Michigan State spent much of Saturday getting knocked backward, and Nebraska spent much of the afternoon cashing in.
The Cornhuskers left East Lansing with a 31-13 win that may not move the needle nationally, but it checked off a few boxes Nebraska badly needed. The Big Ten opener is finally in the win column again, and so is a road victory at Michigan State, something the Huskers had not managed since 2012. For a program that has learned the hard way not to assume anything, that matters.
The defense set the tone early and kept the Spartans from ever finding a rhythm. Nebraska racked up six sacks and three takeaways while limiting Michigan State to 39 rushing yards.
Defensive end Williams Nwaneri led the charge with two sacks and also blocked a field goal attempt, while Jahsear Whittington, Donovan Jones, Jamir Conn and Dawson Merritt each added a sack. Alessio Milivojevic, who somehow finished the game, was under siege all day.
That kind of disruption made life easier for the rest of the Huskers, especially quarterback Anthony Colandrea. He didn’t need to be perfect, but he was plenty productive.
Colandrea passed for 212 yards and two touchdowns, pushing his season total to 10 touchdown throws against just one interception. He also led Nebraska on the ground with 66 yards, repeatedly using his legs to extend drives when the offense stalled.
One of his favorite targets was Kwazi Gilmer, who kept building momentum with four catches for 101 yards. His best moment came on a diving 44-yard touchdown grab in the first quarter. Tight end Luke Lindenmeyer also finished with four receptions and played a major role in the win.
Still, Nebraska’s offense was uneven at times, and the issues up front stood out. The offensive line was charged with four pre-snap penalties, two of which were declined, and the unit had trouble even against a Spartan defense that had already been hammered by injuries. The roughest stretch came to open the second half, when the Huskers went three-and-out, three-and-out and four-and-out in a scoreless third quarter.
Then Vince Genatone changed the feel of the game.
The North Platte native, a 6-foot, 225-pound fifth-year senior known mostly for his special teams work, stepped in at running back after Jamal Rule was injured and delivered the best game of his college career. Just before halftime, Genatone hauled in a short pass from Colandrea and turned it into a 13-yard touchdown with two seconds left, capping a 14-play drive and pushing Nebraska ahead 24-10. Michigan State never seriously threatened after that.
Genatone wasn’t done. He added another touchdown on a 1-yard run with 10:05 left in the game.
It was a notable night for a player from North Platte: the first touchdowns scored by a North Platte athlete for Nebraska since Jim McFarland caught a 5-yard touchdown pass from Ernie Sigler to beat Oklahoma State 21-20 in Stillwater on Oct. 26, 1968, and the first touchdown run by a North Platte native since Pete Tatman scored the game-winner to beat Colorado 21-19 in Boulder on Oct. 22, 1966.
Nebraska’s fans had little reason to sweat this one late. They were able to move toward the field as Spartan supporters filed out, then filled the stadium with “Husker Power” chants.
For Matt Rhule, the win carried plenty of weight. He is now 5-9 in Big Ten road games, with victories in Champaign, West Lafayette, College Park, Pasadena and East Lansing. And if Nebraska is serious about reaching eight wins, this was the kind of game it had to take.
There are caveats, of course. Michigan State was missing a long list of players, including its best running back and best defender, which makes the 18-point margin feel a little less clean.
But Nebraska also finished with a wider margin in East Lansing than Notre Dame did in its 27-10 win over the Spartans the week before. The truth probably sits somewhere in between.
Special teams held up its end, too. Former Husker Kenneth Williams didn’t do damage on kickoff returns, finishing with four returns for 63 yards.
Archie Wilson turned in his best outing of the season, averaging 43.7 yards on three punts, sending one out of bounds inside the 20 and allowing no punt return yardage. Kyle Cunanan added a 32-yard field goal.
The offensive line still has work to do, and Maryland comes next. Nebraska did show some life late, though, holding the ball for 10:32 in the fourth quarter and running it 16 times for 61 yards in that period.
A 167-yard rushing day will probably be enough in plenty of games if the Huskers are content with seven or eight wins. If they want more than that, the line has to give them more.
In Other News...
Michigan State Now Faces A Bigger Problem Than The Nebraska Loss
The Nebraska loss itself was ugly enough for Michigan State, but the bigger concern coming out of Lincoln was the damage done to the roster. The Spartans were already thin in key spots, and the injury situation started before kickoff when starting cornerback Tre Bell was hurt in warmups and never made it into the game.
It only got worse from there. Running back Cam Edwards and offensive lineman Connor Moore went down on the same play, and defensive leader Jordan Hall also left with a leg injury after being taken off the field on a cart, leaving Michigan State with plenty to sort through beyond the final score. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Faces A Bigger Offensive Problem Than Fans Feared
Michigan States offense has looked increasingly out of sync over the last few games, and the numbers underline just how much work remains. Through four games, the Spartans have managed only 88 points and nine touchdowns, both among the lowest marks in the Big Ten, while quarterback Alessio Milivojevic has been dealing with plenty of pressure, sacks and interceptions as the unit struggles to find any sort of rhythm.
The bigger concern is that the problems have not been limited to execution. Injuries have already thinned out the group and left the staff trying to patch together answers on the fly, with the offensive line and backfield both taking hits that make every snap feel a little more fragile. Michigan State is still searching for stability, but the margin for error keeps shrinking as the offense tries to get healthy enough to even resemble what it was supposed to be. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan State Suddenly Faces A Depth Chart Test Against Wisconsin
Michigan State left its trip to Nebraska with more than one injury concern, and the timing could not be worse with Wisconsin next on the schedule. Running back Cam Edwards and linebacker Jordan Hall were among the players hurt in the game, leaving the Spartans to sort through a depth chart that may look different by the time they line up again.
The backfield is especially worth watching because backup Jaziun Patterson handled relief work well after Edwards exited, and the staff is already leaning on him as it prepares for the next matchup. The bigger question now is how Michigan State will piece together its roster across the board if the injury list forces more changes, with the full extent of those setbacks still unclear. [Read more 🡒]