Nebraska’s offensive line has spent years as the program’s sore spot, the group fans kept waiting to see become a strength. Now, with a new coach and a reshaped room, the conversation around that unit sounds a lot different.
Quarterback Anthony Colandrea didn’t exactly leave room for interpretation when he spoke to the media on Tuesday. Asked about the Huskers up front, he went straight to the point.
“They’re elite… It’s the best five I’ve ever been behind,” Colandrea said via Kevin Sjuts.
That kind of praise carries weight, even in August when players are naturally inclined to talk up the guys around them. But Nebraska’s line does have a different look now under new O-line coach Geep Wade, who has changed both the personnel and the recruiting approach.
Wade brought in three experienced starters who give the unit a much more established feel. Brendan Black started more than 30 games at Iowa State.
Tree Babalade and Paul Mubenga combined for 26 starts in the SEC with LSU and South Carolina. Put that together with the more than 50 starts shared by Elijah Pritchett and Justin Evans, and Nebraska is suddenly leaning on a group with a serious pile of Power-4 reps.
That matters in college football, where experience usually wins out over theory. It’s part of why the Huskers’ front feels easier to believe in now than it did before.
And the belief doesn’t stop with the starting five. Gunnar Gottula has starting experience of his own, and Tyler Knaak is another name who could step in if needed. There’s depth behind the headline group, which only adds to the sense that this room looks nothing like the one Nebraska fans have been frustrated with in recent years.
The feeling appears to go both ways. Colandrea sounds thrilled to play behind this line, but the linemen also seem eager to block for a quarterback who can create with his legs. Luke Lindenmeyer called Colandrea a squirrel last week at Big Ten Media Days, and that kind of fit could matter just as much as raw experience.
For Nebraska, the early signs around the offensive line are hard to ignore.
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