursday, giving Nebraska four players among the 46 currently being considered for the national award.

Ogbechie has earned the addition. She is averaging 2.19 kills per set while hitting .427, which ranks fifth in the Big Ten and 14th nationally, and she is adding 1.21 blocks per set. Her biggest week so far came against New Mexico, Baylor and Georgia Tech, when she put down 33 kills on .547 hitting and added 12 blocks. That earned her Big Ten Player of the Week honors.

The AVCA will cut the group to semifinalists in November, with finalists announced Dec. 14 and the winner named Dec. 18 in San Antonio.

Meanwhile, Jackson continues to collect honors of her own. She was named Big Ten Player of the Week for the second consecutive week after Nebraska swept Penn State and Maryland. Jackson averaged 3.83 kills and two blocks per set while hitting .526 across the two matches.

She was especially good at Penn State, finishing with 11 kills on 16 swings with just one error and seven blocks. Then at Maryland, she had 12 kills, six aces, five blocks and four digs. Those six aces tied Nebraska’s rally-scoring-era record for a three-set match.

Jackson is only the third Husker to win Big Ten Player of the Week in consecutive weeks, joining Madi Kubik in 2021 and Kelsey Robinson in 2013.

2. Pryce Sandfort joins a pretty short Nebraska list

Pryce Sandfort was named preseason All-Big Ten on Monday and was one of only two unanimous selections, along with Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr., the league’s preseason player of the year.

That makes Sandfort just the fourth Nebraska player to earn preseason All-Big Ten recognition since the Huskers joined the conference. The others: James Palmer Jr., Terran Petteway and Keisei Tominaga.

Sandfort averaged 18.1 points last season while shooting nearly 48% overall and 41.6% from 3. His 129 made 3s set a Nebraska single-season record and were the second-most in Big Ten history. In March, Sandfort averaged 21 points during Nebraska’s run to the Sweet 16, including 25 in the season-ending loss to Iowa.

What will we see from Sandfort this season? We get our first look Friday night when Nebraska hosts Saint Louis in exhibition play at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

3. You will have plenty of chances to watch Nebraska men’s basketball

Thirty of Nebraska’s 32 regular-season games are already scheduled for national television. That includes games across CBS, FOX, FS1, TNT, BTN and NBC Sports Network.

The biggest first comes Jan. 2 when Nebraska hosts Michigan State on CBS. It will be the Huskers’ first regular-season CBS appearance since joining the Big Ten.

Nebraska also has at least three FOX games, seven on FS1, 12 on BTN and five Peacock games that will also air through NBC Sports Network on YouTube TV.

And there is another first on Dec. 5: Nebraska’s annual game at Creighton will air on TNT.

Coming off 28 wins and a Sweet 16 appearance, Nebraska is entering a season where people outside the state want to tune in. The TV schedule certainly reflects that.

Subscribe now

4. Nebraska women’s basketball gets a bigger national stage too

The women will also have plenty of national television exposure. Nebraska has at least 14 games scheduled across the Big Ten’s television partners, including 10 on BTN.

The first national broadcast comes Nov. 22 against Creighton at CHI Health Center on FS1. From there, the schedule gets interesting quickly.

Nebraska opens Big Ten play at Iowa on Dec. 5 on BTN, hosts Texas A&M a week later on the network and then plays Cal at Chase Center in San Francisco on Dec. 20.

In January, the Huskers travel to defending national champion UCLA on Jan. 2 and then USC on Jan. 5. Both games are on BTN.

Then comes a three-game home stretch featuring Michigan State, Michigan and Ohio State. Michigan will air on FS1, while the Ohio State game will air on FOX. Iowa’s return trip to Lincoln on Feb. 4 will be on Peacock.

Nebraska is trying to make the NCAA tournament for a fourth straight season, and you’ll be able to catch quite a bit of the Huskers on your TV.

5. Addy Farman starts her sophomore season with a Big Ten honor

Nebraska diver Addy Farman was named Big Ten Diver of the Week after winning the one-meter springboard in Nebraska’s opening dual against Iowa State. Her score of 282.60 was a personal best, topping the 273.38 she posted against Kansas last season.

It also did something more important than simply win the event: Farman earned an NCAA Zone D qualifying cut for March. She added a fourth-place finish on three-meter with a score of 246.90.

Talk about a strong opening step for a sophomore who reached the C Final on one-meter at last season’s Big Ten Championships.

First-year Nebraska diving coach Ford McLiney liked what he saw.

“Addy’s working hard and staying the course,” he said. “Every day she shows up, she asks the right questions and steadily improves. Lately, we have been working to keep things simple and dive smart. That’s exactly what she delivered at the meet.”

Farman’s next competition comes Oct. 17 in Omaha, where Nebraska will face Omaha and South Dakota State in a triangular meet.

Nebraska earned its spot in this game. That will be important to remember no matter how Saturday’s visit from No. 7 Indiana goes because games get wonky in all kinds of ways.

In 2024, Nebraska went to Bloomington at 5-1 and as a 6.5-point underdog. Undefeated Indiana, then just a toddler under Curt Cignetti with a particular aptitude for executing a plan, won 56-7. The powers(rankings) that be would’ve made NU about a 17-point underdog if the two teams played a week later. The 49-point loss resulted in 10 points of change in the predicted strength of the teams. In that sphere, 10 points is a lot, but it ain’t 49.

Full-grown, graduated-from-Harvard, industry-leader-at-25 Indiana arrives this week. The Huskers are again about a touchdown underdog, this time at home. This is great news.

