Nebraska had Washington right where it wanted it for most of Saturday night, and still walked off Memorial Stadium with another loss that felt entirely too familiar.
The Huskers’ defense spent nearly the whole game squeezing the Huskies, but the offense never matched it. Nebraska fell 17-10, and the final stretch turned on the kind of one or two plays that keep showing up in these games and tilting them the wrong way.
Earlier in the week, Dana Holgorsen said it felt like a race to 21 points to win a Big Ten game. Nebraska didn’t get close to that number.
The night started badly for Anthony Colandrea and never really recovered. After the report that Nebraska re-signed him for next year, he opened the game by throwing two interceptions on his first three passes.
But the quarterback wasn’t the only issue. The offense kept tripping over itself with drops, badly timed penalties on big gains, and stretches where Nebraska drifted away from running the ball with the running backs.
That left the defense carrying almost everything. It was dominant for long stretches, but once again it wasn’t enough.
Nebraska had chances to be 8-2 and came in as a 7.5- or 8.5-point favorite, yet the game still played out the way a lot of fans feared it would. The Huskers controlled it for nearly 3.75 quarters, then watched it slip away.
The turning point came in the fourth quarter, when Washington converted a fourth-and-18 - the kind of play that usually ends a drive, and in this case would have basically sealed the game if Nebraska had gotten the stop. Instead, the Huskies kept moving.
Washington quarterback Demond Williams, back from a rib injury suffered three weeks ago, came off the bench and led the decisive drive. He guided a 12-play, 81-yard march in 2:59, and Washington grabbed its first lead with 90 seconds left.
Nebraska fans had seen the script before. The defense looked good enough to win.
The offense did not. And when the moment got biggest, the Huskers needed a turnover or a score from the defense to survive - and never got it.
That’s what made the banner in the student section sting even more: “Welcome to Your Worst Nightmare.”
For Nebraska, it was.
In Other News...
Nebraska Suddenly Has A Matt Rhule Problem Fans Feared
Nebraskas latest setback came in a 17-10 loss that fit the same frustrating script the Cornhuskers have been trying to escape, with three interceptions from quarterback Anthony Colandrea and an offense that never found much rhythm. For a program still trying to turn the corner under Matt Rhule, the result was more than just another blemish in the standings. It was the kind of game that makes every stalled drive and missed opportunity feel heavier, especially when the season is already narrowing into a race against the calendar.
Rhule is now in his fourth year, and the questions around his progress are getting harder to ignore as the offense continues to sputter. There is also growing scrutiny around offensive coordinator Holgorsens playcalling, with Nebraska searching for answers before a difficult stretch of opponents arrives. With bowl eligibility still very much in doubt, the Cornhuskers are running out of room for error, and the pressure around the program is only getting louder. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Found Another Brutal Way To Waste A Winnable Game
For most of the afternoon, Nebraska had exactly the kind of game it needed to hang around in against Washington. The scoring stayed tight, the defense kept things in reach, and the Huskers had chances to turn a low-scoring fight into a meaningful road win, but the offense never quite found enough clean drives to cash in.
Anthony Colandreas turnovers loomed over the finish, and Kyle Cunanans missed field goal loomed just as large when Nebraska had a chance to move in front. Instead, Washington closed with a late touchdown and then put the game away with a pick-six off Colandrea, turning a winnable contest into another frustrating reminder of how thin the margin has been for Nebraska. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Is Still Paying For One Brutal Problem In The Rankings
Late October shook up the national picture in a way Nebraska fans know all too well, with ranked teams across the country taking hits that reshuffled the ESPN rankings and tightened the playoff conversation. South Carolina, Oregon, Florida and Iowa were among the programs whose recent results helped define the latest order, while a busy stretch of upcoming games still has plenty of room to move teams up or down before the picture settles.
For Nebraska, the frustration is less about one weekend than the larger problem of living with the consequences of a brutal ranking environment, where every loss by a peer or would-be resume booster ripples through the field. The Cornhuskers are still watching how those results play out around them, and with more meaningful games ahead in the 2026 season, the path back into a better spot remains tied to what happens elsewhere as much as what happens on the field. [Read more 🡒]