Nebraska’s season opener started with a jolt nobody in Memorial Stadium wanted to see. Ohio ripped off a 68-yard catch-and-run on its first snap, and 71 seconds into the game the Bobcats were already up 7-0. They scored on their next two possessions, too, and for a while it looked like Nebraska was in for a long afternoon.
Instead, the Huskers flipped the script in a big way and rolled to a 49-21 win.
The turnaround was dramatic enough to make the halftime mood feel like a distant memory. Nebraska scored touchdowns on its final five drives, piled up 14 points in the third quarter and 21 more in the fourth, and turned a game that had been shaky early into one it covered by a mile against a 23.5-point spread.
A big part of the story was freshman running back Jamal Rule. He carried 15 times for 122 yards, averaged 8.1 yards per carry, scored twice on the ground and added a 24-yard touchdown catch. He looked slippery, patient and hard to bring down, and he became the first Nebraska freshman back to rush for 100 yards in an opener since 2004.
Mekhi Nelson gave Nebraska another burst out of the backfield. He scored on a 29-yard run and later hauled in a 51-yard touchdown after shaking off two defenders on the way to the end zone. The pair didn’t look like a classic thunder-and-lightning combo so much as a useful one-two punch, and that kind of balance matters over a long season.
Anthony Colandrea had the kind of debut that gives Nebraska fans plenty to chew on. He finished 18 of 32 for 275 yards, threw three touchdown passes and ran for another score on a 13-yard scramble.
The best part wasn’t the raw production so much as how quickly he got rid of the ball. He didn’t hang around waiting for trouble, and when the play wasn’t there, he moved on.
By one count, six throws reached his receivers’ hands and still came loose.
There was even a live-thread suggestion that Colandrea might need a nickname, and the comparison that came up was “Good AC and Bad AC,” the way Packers fans once lived with Good Brett and Bad Brett. That’s the tradeoff with a quarterback who plays at that speed.
Up front, Nebraska did enough to make the ground game work. The Huskers ran for 248 yards, their best total since 2023 and their highest rushing output in an opener since 2018.
Ohio mixed in stunts and twists throughout the afternoon, but Nebraska’s line held together well enough to keep the offense moving. The play count told its own story, too: 42 runs and 32 pass attempts.
There’s clearly a debate to be had there, but this team also appears to throw it better than a pure ground-heavy approach would allow.
Defensively, the first stretch was rough. Ohio spread the field, and Nebraska didn’t seem fully ready for it.
Owen Chambliss being unavailable changed things, and after the Bobcats put together three straight scoring drives, the defense settled in and finished the job. The final numbers weren’t eye-popping, but they were solid: 303 total yards allowed, with 164 through the air and 139 on the ground.
Rob Aurich didn’t blitz much, at least from what was visible, and still found ways to create pressure with four rushers. At times he even dropped one of those four into coverage. Rex Guthrie’s late interception was Nebraska’s only takeaway, and takeaways are something worth tracking all season.
There will be complaints, and some of them are fair. A MAC team scored 21 points.
Nebraska was in trouble early. That much is true.
But the bottom line is simple: Nebraska is 1-0. After the way this one started, the Huskers still found a way to score on five straight drives and finish with authority. Go Big Red.
In Other News...
Nebraska Just Made A Strong Early Impression On Key Recruits
Nebraskas season opener against Ohio turned into more than just the start of a new football year. The program brought in more than 30 recruits for the game, giving several top commits and targets a first-hand look at the atmosphere in Lincoln and a chance to see how the staff presented itself on a busy early-season weekend. Among those in attendance were Barrett Kitrell, Thatcher Shelton, Elias Schafer, Isaiah Grant, Devin Hill Jr. and Nicholas Payne Jr., a group that reflected how wide the Huskers cast their net on the recruiting trail.
What stood out afterward was not only the crowd and the setting, but the way the visit connected the recruits to the programs offensive showing and to the people around it. Some of the visitors walked away with offers or invitations to come back, while others talked about the relationships they felt building with coaches and players during the trip. For Nebraska, that kind of early impression matters, especially when the first home game can set the tone for how the staff sells the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas Slim Halftime Lead Comes With Two Big Warning Signs
Nebraska carried a narrow 14-13 lead into halftime at Memorial Stadium, but the first 30 minutes hardly felt clean. Ohio got on the board early after a defensive miscommunication, and the Cornhuskers kept making life harder on themselves with six first-half penalties, including one that erased a Nebraska touchdown and stalled an opportunity to separate.
Ohio quarterback Nick Poulos looked sharp in the first quarter, while Nebraskas defense spent the opening stretch searching for answers before settling in some midway through the second quarter. The halftime margin still left the Cornhuskers in front, but the warning signs were obvious enough that the lead felt a lot thinner than the scoreboard suggested. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas New-Look Defense Already Revealed A Few Early Tone-Setters
Nebraska got a first real look at its reworked defense in the season opener against Ohio, and the early signs were more about depth and roles than final answers. Thirty-four defenders saw the field, with the front especially busy as 18 players cycled through the defensive line rotation, helping keep the Bobcats from finding much ground success outside of quarterback runs. The unit still gave up 303 yards over 65 plays, but it also showed the kind of layered approach this staff seems intent on using.
Vincent Shavers emerged as a workload leader at linebacker, while Victor Evans III posted the top overall grade in the secondary, two encouraging markers for a group sorting out its identity early. There was also a timely takeaway from Rex Guthrie, who picked off his first career interception, and enough pressure to suggest the pass rush has something to build on, even if the sack total was limited. For Nebraska, the opener offered a useful snapshot of who can set the tone as the season moves forward. [Read more 🡒]