Using preseason SP+ ratings to project point spreads and Team Rankings’ historical results relative to spreads to infer win probabilities, Nebraska had about a 15% chance to beat the Hoosiers and about a 5% chance next week against Oregon. Using this week’s SP+ ratings, and the same historical results, Nebraska would have a 29% chance of beating Indiana and a 37% chance against the Ducks.

That’s something. All offseason Indiana, Oregon and Ohio State were the three losses you just automatically assigned for Nebraska. The Huskers’ probability to win at least one game from the Indiana-Oregon swing was about 19%. Right now, it’s about 55%.

That’s something. Something that won’t matter at all come kickoff on Saturday and will change by Sunday. But right now, this is the best any Matt Rhule team at Nebraska has looked at any point.

If you don’t want to buy it, I get it. Don’t buy it. If you want to believe, there’s supporting evidence for that, too. As you’ll see as we get into the numbers below, 2026 Indiana and Nebraska1 are almost strikingly similar.

Read more

Let’s talk about Nebraska basketball, shall we?

Nebraska enters the 2026-27 season coming off 28 wins, a 15-5 Big Ten record and the first NCAA Tournament victory in program history, followed by a trip to the Sweet 16. Pryce Sandfort is back after averaging 18.1 points. Braden Frager returns after winning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year. Connor Essegian is healthy again. There are experienced transfers, intriguing freshmen and positional flexibility that head coach Fred Hoiberg can put some very different-looking groups on the floor.

All of that is good. It also brings us to Nebraska’s immediate preseason problem: there might be too many reasonable answers.

“We’re really going to use this game,” Hoiberg said. “I’ve got a lot of guys that I need to play and figure out the rotation.”

Nebraska opens exhibition play Friday against Saint Louis at Pinnacle Bank Arena, followed by games at BYU and against Kansas State in Grand Island.

How exactly does Hoiberg plan to use Friday’s exhibition, and those that follow? Let’s dive in.

Read more

Good job, Dwayne McDougle. The San Diego State transfer safety made the biggest play of Nebraska’s 48-23 win over Maryland Saturday, which was so obvious maybe it doesn’t need mentioned. What does need mentioned is that NU was flirting with disaster before he made it.

Already down 23-14 midway through the second quarter, the Huskers punted to Maryland and the Terps promptly moved the ball to NU’s 25. A touchdown here might’ve been lethal. A field goal would’ve tilted the odds in Maryland’s favor for the first time.

Instead, McDougle stepped in front of a slant and took it 81 yards the other way to make it 23-21 after an extra point. Prior to his interception, Nebraska’s win probability, about 87% to start the game as a 14.5-point favorite, had dropped to 52%. After McDougle’s pick it was back up to 74%, and it wouldn’t go down from there.

Perhaps the best news for Nebraska—this wasn’t random. It happened through preparation.

Based on Maryland’s alignment, McDougle knew the Terps had a tendency to go to the slant.

“So, I was playing off the quarterback,” McDougle said, “and as soon as he pulled the trigger, I knew I was taking it the other way.”

And so he did. For the second week to start Big Ten play, Nebraska overcame an uneven start to make a game look like it should…or maybe even better. I think that says something about the Huskers’ overall quality. Things might actually be different this time, but a team has to prove that every week until we’re out of weeks.

This week presents a new challenge for 2026 with the arrival of Indiana—a game Nebraska isn’t expected to win. The Huskers have been better than expected each step of the way so far. But this game, against this opponent, comes with a lot of baggage. That baggage—Matt Rhule’s, and NU’s, record against ranked teams; Indiana’s 21-game winning streak; the score the last time the two played—will dominate the discussion around Nebraska this week. Should it?

I’m going to present you two blind statistical summaries. We’re just using Expected Points Added (EPA) per play here, probably football’s best catch-all statistic, to keep things high level and succinct. It measures how much scoring value a team produces or limits on each play. One of the following teams is 2026 Nebraska:

• Team A: 0.375 EPA per offensive play (6^th nationally, 96^th percentile), -0.103 per defensive play (9^th, 93^rd)

• Team B: 0.437 per offensive play (7^th, 95^th), -0.034 per defensive play ( 27^th, 80^th)

Outside of pride it doesn’t matter if you correctly identified Nebraska, the numbers are close enough to make any difference slight. But Team A is Nebraska and Team B is where Indiana was after five games in 2024. Those Hoosiers would get to 6-0 before humiliating a 5-1 Nebraska team, 56-7, as a 6.5-point favorite and going on to an 11-1 regular season and a spot in the Playoff.

For comparison’s sake, the 2026 Hoosiers are in the 99^th percentile in EPA on offense, the 83^rd percentile on defense. The 2024 Huskers weren’t bad at 5-1, the 81^st percentile on offense and the 63^rd percentile on defense.

Indiana made those numbers look fake two years ago. Nebraska’s numbers are better now, but the fear that this is all a mirage, as it has been in recent seasons, hasn’t declined proportionally.

That’s fine. Maybe even wise. The old scars still itch sometimes.

But the key to surviving the buildup to Hoosiers-Huskers this week might be recognizing that, objectively, Nebraska’s in a different place than it was two years ago. Indiana might not be, but it does have to play in Lincoln this time.

That’s about as good a spot as anyone could hope for after five games for the Huskers to go out there and change the narrative dramatically.

Now they just need to do it, which is the ultimate compliment to Indiana and the bottom line for making it through the week as a Husker fan—Nebraska needs to do it.

Get more from Brandon Vogel in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

Poll Position

There are two 5-0 power conference teams that were unranked in the latest AP poll—Duke and Nebraska. Neither was ranked in the preseason and neither has an impossible to ignore win to this point. Easy enough to understand, but I’m still annoyed.

