Nebraska didn’t exactly solve every mystery in a 56-7 rout of Bowling Green, but the Huskers did keep showing the same two things that matter most right now: Dana Holgorsen wants balance, and this offense has enough pieces to make it work.
The bigger question is on the other side of the ball, where Nebraska still looks like a unit in progress. Andrew Marshall stood out again at cornerback, and the defense seemed to run cleaner with Owen Chambliss handling the signals.
Even so, the Huskers are still missing that shut-down feel. They gave up a pair of long, deliberate drives to the Falcons, and there’s no hiding from that.
Rob Aurich appears to still be sorting through personnel, and with so many players rotating in and out, it’s hard to label this group Blackshirts yet.
What Nebraska does have is an offense that can pile up numbers in a hurry. For the second week in a row, the Huskers cleared 200 yards rushing and 200 yards passing, something they had not done in five years.
Anthony Colandrea kept the engine humming, completing 17 of 20 passes and throwing four touchdowns in the first half. He finished the opening two quarters with 204 yards of total offense and now owns a 7-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio after two games in Lincoln.
The supporting cast did its part, too. Nebraska ran the ball 34 times and threw it 32 times, with all three running backs listed as co-No. 1 on the depth chart getting eight carries apiece.
The line also looked sturdier than it has in a while, which matters as much as anything for the long haul. Gunnar Gottula and Elijah Pritchett have been flipping at tackle, and Tree Babalade picked up more snaps this week.
Jacory Barney was right in the middle of it. He caught eight passes for 115 yards and was set up by Holgorsen for a pair of touchdown grabs.
He keeps looking like a player on the edge of a breakout, even if it hasn’t fully happened yet. At 175 pounds, he’s tougher than he looks, and he’s added strength without quite turning into a game-breaker.
Holgorsen also wants to keep getting Barney and Kwazi Gilmer involved, and Nyziah Hunter feels like another receiver who could catch fire at some point.
Barney’s role as a punt returner is still a work in progress. Nebraska did manage to get a blocked kick, but the punt return unit didn’t consistently handle Bowling Green’s gunners, even with holding calls mixed in, and Barney was limited to 12 punt return yards. Brett Maher’s kicking game has also been dinged by penalties in the first two weeks, and the Huskers missed a 55-yard field goal attempt.
The second-team offense gave Nebraska a clean finish. After one penalty, it put together a 12-play, 79-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter, with no real confusion up front. The line of Sam Sledge, Tyler Knaak, Gibson Pyle, Hayden Ainsworth and Preston Taumua opened things up for TJ Lateef, who passed for 60 yards and threw a 6-yard touchdown to Kwinten Ives while also rushing for 22 yards.
Matt Rhule said he had hoped to get the third-team offense onto the field, but Bowling Green’s long possession in the scoreless third quarter made that impossible. The Falcons held the ball for 11 minutes, 37 seconds in that period, which helped drag the game into a flatter stretch than Nebraska wanted. Still, on a day when Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota lost at home, Washington and Iowa nearly did, and Oregon and Ohio State lost on the road, a 49-point win was enough to leave Husker fans with plenty to like.
The performance doesn’t answer everything. It does confirm that Nebraska has plenty of good players, a balanced attack and enough depth to keep rolling early. Whether there are any true great ones in the bunch is still a question for tougher weeks ahead.
In Other News...
Colandrea Gave Nebraska Hope But One Sloppy Issue Still Lingers
Anthony Colandrea gave Nebraska plenty to feel good about early, looking poised in the pocket and sharp with the ball as the offense rolled through the first half. He finished 17 of 20 for 184 yards and four touchdowns, and the Cornhuskers also found balance on the ground by leaning on the three-back Husker Hydra rotation to help cover for Emmett Johnson, with the group piling up 191 rushing yards and two scores.
Still, there was one messy sequence that fit a broader concern Nebraska cant quite shake. Colandreas first interception of the season was logged as a pick, but it came after Jacory Barney lost the ball when JoJo Johnson stripped it away, and special teams added its own frustration with penalties on punt returns. For a team trying to keep cleaner edges around an offense that looked in control for long stretches, those little lapses remain the nagging part of the story. [Read more 🡒]
Matt Rhule Has Another Coach Wanting Nebraskas Program Blueprint
After Nebraskas decisive win over Bowling Green, the conversation around Matt Rhule extended well beyond the scoreboard. Bowling Green coach Eddie George came away impressed with the way Nebraska is being built, praising Rhules coaching style and the broader approach he has used to shape the program. It was the kind of postgame respect that tends to follow a team that looks organized, physical and clearly headed in a direction.
George said he wants to learn from Rhule and seek advice on how to improve his own program, a notable compliment from a coach still working through his own build at Bowling Green. He also spoke about his coaching journey and the progress his team has made, which only added to the sense that Nebraskas model is starting to draw attention from across the sport. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Made An Early Impression On A Defensive Line Target
RJ Cruz IIIs first trip to the University of Nebraska gave the Huskers a chance to make a fresh impression on one of the better early defensive line targets in the 2028 class. The three-star lineman from McDonogh School in Maryland has already built a relationship with Nebraska assistant Corey Brown, and that connection has helped put the Huskers in the mix as he starts sorting through his college options.
For Nebraska, the appeal goes beyond just getting Cruz on campus once. He is still working through where he fits best on the defensive line, and the Huskers will have to keep that momentum going as he continues to compare them with other programs. For now, Nebraska has at least given him something to think about, and the next step will be whether that early interest turns into something more durable. [Read more 🡒]