The Nebraska football team opens its season against Ohio on Saturday, and Husker quarterback Anthony Colandrea will have his chance for revenge.
The senior quarterback’s final game at UNLV came against the Bobcats, a 17-10 loss for the Rebels. Colandrea went 19-of-30 for 184 yards. He also rushed for 41 yards and one touchdown.
Now he’ll have a chance to play Ohio again, this time while leading the Huskers into Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said he just wants Colandrea to be himself against the Bobcats.
“He’s a lion, he’s a winner, he wants to play,” Rhule said. “He wants to win every play, and I love it. If I could draw it up what it’s supposed to look like, that’s what it’s supposed to look like: fiery quarterback who plays with passion on his sleeve and who backs it up.”
Colandrea molded his game by watching former Texas A&M star Johnny Manziel and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield. He said he watched them a lot growing up.
“They can run around and make plays,” Colandrea said. “They can win from the pocket, they can win from outside the pocket, so I think all that stuff’s cool.”
Rhule has some familiarity with Mayfield as well. He coached against the quarterback as the Carolina Panthers’ head coach, when Mayfield played for the Cleveland Browns. Rhule said he’s noticed a lot of similarities between the quarterbacks.
“If I called him and said, ‘Hey, I need you to do this, my daughters are in trouble,’ Anthony Colandrea’s going to drive over there and protect my daughters,” Rhule said. “At the same time, he’s not going to back down from anything. So sometimes your greatest assets can be your biggest weakness …
“We are not going to go out there and worry about the decisions he makes. Anthony Colandrea’s free to go play.”
That’s what Colandrea and the team will do.
One question coming into the season is Nebraska’s running backs room. With Emmett Johnson off to the NFL, the group consists of freshman Jamal Rule, sophomore Isaiah Mozee, junior Mekhi Nelson and senior Kwinten Ives, all competing for a role. Although Rhule neglected to name a starter — the first three were listed together at the top of the depth chart released Monday — he’s got a plan.
“I’m going to go through this week and see who practices the best, who prepares the best, who takes the best notes, and then how (offensive coordinator) Dana (Holgorsen) wants to play,” Rhule said. “The great thing about our backfield is they’re all good at everything, but if you have this play, I’d really love to see this kid run; if I have this play, I’d really love to see this kid run. So we’ll see how Dana, as he goes through the week, decides exactly how he’s going to attack.”
As for the defense, Rhule said the unit looks and feels right. He’s been blasting music and crowd noise to help prepare them for the season.
“I think there’s a great deal of communication, a great deal of trust, and then there’s a physicality and an effort in which you have to play,” Rhule said.
The team is using that to prepare for the Bobcats. They began preparation last week, with game week preparation starting on Monday.
The Bobcats are coming into 2026 with a new head coach and nearly an entire new roster. John Hauser took over as Ohio’s head coach and brought back only five players from last year’s team, making preparation difficult. Therefore, Rhule is focused on Ohio, but also Nebraska’s ability to limit errors on special teams, penalties, tackling and turnovers.
“At the end of the day, you also have to manage the things you can control,” Rhule said. “Your tackling, your ball security, and our guys these last two years have done a good job of that in game one.”
As Nebraska prepares for week one, Rhule shared that the Huskers will have game captains and leaders with single-digit jerseys once again. He said that these will not be revealed until game day, however.
“The guys we brought in are so mature, so seasoned, and have really bought into the culture,” Rhule said. “I want to see what they do when things get really hard.”
Rhule will get that chance on Saturday at Memorial stadium.
Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT, airing on FS1 and the Huskers Radio Network.
