With Matt Rhule entering Year 4 at Nebraska, the questions around the Huskers are starting to sharpen. The general expectation is pretty plain: this is a team most people see fighting to get past six wins. But the 2026 season still has room to swing hard in either direction, and a few key variables could decide whether Nebraska puts together a sneaky good year or stumbles into real trouble.
If the wrong things go wrong, the pressure on Rhule could spike fast. A missed bowl game would leave Big Red in a rough spot. Before Nebraska gets anywhere near that point, though, there are three issues that could shape the whole season.
The biggest one might be at quarterback, where Nebraska has to figure out which Anthony Colandrea shows up. His college track record gives you two very different versions of the same player.
One is the former Virginia quarterback who threw 26 touchdowns across two seasons but also coughed up 20 interceptions in that span. The other is the 2025 Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year.
That split makes him one of the most important players on the roster. If Colandrea plays like the turnover-heavy version, Nebraska could be dealing with Jeff Sims Part Two. If he benefits from Dana Holgorsen putting some of the most effective UNLV players into his system, he has a chance to be one of the best quarterbacks in the Big Ten.
The other major issue is whether Nebraska can finally generate a pass rush that changes games. Last season, the Huskers had real talent in the secondary, but the defense never got enough help up front. The line just didn’t threaten opposing quarterbacks often enough, and that left the whole unit short of what it could have been.
Now Rob Aurich takes over, and he’s moving away from the 3-3-5 look that treated the defensive line like an afterthought. That shift matters because if Nebraska gets better at rushing the passer, the run defense should improve too.
The Huskers were one of the worst run defenses in the country, and more pressure up front should also mean more disruption on running plays. In 2025, tackles for loss were hard to come by.
The question for 2026 is whether Aurich can turn that into a regular part of the defense.
Then there’s the tight end group, which Nebraska believes could become a real weapon. The Huskers have a decent amount of talent there, and they may even get more production if players like Janrian Bonner can contribute this season.
Luke Lindenmeyer, Carter Nelson and Luke Sorensen are the names to watch. Lindenmeyer is the clearest starting point since he led the group with 29 catches, while the rest of the tight ends combined for just 10.
Nelson is the wild card. Entering his third season at Nebraska, he’s already talking like 2026 could be a big year for him.
The only thing left is proving it on the field.
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Teddy Prochazka Just Began A Bittersweet New Chapter After Nebraska
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Prochazka is serving as the head coach and offensive play caller for the 9th-grade team, and he is still close enough to the action to demonstrate the details himself. It is a bittersweet next step for a player whose career was cut short by injuries, but it also gives Nebraska fans a reminder that his football knowledge and presence are still very much part of the local scene. [Read more 🡒]
Can Nebraska's Portal Additions Finally Fix Its Biggest Defensive Flaw
Nebraska spent much of last season looking sturdy against the pass while still getting knocked around on the ground, and that imbalance has made the front seven a clear offseason priority. The Cornhuskers answered by dipping into the portal for linebacker Owen Chambliss, defensive end Jahsear Whittington and safety Dwayne McDougle, a trio brought in to help firm up the run defense and create more disruption up front as new defensive coordinator Rob Aurich settles in.
Chambliss gives Nebraska a versatile linebacker presence, Whittington adds another edge option to the pass rush, and McDougle helps reshape the back end of a defense that needed more answers in too many spots. The bigger question now is whether those additions can translate into the kind of physical, reliable defense Nebraska has been chasing, especially with Aurich already leaning on familiar ties to bring pieces of his system with him to Lincoln. [Read more 🡒]