I’ve never been an AP poll voter, but what do you think the marching orders should be if you are? I think it’s pretty simple: Rank the 25 best teams in your mind. It’s an opinion poll, and we want your opinion.

The poll rarely works this way. Blame the “games have to matter” absolutists. They’re taking a stance against an injustice mostly imagined, trying to solve a problem of their own invention. The games do matter and everyone who goes to a game or watches on TV knows this. That’s why they’re watching and a game’s only purpose if you really want to strip it down to the studs—to provide something people want.

Our best example of this so far might be Texas’s 24-23 win over Ohio State in Week 2. The Buckeyes were No. 1 entering the game, the Longhorns No. 4. It’s almost irrefutable to move Texas up after it wins that game, but that’s the problem. What if you’re an AP voter who still thinks Ohio State is better after that game?

There’s no place for that person and even fewer willing to take that stance, which doesn’t seem like the best role an opinion poll can fulfill. If you’re ranking with a “games have to matter’ mindset, nobody needs you. We’ll just watch the games and know that whatever noisy result was reached after 60 minutes was the truth.

Anyway, I was surprised Nebraska didn’t claw its way into the poll at 24^th or 25^th this week, though it doesn’t really matter. The new SP+ ratings have the Huskers 12^th and FPI has them 13^th. Both sets of power ratings would make NU about a 7- to 10-point underdog at home against Indiana this week.

The Huskers were +7 late Sunday night, down from +9.5.

Nebraska has a chance to do something on Saturday it hasn’t done in quite some time: start the season 5-0. Saturday is also Nebraska’s homecoming game, so there’s a lot to look forward to in Lincoln.

How did we get to this point? Well, Nebraska won its Big Ten opener for the first time since 2019. The Huskers went to East Lansing, forced three turnovers, recorded six sacks and left with a 31-13 win without playing a perfect game. Now Nebraska comes home to face a Maryland team that arrives under considerably different circumstances.

The Terrapins are 2-2 after a 54-3 loss to UCLA, but there is enough talent on the roster—particularly at quarterback, receiver and along the defensive front—where you don’t want to look past this team.

As we head into October, the question remains: can the Huskers keep stacking good football?

Nebraska vs. Maryland

When: Saturday, Oct. 3 | 3 p.m. CT
Where: Memorial Stadium | Lincoln, Nebraska
TV: FS1
TV crew: Dan Hellie, Robert Smith
Radio: Huskers Radio Network
Radio crew: Kyle Crooks, Jay Moore, Jessica Coody

Records: Nebraska 4-0, 1-0 Big Ten; Maryland 2-2, 0-1 Big Ten
Last week: Nebraska def. Michigan State, 31-13; UCLA def. Maryland, 54-3
Series: Nebraska leads 3-1
In Lincoln: Series tied 1-1
Last meeting: Nebraska def. Maryland, 34-31, in 2025

Weather: Mainly sunny with a high near 75 degrees. Winds from the south at 10-20 mph.

Setting the scene

Let’s talk about the numbers a bit.

The Huskers rank in the top 20 nationally in scoring offense, total offense, rushing offense and third-down conversion percentage. They also rank in the top 10 in total defense, scoring defense, pass defense and third-down defense. Only four teams nationally rank in the top 20 in total offense, total defense, scoring offense and scoring defense.

Nebraska is one of them.

The Huskers are averaging 482.8 yards and 42.5 points per game while allowing 233.5 yards and 12 points. They have also outgained every opponent this season by at least 100 yards, making them the only FBS team to do that through four games.

Michigan State held the Huskers to fewer rushing yards than they had become accustomed to, pressured them differently and made Anthony Colandrea create outside the structure of the offense. Nebraska adjusted. The defense did too, even if coach Matt Rhule found plenty to correct afterward.

The Terrapins, on the other hand, average 431.3 yards and 32.3 points per game and have the best collection of pass-catching talent Nebraska has faced so far. Malik Washington can extend plays. Chris Durr already has 35 catches. Dorian Fleming gives Maryland production from tight end.

Defensively, Maryland has size up front and edge players capable of disrupting the pocket.

Ignore the UCLA score for a moment. There are individual matchups here that will make Nebraska work.

Rhule on what Nebraska showed (and what it put on film)

Rhule’s biggest defensive concern coming out of East Lansing was not difficult to identify. Michigan State sped things up, and Nebraska did not always handle it cleanly.

“I think anytime you put on tape the tempo bothers you, you are gonna get tempo,” he said.

Washington also presents the exact kind of quarterback who can turn a good pass rush into a problem if Nebraska loses contain.

“Malik Washington, he is elite at getting outside the pocket, he can pick the ball up and run for a first down, he is pretty elite at getting outside the pocket and throwing first then running so you have to make sure everyone is covered and that is something that showed up a little bit in every game so far,” Rhule said.

Nebraska wants pressure. It just needs the coverage behind that pressure to hold up once the play stops looking like the one drawn on the whiteboard. That should be one of the defining battles Saturday.

Subscribe now

Storylines to remember

Nebraska does not need to prove it can run for 250 yards every week

Nebraska’s first three games established its rushing identity pretty quickly. Michigan State complicated it.

The Huskers finished with 157 rushing yards, and Colandrea’s 66 accounted for a sizable piece of that. Nebraska’s running backs had to grind more than they had in September, especially after Jamal Rule left early.

Maryland could create a similar problem. The Terrapins play with significant size inside, including 337-pound Eyan Thomas, and their defensive structure is built to make running directly through the middle difficult.

That doesn’t mean Nebraska should abandon the run. It does mean the Huskers shouldn’t become stubborn about proving they can win a specific kind of game.

Maryland has had more trouble when offenses make its defenders move laterally. Crossing routes, motion and play action have created problems. Mobile quarterbacks have too. That sounds fairly compatible with what Nebraska already does.

