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Nebraska football finally faced a Power Four opponent on Saturday; the results were no different than the previous three weeks.

NU opened Big Ten Conference play with a 31-13 win at Michigan State. The Huskers improved to 4-0, while the Spartans fell to 2-2.

Penalties were the story of the early portion of this game. The Spartans got on the board first with a field goal, but the drive had been extended by multiple Blackshirt penalties.

In response, MSU was called for holding to negate a blocked punt. That extended the drive for the Huskers, which would result in a 44-yard touchdown pass from Anthony Colandrea to Kwazi Gilmer.

That was the first of four straight scoring drives for the Big Red. Those other three drives were for 79, 15, and 74 yards, respectively. All three drives of more than 70 yards went for touchdowns.

The teams would combine for 12 penalties for 120 yards, a number of which extended drives at key times.

Out of the half, though, the Husker offense went into a lull. Nebraska posted back-to-back three-and-outs, followed by a turnover on downs at the MSU30. In the third quarter, NU totaled 25 yards and one first down.

On the other side, Michigan State closed the gap with scoring drives for a touchdown and a field goal.

But turnovers were also key to killing Michigan State's chances. The Spartans had three turnovers. After getting the deficit to 11 points, MSU put together a trio of drives that went fumble, a missed field goal, and an interception.

Nebraska was never threatened the rest of the way, staying undefeated and starting conference play 1-0.

Besides the penalties and turnovers, injuries dominated the afternoon in East Lansing. Several Spartans were injured throughout the game, including starting running back Cam Edwards early in the contest.

For Nebraska, Caleb Benning, Owen Stoudmire, Jacory Barney Jr., and Jamal Rule all got banged up. Rule left the game in the first half after only four carries for four yards.

In his place, Colandrea, Mekhi Nelson, and Isaiah Mozee became the rushing trio. Colandrea led the way with 10 carries for 66 yards. Nelson totaled 61 yards and a touchdown. Mozee took seven carries for 23 yards.

Through the air, Colandrea finished with 212 yards and two touchdowns, completing 15-of-27 passes. For the third time this season, he did not register an interception.

A pleasant surprise for the offense came in the form of Nebraska native Vincent Genatone. The North Platte grad had a rushing touchdown and a receiving touchdown.

Defensively, the Blackshirts posted six sacks and three takeaways. Owen Chambliss led the group with eight tackles and an interception. Andrew Marshall had the other pick. Williams Nwaneri had a pair of sacks.

Nebraska totaled 369 yards, with 212 of those coming through the air and 157 on the ground. Michigan State had 257 yards, with only 39 rushing yards. The sack-adjusted rushing yards brings that up to 89 for the Spartans.

Up next for Nebraska is homecoming against Maryland next Saturday. The Terrapins were just mollywhopped at home by UCLA, 54-3.

Kick is set for 3 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on FS1.

Nebraska Athletics Postgame Notes

• Nebraska improved to 11-4 all-time against Michigan State, including 6-4 as Big Ten opponents. The Huskers tied the series in East Lansing at three wins apiece.
• Nebraska completed the month of September at 4-0, marking its first undefeated September since 2016. It is also Nebraska’s first 4-0 start since 2016.
• Nebraska won its Big Ten opener for the first time since a 42-38 win at Illinois to open the 2019 Big Ten slate.
• Linebacker Owen Chambliss had a second-quarter interception, marking his first interception at Nebraska and the second of his career. Chambliss finished the game with a season-high eight tackles.
• Defensive end Williams Nwaneri recorded a career-high 2.0 sacks for 25 yards. His previous high was 1.5 sacks against Michigan State last season. Nwaneri was also credited with a blocked field goal in the third quarter, marking his first career blocked kick.
• Nickel back Donovan Jones had a third-quarter strip-sack and fumble recovery. It marked the second straight week Jones has had a sack. It was also the first fumble caused and recovered of his career.
• Cornerback Andrew Marshall had an interception in the fourth quarter. It was his first interception of the season and second of his career.
• Riley Van Poppel had 1.0 tackle for loss against Michigan State, and he has 1.0 TFL in every game this season. He is the first Husker to have at least 1.0 TFL in each of a season’s first four games since Freedom Akinmoladun in 2015.
• The Nebraska defense recorded six sacks for 50 yards, including four sacks in the first half. It marks Nebraska’s most sacks since it also had six sacks against Colorado in 2024.
• Nebraska had five sacks last week, and this marks the first time Nebraska has had five or more sacks in back-to-back games since 2013, when the Blackshirts did so against Northwestern and at Michigan.  
• Nebraska has at least two sacks in every game this season. The last time the Huskers had multiple sacks in four consecutive games in the same season was in 2019.
• Nebraska scored two rushing touchdowns and two passing touchdowns. The Huskers have had at least one rushing and passing touchdown in every game this season. The last time the Huskers had both a rushing and passing touchdown in each of the first four games was in 1999.
• Running back Vincent Genatone caught a 13-yard TD pass with two seconds left in the first half to give NU a 24-10 lead. It marked Genatone’s first career reception and his first career touchdown. He added his second career touchdown on a 1-yard fourth quarter run.
• Genatone became the third Husker to score both a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game this season, joining Mekhi Nelson and Jamal Rule. Prior to this year, only three Huskers in the past 10 seasons had a game with both a rushing and receiving touchdown.
• Running back Mekhi Nelson scored on a 4-yard TD run in the second quarter, marking his third touchdown of the season (2 rushing, 1 receiving).  Nelson finished the game with 15 carries for 61 yards.
• Quarterback Anthony Colandrea accounted for 278 yards of total offense, including 212 passing yards and 66 on the ground. It marks the third time in four games that he has topped 250 yards of total offense.
• Receiver Kwazi Gilmer caught a 44-yard touchdown pass to open the scoring. The 44-yard reception was a season-long and the fourth TD catch of the season.
• Gilmer finished the game with four receptions for 101 yards. He posted the first 100-yard receiving game of his career.
• Receiver Jacory Barney Jr. caught one pass for 12 yards. Barney has caught a pass in all 30 games of his career. He is the sixth Husker to have a 30-game reception streak.
• Nebraska had a 14-play scoring drive just before the end of the first half, marking the Huskers’ longest drive of the season in terms of plays.
• Center Justin Evans made his 30th consecutive start for the Huskers, including the last 17 games at center.

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