Nebraska’s position in the Big Ten after Anthony Colandrea announcement

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As the college football season is just seven days away from kickoff, rosters are being finalized, and players across all positions are earning starting spots. 

Whether it’s solidifying where a player stands on the depth chart or earning a starting role. Huge decisions are being made as the season is right ahead.

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Quarterback battles at the top schools in the country are being finalized; early on Saturday, Alabama announced Keelon Russell as its starting QB. Now another QB has solidified himself as a starter. Nebraska enters year four under head coach Matt Rhule and has announced its starting QB.

As many schools do, the Cornhuskers went out to the portal to find their next starter. Announced by Rhule, Nebraska is rolling with UNLV transfer Anthony Colandrea, who will lead the charge.

Colandrea is coming off a productive season at UNLV, posting 3459 passing yards, 23 passing touchdowns, and 9 interceptions. After transferring from UNLV, Colandrea was competing with two other QBs for the job, including 2025 Nebraska backup QB TJ Lateef and returning Virginia transfer Daniel Kaelin.

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Colandrea is a pure gunslinger who is not afraid to push the ball downfield. He’s got a rocket of an arm and also knows how to escape pressure with his legs, which shows in his 1,100+ career rushing yards. 

Now that the starting QB is set, it raises the question of how good this Nebraska team can be. 

Nebraska still has to prove they can contend

Unless the Cornhuskers acquired a talent like Darien Mensah or Sam Leavitt at QB, the expectations were never going to be too high. Nebraska has five games on its schedule that could easily be losses. Indiana, Oregon, Washington, Ohio State, and Iowa. 

Three of those five games are guaranteed losses: Indiana, Ohio State, and Oregon. Even if Colandrea becomes one of the five best QBs in the conference, the roster talent levels are just different. 

Along with the rosters, Matt Rhule hasn’t been good in Big Ten play, posting a 10-17 record in his stint. Maybe Nebraska can shock the country one week and beat a giant, but it won’t become a regular occurrence. Nebraska finishes the season 8-4 and will look to improve further in 2027.

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