Rhule wants the rushing production to improve, but he also acknowledged the larger equation Monday.

“Offensively we had 92 yards rushing,” he said. “I know the quarterback gave us more yards and there are going to be games like that, where they’re gonna say they’re going to pressure you and not let you run the football but you have to hit them with deep balls, you have to hit them with play action and drop backs.”

If Maryland loads up to take away Nebraska’s backs, Colandrea needs to make that decision expensive.

Colandrea’s legs have officially become part of the scouting report

Four games into his Nebraska career, opposing defenses don’t need to wonder whether or not Colandrea can run anymore. Like we just established, they are instead figuring out what they want to sacrifice to account for it.

Against Michigan State, Colandrea rushed for 66 yards, the most by a Nebraska quarterback since Heinrich Haarberg had 72 against Northwestern in 2023. More important than the total was how his mobility changed broken plays. He can escape pressure, make the first defender miss and turn man coverage into open grass.

Nebraska is still negotiating the part where he occasionally needs to protect himself.

“I think for Anthony, when it’s clear, get down, but I don’t know how much of that kind of guy he really is, to be honest with you,” Rhule said. “Which I don’t love, but I really like, if that makes sense.”

Essentially, you don’t want to remove what makes Colandrea dangerous. You also don’t want your quarterback absorbing unnecessary hits in October. Maryland’s defense may give him more opportunities to make that decision.

If the Terrapins struggle to contain him when coverage stretches across the field, his running ability could again become one of Nebraska’s best answers.

Maryland has the receivers to test Nebraska differently

Nebraska’s defense has been excellent so far, but it has not yet faced a passing group quite like Maryland’s. Durr has 35 catches for 312 yards and three touchdowns, while Fleming gives Washington a reliable target underneath and in the middle of the field. Maryland has enough size and athleticism outside to make Nebraska’s defensive backs work for four quarters.

That puts some attention on Andrew Marshall. The Idaho transfer has quickly become an important piece of Nebraska’s defense, and Rhule did not undersell his assignment this week.

“Marshall went from a guy at Idaho who thought he was a good FCS player,” Rhule said. “He’s one of the better corners in the Big Ten right now, we will need him to be one of the best corners in the Big Ten this week, versus this past game.”

Nebraska’s secondary has benefited from the pass rush all season, but Saturday may require the relationship to work both ways. There will be snaps when Washington escapes so coverage has to stay connected. There will be snaps when Nebraska cannot immediately get home, which means the secondary has to buy another second.

This should be the most complete test yet for that group.

The pass rush is starting to look like an identity

Nebraska had five sacks against North Dakota. Then it had six at Michigan State. Two straight games with at least five sacks? That is something Nebraska had not done since 2013.

Williams Nwaneri had two of them in East Lansing and also blocked a field goal. Jahsear Whittington continues to emerge inside. Owen Chambliss has added another experienced piece to the front. Suddenly Nebraska is fourth nationally with 3.75 sacks per game.

Washington is talented enough to punish an undisciplined rush, but Maryland’s protection had significant problems against UCLA. Pressure helped turn an already bad afternoon into four interceptions for Washington.

The important part for Nebraska in this one is keeping the rush coordinated. If Nebraska’s ends fly too far upfield and create escape lanes, Washington is good enough to use them.

How Nebraska handles Maryland’s first punch may tell us a lot

Maryland desperately needs something good to happen. That makes the opening stretch interesting.

A team coming off a 51-point loss can respond in several ways. One of them is to play loose because there is suddenly very little left to lose. Nebraska should expect urgency.

The Terrapins came to Lincoln in 2023 and won 13-10. Last year’s game in College Park went to the final minutes before Nebraska escaped 34-31.

Whatever Maryland looked like against UCLA, toss it out the window. Nebraska can’t rest on what happened last week. An early takeaway, explosive pass or Nebraska special-teams mistake could give the Terrapins exactly the kind of belief they need.

The opposite is also true too. Nebraska has 26 offensive plays of at least 20 yards through four games. A couple more early could put Maryland right back into the situation it has spent a week trying to escape.

Good teams learn to recognize those moments. Nebraska has the opportunity to keep showing it’s a good team.

What the numbers say

1 — Nebraska has committed only one turnover through four games.

6 — Nebraska recorded six sacks at Michigan State, its most in two seasons.

10 — Nebraska’s 10 rushing plays of at least 20 yards rank sixth nationally.

12-1 — Nebraska’s record under Matt Rhule when winning the turnover margin.

25.5% — Opponents’ third-down conversion rate against Nebraska.

26 — Nebraska’s offensive plays of at least 20 yards.

42.5 — Nebraska’s points per game.

100 — Nebraska has outgained all four opponents by at least 100 yards.

Odds and ends

>> Nebraska has scored at least 30 points in each of its first four games. The last Nebraska team to do so in each of its first five games was the 2014 team.

>> The Huskers have produced both a rushing and passing touchdown in every game this season, something Nebraska had not done through the first four games since 1999.

>> Maryland won the only previous meeting in Lincoln, 13-10, in 2023.

>> The visiting team has won each of the past three games in this series.

>> The past two Nebraska-Maryland games have each been decided by three points.

>> Saturday is Nebraska’s 115th Homecoming game. The Huskers have won 14 of their past 16 on Homecoming.

>> Nebraska is 87-23-4 all-time on Homecoming.

October is here, and it’s certainly not bad to be 4-0 entering it. Even more, Nebraska has a quarterback creating problems, a pass rush gaining confidence and an offense that has shown it can win in more than one way.

