Nebraska wrapped up non-conference play Saturday night with a 34-7 win over North Dakota, and the story of the night was pretty clear: the Huskers controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball.
The Blackshirts set the tone early and never really let North Dakota breathe. Nebraska held the Fighting Hawks to 205 total yards, piled up five sacks and forced six punts. North Dakota leaned on junior Matt Lawson and sophomore Charles Langama coming in, but the two backs were bottled up for a combined 61 rushing yards.
Senior linebacker Owen Chambliss was right in the middle of it, finishing with six tackles and 0.5 sacks. It was only the second game he’s played for Nebraska, but he was everywhere the Huskers needed him.
Six Nebraska defenders, Chambliss included, recorded at least 0.5 sacks. Senior defensive tackle Riley Van Poppel got to quarterback Jerry Kaminski first.
"It's always a blast when anybody gets one," Van Poppel said postgame. "At the end of the day, you want the quarterback down, but something a great defense always does is celebrate together.
It doesn't matter who it is. We're all getting one together, and I think that's how we look at it because that's how it is.
It's about all 11 of us."
The only time Nebraska’s defense slipped was late in the third quarter, when junior wide receiver Caleb Goodloe hauled in a 5-yard touchdown pass. That drive was helped along by an unnecessary roughness penalty on Nebraska that moved North Dakota into scoring range.
Still, the night reinforced what Nebraska already knows about its defense: it can get after the quarterback, and that’s going to matter even more once Big Ten play starts.
On offense, the Huskers did plenty of damage on the ground. Senior quarterback Anthony Colandrea put Nebraska on the board with a 10-yard rushing touchdown, and the drive was fueled by a run of strong gains from sophomore Mekhi Nelson, who finished with 54 yards on nine carries.
Jamal Rule kept the momentum rolling with a 3-yard touchdown later in the first quarter, then broke the game open again to start the second half with a 55-yard sprint to the end zone. The true freshman finished with 119 yards on 15 carries and looks ready for a much bigger role when conference play begins.
Colandrea added 19 rushing yards to his opening score and managed the offense well enough to keep Nebraska in control. Through the air, he completed 15 of 21 passes for 195 yards and one touchdown, connecting with junior Quinn Clark for the score.
Junior Kwazi Gilmer and senior Nyziah Hunter each caught three passes from Colandrea, finishing with 42 and 24 receiving yards, respectively. The passing game wasn’t as sharp as it had been in the first two weeks, when Colandrea threw at least three touchdowns in each game. This time, some missed throws and a drop helped lead to three punts and two field goal attempts.
"I thought our offense the past few weeks has done a really good job," Colandrea said postgame. "But tonight we were kind of a little shaky. I think we can go into next week and clean that up by watching film."
Sophomore T.J. Lateef and junior Daniel Kaelin also saw action, which played a part in the drop in Colandrea’s passing numbers from earlier in the season.
Nebraska is 3-0 heading into conference play, and the next test comes next Saturday in East Lansing against Michigan State. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
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