Nebraska is getting a quarterback with plenty of believers and plenty of skeptics, and Anthony Colandrea’s arrival has already stirred up both camps.
The hesitation is easy to understand. Colandrea’s best season came last year with UNLV, a Mountain West team that looked a lot different from the version of him people saw at Virginia.
And at Virginia, the turnover issue was impossible to ignore. He has long played like a gunslinger, the kind of quarterback willing to live with mistakes if the payoff is enough touchdowns.
That style worked out far better with the Rebels than it did in Charlottesville, and it’s fair to wonder how it will hold up against Nebraska’s 2026 Big Ten slate.
Still, Pro Football Focus sees a quarterback who can absolutely produce. PFF recently ranked Colandrea among the best returning quarterbacks in the conference, giving Nebraska a reason to feel good about the move.
His 2025 season backed that up. Colandrea posted an 89.9 overall grade and won Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year after a strong year in which he kept piling up production. He wasn’t always clean, but he was consistently dangerous.
PFF’s Big Ten quarterback rankings put him behind only Julian Sayin, who checked in at 92.9, and Dante Moore at 90.2. That doesn’t mean Colandrea has to outplay either of them for Nebraska to get value from him.
The bar is different here. If he can deliver something close to what he did in 2025 - the yards, the touchdowns, the playmaking - the Huskers have a real shot at one of their better seasons in more than a decade.
Last season, Colandrea threw for 3,459 yards, 23 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He also added 649 rushing yards and 10 scores on the ground. Those numbers were a clear step up from anything he produced in two seasons at Virginia.
Nebraska may not ask him to put up those exact totals again, especially with some of the defenses on the schedule. But if he plays up to that PFF grade, the gamble could pay off in a big way.
In Other News...
Nebraska Just Landed A Transfer That Could Change Everything
Nebraskas football pipeline is still producing movement well beyond the current roster, and Elijah Jeudy is the latest example. After his playing career with the Cornhuskers, Jeudy has moved into coaching and been hired as the defensive line coach at Highland Community College, a step that keeps a former Nebraska lineman in the game while giving him a chance to help shape a new room from the ground up.
For Nebraska, it is another reminder that the programs reach keeps extending in different directions, from former players taking on coaching roles to the ongoing churn around the roster and quarterback picture. The bigger buzz around the Huskers is not just who is coming in, but how many layers of talent and experience are stacking up around the program as it keeps building toward the next phase. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Just Landed A Massive Transfer With One Big Catch
Nebraskas wrestling program just added another heavyweight name to an already impressive transfer haul, with Meyer Shapiro announcing he is leaving Cornell for Lincoln. A three-time All-American and two-time age-level World Champion, Shapiro brings immediate credibility to a room that has been busy reshaping itself through the portal, alongside additions such as NCAA champion Vincent Robinson, two-time All-American Anthony Echemendia and Lucas Cochran.
The catch is timing, and it matters for a program trying to turn talent into lineup certainty. Shapiro still has two years of eligibility left, but he is not expected to compete right away, which leaves Nebraska with a future piece rather than an instant fix. Even so, landing a wrestler with his rsum signals how aggressive the Cornhuskers have been in building depth and star power for the seasons ahead. [Read more 🡒]
Preseason Magazines Just Sent Nebraska A Frustrating 2026 Message
Preseason magazine season has a way of turning August optimism into a reality check, and Nebraska just got one for 2026. Across the latest national previews, the Cornhuskers are being treated as a team with some real pieces in place, especially on the back end and in the kicking game, but not as one ready to crash the national conversation. The broader message is familiar: there is respect for the rosters experience and the transfer additions, but not enough confidence yet to push Nebraska into the Top 25 discussion.
The tougher part for the Huskers is where those projections place them in the Big Ten, generally in the middle tier rather than anywhere near the leagues upper end. The concerns are centered on the spots that usually decide whether a team takes a step forward or stalls out, with quarterback and running back drawing the most skepticism. Even with some analysts seeing a path to improvement, the tone of the magazines suggests Nebraska still has to prove it can turn those strengths into something more than a respectable preview. [Read more 🡒]