Now, Nebraska needs to keep moving forward. Maryland arrives with plenty of problems, after all, but it also arrives with enough talent to create some for Nebraska.

Saturday doesn’t need to be complicated. Protect the football, keep Washington from turning broken plays into explosive ones, let Colandrea take what Maryland gives him and make the Terrapins deal with the pressure that comes with playing from behind.

Nebraska has spent a month building momentum. Now it gets a chance to protect it.

Nebraska volleyball handled Penn State in straight sets Thursday night, 25-20, 25-17, 25-18, and there were a couple of milestones worth noting before we get into the rest of the week.

Dani Busboom Kelly picked up career win No. 250, making her the fourth-fastest Division I coach in NCAA history to reach that number. Harper Murray was excellent too, finishing with 13 kills on 29 swings with just one error for a .414 hitting percentage.

Not a bad way to start October. Speaking of volleyball…

1. Volleyball is already making plans for April

The women’s college volleyball’s spring season1 is not usually one for too much hype. The AVCA might be trying to change that in 2027.

Nebraska will be part of the inaugural AVCA Match Point on April 10-11 at Freedom Hall in Louisville, joining Louisville, Kentucky, Pitt, Stanford and Wisconsin. Two more programs will eventually complete the eight-team field.

The event will use a bracket, with every team playing three matches over two days. Teams will play twice on April 10 and once more on April 11.

For Nebraska, that potentially means three matches against high-level opposition in one weekend months before the regular season begins. For the sport more broadly, it is another attempt to create something meaningful outside the traditional fall calendar.

“Volleyball has tremendous momentum, and our partnership with Intersport will help us build on it by creating more opportunities for athletes, coaches and fans to engage with the sport throughout the year,” said Jaime Gordon, CEO of the American Volleyball Coaches Association. “AVCA Match Point is an important first step. It brings some of the best programs in the country together for meaningful spring competition and gives fans another reason to connect with our sport. We believe there is still tremendous room for volleyball to grow, and high-quality events like this helps move the sport forward.”

And while we are on the topic of the AVCA, Andi Jackson had herself a week too.

The Nebraska senior middle blocker was named AVCA National Player of the Week after already earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors. Jackson totaled 30 kills on .578 hitting and 14 blocks across sweeps of Missouri, Rutgers and Ohio State. Against Rutgers, she put down a season-high 14 kills while hitting .632. Against Missouri, she had 10 kills without an error.

Jackson is the first Husker to earn the AVCA national honor since Rebekah Allick in August 2025.

2. Sandfort and Frager are headed to Big Ten Media Days

Basketball season is getting close, which means media days are too. Pryce Sandfort and Braden Frager will represent Nebraska alongside Fred Hoiberg at Big Ten Men’s Basketball Media Days in the Chicago area on Oct. 8.

Last season, Sandfort averaged 18.1 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 41.6% from 3. He led the Big Ten with 3.7 made 3s per game and finished fourth nationally in that category. Then he got even better in the postseason. Sandfort averaged 21 points while shooting 57% during Nebraska’s NCAA Tournament run, including 25 points in the Sweet 16.

Frager enters this season as the reigning Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 11.8 points and 3.8 rebounds. He also provided one of the defining shots of Nebraska’s postseason when he scored with 2.2 seconds remaining to put the Huskers ahead of Vanderbilt in the second round.

The Huskers went 28-7 last season, tied for second in the Big Ten and reached the Sweet 16 for the first time in program history. Now six letterwinners are back, including two of the team’s top three scorers. Let’s just say there will be plenty to talk about in Chicago.

3. Britt Prince enters the season with another preseason honor

The Big Ten announced its preseason women’s basketball honors Thursday, and Britt Prince was one of 10 players selected to the all-conference team by both the coaches and media.

Prince enters her junior season after leading Nebraska in scoring at 17.9 points per game, assists at 4.4 and steals at 1.5. She shot 53.5% overall, 45.7% from 3 and a Big Ten-best 91.2% at the free-throw line. That 3-point number is especially notable. Prince owns the best returning percentage among power-conference guards who attempted at least two 3s per game last season.

She earned first-team All-Big Ten recognition from the media last year and second-team honors from the coaches. Now she heads into another season as one of the conference’s established names.

Prince and Logan Nissley will join Amy Williams at Big Ten Women’s Basketball Media Day on Oct. 7.

Before that, both Nebraska basketball programs will get a more public introduction tonight (Friday, Oct. 2). Opening Night returns to Canopy Street outside Pinnacle Bank Arena at 7 p.m., giving fans their first event of the season with both teams.

Subscribe now

4. Nebraska wrestling has its 2026-27 schedule

Nebraska wrestling released its 2026-27 schedule this week and it’s going to challenge the Huskers quickly. Nebraska will see nine wrestlers who finished in the top 25 at last season’s NCAA Championships, and the difficulty starts early.

Nebraska opens at home against Wyoming on Nov. 6 before traveling to Oklahoma State a week later. The Cowboys finished second at the NCAA Championships last spring. Then comes a trip to Philadelphia for Penn and the Keystone Classic before Nebraska heads to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational in early December.

The Big Ten schedule is exactly what you would expect from the Big Ten too. Nebraska gets Rutgers, Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota at home, while road duals include Purdue, Maryland, Ohio State and Iowa. The conference season ends Feb. 12 in Iowa City.

Nebraska is still not finished after that. Arizona State comes to the Devaney Center on Feb. 21 for the final dual of the regular season.

The Big Ten Championships will be March 6-7 in Columbus, followed by the NCAA Championships in St. Louis beginning March 18.

5. Nebraska bowling starts in a familiar place

There has never been an NTCA preseason poll without Nebraska somewhere in the top five. That streak will continue for another year.

