Nebraska spent three quarters looking like it might finally have one of those road nights that turns into something useful. Then the last six minutes hit, and everything unraveled.
The Huskers fell 17-14 to Oregon on Saturday, dropping to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play after another game slipped away late. Nebraska had control for long stretches, but Oregon closed harder, and former Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola ended up delivering the knockout blow for the Ducks with a game-winning touchdown pass inside the final 30 seconds.
That finish overshadowed plenty of uneven football from both sides. Nebraska’s offense never really found a rhythm, its run game stayed stuck in neutral, and the passing game wobbled all night.
Quarterback Colandrea finished 18-for-33 for 164 yards with one touchdown and one interception, but the bigger story was how often the offense stalled around him. He was sacked three times, and the combination of missed separation, drops and pressure made the entire unit feel disjointed.
The Huskers did get one clean strike just before halftime. Colandrea located Kwazi Gilmer in the back of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown on a contested catch, one of the few times Nebraska consistently beat Oregon’s coverage. Gilmer led the receivers with 74 yards on six catches, while Jacory Barney Jr. finished as the next-best target with 37 yards.
The ground game never gave Nebraska much support. Against an Oregon defense that came in with strong numbers against the run, the Huskers managed only 78 rushing yards on 33 carries.
Holgorsen had said earlier in the week that Oregon’s front four was among the best he’d ever seen, and the Ducks backed that up. Colandrea ended up leading the Huskers on the ground too, producing 38 yards on 13 carries and a rushing touchdown, with a long run of 22.
Mekhi Nelson had a team-high 11 carries among the backs, but gained just 25 yards. Jamal Rule, who had handled most of the snaps at running back the week before, carried only three times.
Isaiah Mozee provided one of the few big sparks in the run game when he broke off a 26-yard run near the end of the third quarter, setting Nebraska up inside the Oregon 10-yard line on a drive that ended in a touchdown.
Defensively, Nebraska did a lot right for a long stretch. The Huskers smothered Oregon quarterback Brock Thomas, holding him to 54 passing yards on 9-for-20 throwing with an interception.
Thomas was eventually benched in the fourth quarter, and Raiola took over. That’s when the game flipped.
Raiola’s first drive ended in a field goal, but his second was the one that mattered: a 20-play, 82-yard march that ended with the winning touchdown pass with 28 seconds left. Raiola went 11-for-18 for 59 yards and a touchdown over those two drives, and he wasn’t sacked.
Nebraska’s run defense also held firm early, allowing just 37 rushing yards through three quarters. The final period was a different story.
Oregon found space for 98 rushing yards in the fourth and finished with 129 yards on the ground at 3.4 yards per carry. Dierre Hill Jr. led the Ducks with 67 yards on 14 carries, while Jordon Davison added 29 yards on 12 attempts and Brandon Smith chipped in 29 on six carries.
Owen Chambliss paced Nebraska with 15 tackles and two tackles for loss.
Special teams added another layer of frustration. The return game never got Nebraska much traction, with Nyziah Hunter averaging 13 yards on three kick returns and failing to get the Huskers past the 25-yard line multiple times.
Archie Wilson averaged 43.3 yards per punt, but his third-quarter miscue after a low snap cost Nebraska field position and led to an Oregon field goal. He did come through later with a 60-yard punt in the fourth quarter to pin the Ducks inside their own 20 after an Oregon three-and-out.
Nebraska is back home Saturday, Oct. 31, against Washington. Game time and broadcast information have not been announced.
In Other News...
Oregon Exposed A Nebraska Problem That May Get Worse
Nebraskas offense spent a long afternoon trying to find any kind of rhythm against Oregon and never really did. The Huskers managed 242 yards on 67 snaps, with quarterback Anthony Colandrea doing what he could to keep drives alive, finishing 18 of 33 for 164 yards and a touchdown while adding 38 rushing yards and another score on the ground. Even with that effort, the bigger picture was hard to miss: the run game never got rolling, the passing game lacked separation, and the offense as a whole looked stuck in place.
The issues went beyond one bad outing, too. Nebraskas top running backs were held to 58 yards on 18 carries, the offensive line gave up a sack and five pressures, and four penalties made an already uneven night even messier. Injuries along the line and at running back only added to the concern, while receivers struggled to create the kind of space that can help an offense recover when the ground game is bottled up, leaving a problem that could be even tougher to solve if the same limitations keep piling up. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Left Wondering After Two Late Replay Moments Swung Everything
For much of the night, Nebraska had a chance to leave with a statement win before Oregon finally nudged in front with 28 seconds left. The finish came with the kind of replay drama that tends to stick with a team long after the final whistle, starting with a touchdown catch by Kwazi Gilmer that was upheld after officials said there was not enough clear evidence to overturn it.
Then came the other moment that had Nebraska wondering what might have been. A potential late fumble by Isaiah Mozee was not reviewed, and the Cornhuskers kept possession as the game tightened in its closing stretch. In a contest decided by the smallest of margins, those two replay decisions became part of the story almost as much as the score itself. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Fans Have One Brutal Debate After Another Late Collapse
Nebraskas recent stretch has left fans stuck in an uncomfortable place: encouraged by how far the program has come, but frustrated by how often close games are slipping away late. The Cornhuskers dropped tight decisions to Indiana and Oregon after holding leads in both, a sequence that has sharpened the conversation around whether the progress under Matt Rhule is real enough to matter when the fourth quarter arrives.
Against Oregon, the offensive issues were impossible to ignore, with nine punts and little production on the ground, even as the defense did enough for three quarters to keep the game within reach. The broader picture still shows a team that has outperformed preseason expectations, but the debate now is whether thats enough when the same late-game breakdown keeps showing up in the toughest moments. [Read more 🡒]