Nebraska enters its bye week at 5-2, and the numbers from PFF paint a clear picture of where the roster has changed - and where it still has work to do. After losses to a top-10 Indiana team at home and to Oregon in a game where former quarterback Dylan Raiola finished it off with back-to-back touchdown drives, the Huskers have spent the season in a full reset across the board.
The most striking individual grade belongs to the player who replaced Raiola. Senior Anthony Colandrea has been Nebraska’s highest-graded offensive player to this point at 84.3, and the production backs it up. He has thrown for 1,570 yards with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions, while adding 334 rushing yards and four more scores on the ground.
His completion rate sits at 61.4%, but the story is a little more complicated than that. Nebraska’s receivers have dropped 15 of his passes, and PFF’s adjusted completion percentage lifts him to 75.2%, which puts him just ahead of Big Ten quarterbacks like Minnesota’s Drake Lindsey and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin.
Colandrea also sits second on the team in both rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, trailing only freshman running back Jamal Rule, who owns a 79.6 grade. Nebraska chose not to add a transfer running back, and while Rule and the rest of the room have shown promise, availability has remained an issue.
On the perimeter, junior wide receiver Kwazi Gilmer is the next-highest graded transfer on offense at 66.5. He is also Nebraska’s second-highest-graded starting wideout, but he has also accounted for a team-high eight drops.
A big chunk of Nebraska’s offseason effort went into rebuilding the offensive line, and that work has shown up in the grades. Head coach Matt Rhule hired offensive line guru Geep Wade from Georgia Tech and also brought in Lonnie Teasley from South Carolina. The run game, as a whole, has taken a major step forward, with the unit grading at 86.8 - Nebraska’s best offensive mark in any category.
Teasley brought senior tackle Tree Babalade with him from South Carolina, and Babalade has posted a 64 flat grade overall. He has a 62.5 run-block grade and a 69.2 in pass protection.
Wade’s other addition, senior guard Brendan Black from Iowa State, sits at 66.5 overall, with strong passing-game work at 69.4 and a 66.0 run-block mark. Senior LSU transfer guard Paul Mubenga owns the lowest grade among Nebraska’s offensive transfers at 57.3.
Defense was the biggest investment, though, and the PFF grades reflect that focus. Rhule hired former San Diego State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Rob Aurich, who brought a pair of former Aztecs with him. Senior linebacker Owen Chambliss has been the standout, grading at 85.0 and leading all Nebraska transfer starters on defense.
Chambliss is powered by a 90.0 tackling grade, which ranks 11th in the country. His lowest mark comes in pass-rush situations, where he sits at 63.8.
Safety Dwayne McDougle III also followed Aurich and Chambliss to Nebraska and has graded at 73.5. He made a huge interception against Oregon and has otherwise been steady, landing between 70.6 and 80.0 across the four major categories.
Up front, junior defensive lineman Jahsear Whittington has a 60.2 defensive grade, even though he leads the team with four sacks. The source notes that Whittington is technically the second-highest-graded offensive transfer, though he has eight snaps in goal-to-go situations. Fifth-year senior edge Anthony Jones Jr. is in the middle of the pack at 68.3.
Here’s where Nebraska stands overall in the PFF numbers:
Overall: 89.3 - 45th nationally
Offense: 77.8 - 44th
Passing: 77.3 - 39th
Pass blocking: 76.4 - 29th
Receiving: 66.9 - 91st
Rushing: 86.8 - 19th
Run blocking: 67.0 - 31st
Defense: 89.6 - 32nd
Run defense: 79.0 - 74th
Tackling: 81.5 - 16th
Pass rush: 75.3 - 44th
Coverage: 90.4 - 16th
Special Teams: 70.9 - 93rd
In Other News...
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The ripple effect matters because Nebraskas upcoming opponents are among those working through uncertain quarterback situations, and the timelines vary enough to keep game-planning in flux. Ohio State is already one of the more notable cases, with Julian Sayin confirmed to be out several weeks because of a throwing-shoulder injury, and the rest of the league may not be much more settled when Nebraska gets there. [Read more 🡒]
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Nebraska's Quarterback Situation Just Got More Complicated After Rhule's Remarks
Matt Rhule spent part of his postgame remarks putting Nebraskas quarterback picture in a sharper light, and not just because of what Anthony Colandrea can do with the ball in his hands. Rhule pointed to Colandreas dual-threat skill set and the way the Huskers have leaned on zone read concepts, while also crediting Oregons defensive front for making life difficult. At the same time, he stressed that the offense needs cleaner play up front, since the lines performance can shape how often Colandrea gets to operate on the move.
Rhule also made a point of pushing back on the outside noise that has started to swirl around the quarterback room. He said Colandrea has shown good judgment on scrambles and urged people not to buy into negative narratives about whether teammates are behind him, even as rumors have linked him to possible SEC interest. For Nebraska, the issue is bigger than one game or one play call now, because the way the staff frames Colandreas role may say as much about the quarterback plan going forward as the snaps themselves. [Read more 🡒]