The Huskers are No. 5 in the 2026-27 preseason rankings, just six points behind No. 4 Arkansas State. Defending national champion Jacksonville State is the unanimous No. 1, followed by Vanderbilt and Wichita State.

Nebraska enters the season after winning one tournament last year, posting three third-place finishes and reaching the final of the NCAA Pittsburgh Regional.

The roster will look a little different without Jillian Martin, the 2025 NTCA Bowler of the Year, who had been part of the program for the past four seasons. That said, there is still plenty coming back. Karina Capron returns after earning third-team All-America honors, while 2025 second-team All-American Kayla Starr is also among eight returning bowlers. Nebraska added three freshmen to the roster.

The season starts Oct. 16 at the Chelsea Gilliam Penguin Classic in Struthers, Ohio. Nebraska won that event last season, so the Huskers will begin their latest attempt to get back to the NCAA Championships somewhere they already know pretty well.

Happy October, month of the undead. Right on cue, Zombie Maryland travels to Lincoln. Last week, the Terrapins were savaged at home by Zombie UCLA, which, at 4-0, has already topped last season’s win total.

In theory, this should be good news for Nebraska. The Huskers have been mostly impressive on their way to a 4-0 start, putting up some numbers that shock no matter the schedule.

But NU fans remember the past decade, and this isn’t just zombie week or zombie month in college football, this has been zombie season. A week after being slain by Tulsa to kick off a coaching tenure, Oklahoma State beat Oregon. UMass, thought dead since it joined FBS in 2011, beat Rutgers to open the year and is somehow undefeated. Right now, Oklahoma, Louisville, Texas A&M and Florida State are thought to be buried relative to expectations but could reanimate. Oregon, Clemson, Wisconsin and LSU may already have.

Is Maryland dead, dead, or is it here to devour all of the good vibes from the Huskers’ start? The Terps are probably more talented than Michigan State. Their quarterback, Malik Washington, is certainly better than what NU faced a week ago. Big Ten Maryland has historically been closer to 28 Days Later than Night of the Living Dead, but it’s never easy to stay in the fight when a potential coaching change becomes the dominant topic only four weeks into the season.

That’s Nebraska’s challenge Saturday, being ready to dispatch either fast and frightening turtles or slow and staggering ones. Here’s how they do it.

Read more

Nebraska football has spent a lot of time over the last decade being reminded of how long it had been since something good happened. One of those things was how long it had been since the Huskers were 4-0.

Well, Nebraska is 4-0 now.

The Huskers went to East Lansing on Saturday and beat Michigan State 31-13, giving Nebraska its first 4-0 start since 2016 and its first win in a Big Ten opener since 2019. It was also Nebraska’s first victory at Michigan State since 2012.

That’s good, of course. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

That said, Matt Rhule is already making sure no one gets too comfortable.

Read more

Georgia, Miami, Indiana, BYU, Utah, Nebraska. What do these teams have in common through four weeks of the 2026 season?

Not a ranking in the AP poll. Sunday’s release had the Bulldogs at No. 2, Hurricanes at No. 4, Hoosiers at No. 6, Cougars at No. 10 and Utes at No. 13. The Huskers remained unranked following their 31-13 win at Michigan State to move to 4-0. Nebraska was effectively 33^rd, receiving 36 votes this week.

That’s fine. The AP poll at this point in the season is a messy-but-beloved1 combo of preseason perception and varying poll logic.

Besides, what Nebraska does have in common with those five top 13 teams is better than a Week 4 ranking.

Here it is: Georgia, Miami, Indiana, BYU, Utah and Nebraska are the six teams averaging at least 0.4 Expected Points Added (EPA) per play on offense and allowing fewer than 0.0 on defense.

Bear with me, this must get jargony for a second, then it will get interesting. EPA is meant to be the closest thing we have to an all-in-one measurement in a sport where no one thing ever really describes exactly what happened. This is what makes football the right blend of fun and frustrating. Using historical data, EPA is basically assigning a point value to every play as it measures how much any play increases or decreases the offense’s expectation to score. Big numbers are good for the offense, low numbers for the defense.

The thresholds mentioned above are arbitrary, or at least they started out that way. I was playing around at collegefootballdatabase.com, as I usually am on a Sunday, and happened upon this chart:

That’s a pretty good group of teams to live around, I thought. In addition to those mentioned, No. 5 Ohio State and No. 8 Florida are knocking on the door of the >0.4/<0.0 club after Week 4. But does it mean anything after four games with varying levels of competition faced, even in this exclusive neighborhood?

To the start of the 12-team playoff era we go.

2024: Six teams were in the club after Week 4. Three of those—Ohio State, Texas, Indiana—made the Playoff. The three that didn’t were Alabama (9-3 regular season) Miami (10-2) and Mississippi (9-3), the first three teams out in the final CFP poll. Combined, this group of six went 62-12 (.838) in the regular season.

2025: Six teams again, but there’s a complication—somebody let Florida State in the club after four weeks and the Seminoles finished 5-7. Of the remaining five teams, two made the playoff, Oregon and Indiana. Two more were G5 teams, Old Dominion2 (9-3 regular season) and Navy (10-2), and both had great seasons. Washington was the last team, finishing 8-4, which, with a bowl win, was enough for the Huskies to start 2026 17^th in the AP poll. This group of six combined to go 55-17 (.764) in the regular season.

So, the 2025 club wasn’t as exclusive as the previous season, but if you combine them, you get a regular season record of 117-27 (.801), five playoff appearances from 12 possible teams (.417) and only one season with fewer than eight regular season wins. Nebraska would take any of the win totals mentioned in 2024 and 2025, minus Florida State’s collapse last season.

