“Nebraska” defeated the “Huskers” 22-17 in the 2026 Nebraska football spring game Saturday. The problem is, I can’t tell you what players comprised the “Nebraska” and “Huskers” teams.
It was confusing to me because the reality was, Nebraska’s offense played the defense. The offense wore red jerseys, the defense white. And the final statistics show some players on both “teams.”
Reserve running back Conor Booth scored the winning touchdown on a 32-yard run with 5 seconds remaining, capping an eight-play, 77-yard drive in 1:17, directed by Daniel Kaelin. Jamal Rule set up the drive with a 75-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 17-16 with 10:44 remaining.
Let’s start here . . .
- Jamal Rule is a true freshman from Salisbury, N.C. He carried three consecutive times to begin the spring game and finished as the game’s leading rusher, gaining a combined 121 yards on 10 carries, aided, of course, by the 75-yard run. Even though the Huskers appear to have a deep running back room, Rule has worked his way into the mix. “Jamal’s certainly, certainly, certainly preparing to play this year as a freshman,” Coach Matt Rhule said post-game.
- A major talking point, no surprise here, was the quarterback competition this spring. Though returnee T.J. Lateef started the game, Anthony Colandrea played with the first team, finishing with 12 pass completions on 19 attempts for 80 yards and the game’s first two touchdowns, 6 yards to Jacory Barney Jr. and 8 yards to Quinn Clark. Colandrea threw one interception, to Donovan Jones. Colandrea is a transfer from UNLV who also played at Virginia. He didn’t play during the second half.
- Nebraska has “a lot of good depth” in the offensive line room, according to Rhule. He feels good about the “first five, first eight,” he said. The first five include three transfers: guards Brendan Black (Iowa State) and Paul Mubenga (LSU) and tackle Tree Babalade (South Carolina). They join tackle Elijah Pritchett, an Alabama transfer last year, and center Justin Evans, a team leader. Rhule also mentioned Sam Sledge, Tyler Knaak and Gunnar Gottula, who has been out this spring.
- How about the other side of the ball? Rhule said he’s “been really pleased with the first two defenses” during the spring. Dwayne McDougle III, a transfer from San Diego State where he played for new Husker defensive coordinator Rob Aurich, was much more emphatic. “We may be the best defense in the Big Ten,” he said. “That’s my opinion.”
- McDougle and Vincent Shavers Jr. led “Nebraska” with five tackles each. The game’s leading tackler was Derek Wacker, a sophomore from Yutan, Neb. Wacker led the “Huskers” with 10 tackles, including one for loss, and had three tackles, including a sack, for “Nebraska.” Defensive tackle Jahsear Whittington, a Pittsburgh transfer, had the game’s other sack.
- Whittington’s name came up during an earlier news conference when Aurich talked about his Cheetah package, intended to go “quarterback hunting.” Whittington was among the four pass rushers mentioned in the package, along with junior tackle Sua Lafotu, and EDGEs sophomore Williams Nwaneri and UCLA transfer Anthony Jones Jr., who also played at Oregon, Indiana and Michigan State. Jones and his wife just had a son. Rhule told him to skip the game and be a dad.
- Nwaneri transferred from Missouri a year ago. Considering all the transfers having an impact with the Huskers, it’s a reasonable assumption that Rhule opted not to have a spring game a year ago to avoid showing off his players, with a transfer portal in April. That portal has been eliminated, with the only one this year January 2-16.
- The spring game’s other points came on field goals by John Hohl, 32 yards; Kyle Cunanan, 38 yards; and Michael Sarikizis, 49 yards. Sarikizis is a freshman from Melbourne, Australia. Cunanan kicked two extra points, Sarikizis one. A 2-point conversion failed.
- Most of the players wore “guardian caps” on their helmets for protection. There were no significant injuries, according to Rhule — 92 players suited up.
- During his comments before opening up for questions post-game, Rhule praised Fred Hoiberg and the Husker men’s basketball team for its success. He also complimented fans for their support. Official attendance was 27,188. No one asked Rhule to clarify which team was which.