Point is, grab a pair of dice. Roll them. If the total is less than seven, Nebraska’s going to the playoff this year based on the past two seasons.

OK, I don’t actually believe that yet. The Huskers win over Michigan State basically came down to winning toxic differential—explosive plays plus turnovers—which is indeed often toxic to opponents but is volatile.

Get more from Brandon Vogel in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

But the best news about EPA differential (offense minus defense) is that it was fairly sticky over a small sample size. Removing garbage time but without controlling for strength of schedule, the six teams in the >0.4/<0.0 club after four weeks in 2024 finished the season ranked no worse than 15^th in EPA differential at the end of the year with an average change of ranking of -2.2 spots. In 2025, no team ranked lower than 40^th at the end of the year (thanks, Florida State) with an average change of -9 spots.3

If Nebraska, currently sixth in EPA differential, fell to, say, 15^th by the end of the year that was Alabama (9-3) in 2024 and James Madison4 (11-1) in 2025.

Nebraska is in the club after four games. It wasn’t in 2024 or 2025. Do with that what you will. Football remains fun and frustrating in equal measure over a long enough span.

A conference as wide open as its footprint?

Maybe you buy the promise Nebraska has shown so far. Maybe you’re still skeptical. Either way, we need to talk about the Big Ten because wherever the Huskers fall in it, the conference might be as jumbled as we’ve seen it in recent seasons.

This past week: UCLA went across the country and humiliated Maryland when the Bruins are used to just getting done with breakfast. Minnesota went to Washington and won after its usual bedtime. Iowa won at Michigan despite having a 14% win probability with 2 seconds left. Wisconsin won at Penn State despite having a 12% win probability with 73 seconds left. Conference favorites Ohio State and Oregon already have losses.5 Indiana looked as wobbly as it has in two years in a Friday night win over Northwestern.6

The Big Ten of the past few years has been a horse race with three or four prohibitive favorites. Maybe it will still be that, but right now it looks more like a demolition derby.

That’s good news whether you’re all-in on NU after a 4-0 start or still in wait-and-see mode. The Huskers are among the most (positively) surprising teams in the league so far, outperforming the line by an average of 8.6 points per game. Only UCLA (18.0) and Northwestern (15.7) have been better.

This has the makings of a good year to be better than expected because others (Washington, USC, Rutgers) have been busy being worse.

Nonconference play is over for the Huskers. That means Big Ten play is here and Nebraska gets its first test on the road.

Nebraska is also 3-0 after handling Ohio, Bowling Green and North Dakota by a combined 104 points. The offense has been explosive and balanced, while the defense has allowed almost nothing for long stretches. Jamal Rule has become one of the best freshman stories in the country, while Anthony Colandrea has looked increasingly comfortable running Dana Holgorsen’s offense.

Nebraska now opens Big Ten play at Michigan State in its first road game of the season, against a team that has already been tested at No. 3 Notre Dame and a coach Husker fans know plenty about from his Northwestern days.

If history is any guide, Saturday could get interesting. Will it?

Nebraska at Michigan State

When: Saturday, Sept. 26 | 4 p.m. CT
Where: Spartan Stadium | East Lansing, Michigan
TV: Big Ten Network
TV crew: Jeff Levering, Jake Butt, Brooke Fletcher
Radio: Huskers Radio Network
Radio crew: Kyle Crooks, Jay Moore, Jessica Coody

Records: Nebraska 3-0; Michigan State 2-1
Last week: Nebraska defeated North Dakota, 34-7; Michigan State lost at No. 3 Notre Dame, 27-10
Series: Nebraska leads 10-4
In East Lansing: Michigan State leads 3-2
Last meeting: Nebraska defeated Michigan State, 38-27, in 2025

Weather: Partly cloudy during the day with a high near 71 degrees and northeast winds at 5-10 mph. Skies are expected to clear Saturday night, with a low around 42.

Setting the scene

Nebraska could not have asked for much more from its nonconference schedule. The Huskers went undefeated in nonconference play for the third straight season, scoring 49, 56 and 34 points respectively. They rushed and passed for at least 200 yards in all three games, something Nebraska had not done in three consecutive games since 2016.

Defensively, the numbers have been just as encouraging. Nebraska enters Big Ten play allowing 225.7 yards and 11.7 points per game. Opponents are converting only 23.1% of their third downs. After Ohio hit Nebraska for a 68-yard gain on the first snap of the season, the Blackshirts have allowed only three more plays of at least 20 yards over the next 11 quarters.

Michigan State brings a different challenge, of course.

The Spartans are 2-1 under first-year coach Pat Fitzgerald, beating Toledo and Eastern Michigan before losing 27-10 at Notre Dame. Their defense has allowed 295.7 yards and 18 points per game, and Nebraska will see a level of size, physicality and individual defensive talent it simply has not encountered yet.

East Lansing has not been especially friendly either. Nebraska’s last two trips there ended in three-point losses, including an overtime loss in 2021 and another three-point game in 2023.

Five of the past six Nebraska-Michigan State games have been decided by five points or fewer.

Rhule on what changes now

Coach Matt Rhule sounded excited this week about finally taking this team somewhere else.

“We’re obviously excited to get started with Big Ten play and go on the road for the first time,” he said.

The environment will introduce things Nebraska has not had to manage yet: crowd noise, road-game communication, a different routine and an opponent capable of making mistakes hurt more. Rhule doesn’t expect this game to be decided by who invents the cleverer plan though.

“It won’t be a schematic game; this will be an execution game.”

Michigan State’s defense, in particular, is not trying to hide what it wants to be.

“They’re going to press outside all day.”

And the Spartans have individual defenders who demand attention.

“He’s one of those guys who causes his team to win,” Rhule said of edge rusher Kenny Soares Jr.

Storylines to remember

Nebraska gets to find out what is real

Three weeks into the season, Nebraska has a lot of statistics worth liking. Which ones survive against Big Ten competition on the road?

Nebraska ranks among the national leaders in total offense, rushing offense, scoring offense and third-down conversion percentage. The Blackshirts have been similarly strong in total defense, pass defense, scoring defense and third-down defense.

Some of that is Nebraska being better than its opponents. Some of it may simply be Nebraska being good. Saturday should start to separate the two.

The encouraging part is that the Huskers have not needed one formula to win so far this season. Ohio made them adjust, Bowling Green gave them room to explode and North Dakota challenged the run defense differently. Nebraska handled all three.

Michigan State should be the first team capable of stressing multiple areas at once. If the Huskers still look balanced, efficient and difficult to move the ball against by Saturday evening, we will know considerably more than we did after nonconference play/

The first road test belongs to Colandrea too

Colandrea has looked increasingly settled through three weeks. He has protected the football, taken easier throws when they are available and still made the aggressive plays when needed. That balance becomes a little bit more difficult on the road.

We know that crowd noise can complicate protections and checks. Michigan State’s defense will challenge Nebraska’s receivers physically. Rhule expects press coverage outside, which means Kwazi Gilmer, Jacory Barney Jr., Nyziah Hunter and the rest of the room may not get the same clean releases they saw earlier in the season.

The reality of the situation is that Colandrea doesn’t need to produce a highlight every series. Nebraska just needs the same version it has gotten from him so far: decisive, patient enough and willing to take what is there.

The Huskers have turned the ball over only once. Keeping that number low matters against Michigan State.

Jamal Rule gets his first real Big Ten test

Three games into his college career, Rule already feels like more than a fun freshman story. He is averaging 109.7 rushing yards per game and he has two 100-yard performances. He has six total touchdowns, five rushing and one receiving, the most by a Husker through three games since Taylor Martinez also had six in 2011.

Rule is not doing this alone either.

Mekhi Nelson has 166 rushing yards and 106 receiving yards, making him one of only three players nationally with at least 100 of each. Isaiah Mozee has added another 126 yards on the ground.

That room has given Holgorsen options. Will the explosive runs keep showing up once the fronts get bigger and the windows get smaller though?

Michigan State allowed 161 rushing yards at Notre Dame last week. Nebraska has already produced 10 runs of at least 20 yards this season. One or two of those in East Lansing could change the entire feel of the game.

More importantly, a functioning run game takes pressure off Colandrea, slows down the pass rush and keeps Nebraska from living in obvious passing situations in its first road environment.

We’ll see what the running backs can do on a September Saturday in the Big Ten.

The Nebraska defensive front has reached the next level of the test

Nebraska’s defensive line has looked good, but Michigan State will be a different kind of evaluation. (Are you sensing a theme here yet?)

The Spartans have not been especially efficient on the ground at 3.7 yards per carry, but they are committed to it. Their 121 rushing attempts through three games are tied with Nebraska for third-most in the Big Ten. It’s worth noting that Fitzgerald teams generally do not get bored with trying to establish the run.

Cam Edwards gives Michigan State a capable back and the Spartans have a veteran offensive line. Nebraska is no longer lining up against a front it should simply overwhelm physically. That means the details matter more.

Can Nebraska win first down? Can the tackles keep Michigan State from creating easy interior movement? Can the defensive front create pressure when the Spartans have to throw without creating escape lanes?

The Blackshirts had five sacks against North Dakota. They have also been excellent at getting off the field, with North Dakota converting only one of 12 third downs.

That is the formula Nebraska wants. Force second-and-long. Force third-and-long. Let the rush go to work.

Michigan State will make the Huskers have to earn those situations.

Hidden yards can’t add up

Special teams have been sitting in the background through Nebraska’s first three games.

The Huskers have shown genuine upside. Nebraska blocked a punt against Bowling Green. Hunter has flashed as a kick returner. Rhule believes Barney can become one of the country’s best punt returners.

There have also been too many penalties and some moments where the operation has not been as clean as Nebraska wants. That is manageable when the score gets away from an opponent. It’s less manageable in a series where five of the last six meetings were decided by five points or fewer.

Saturday may be the first game this season where hidden yards stop feeling hidden, so special teams can’t allow those to add up.

What the numbers say

1 — Nebraska is the only team in the country ranked in the top 10 in both third-down conversion percentage (57%) and third-down defense (23%).

3 — Nebraska has topped 200 yards rushing and passing in all three games.

6 — Jamal Rule has six touchdowns through three games.

23 — Nebraska has 23 offensive plays of at least 20 yards this season, tied for second nationally entering the week.

104 — Nebraska’s combined scoring margin during nonconference play.

Odds and ends

>> Nebraska is trying to win its Big Ten opener for the first time since beating Illinois in 2019.

>> The Huskers are 6-9 in Big Ten openers since joining the conference.

>> Saturday marks Nebraska’s seventh road Big Ten opener in the past 10 seasons.

>> Nebraska’s only Big Ten-era win at Spartan Stadium came in 2012, a 28-24 comeback.

>> The Huskers won last year’s meeting 38-27 in Lincoln.

>> Pat Fitzgerald went 6-6 against Nebraska during his time at Northwestern.

Subscribe now

Welcome to Big Ten play, Nebraska. Now the real test of the season begins.

The opponents are better, the stadiums are louder and the margins should be smaller. For the first time this season, Nebraska has to prove that all of the progress we saw in Lincoln works somewhere else.

Settle in. We’ll see you later today.