5 takeaways from Nebraska football spring game

The Nebraska football team was back on the field at Memorial Stadium for the annual spring game, which was back to being a true game.

Matt Rhule divided the teams up with offense and defense, and the Huskers played ball. Anthony Colandrea threw two touchdown passes — one to Jacory Barney and another to Quinn Clark.

There were a bunch of field goals and an electric touchdown run from Jamal Rule, the freshman who has probably generated more buzz than any other this spring.

It was a ho-hum game, just like the entire spring. Overall, there was nothing wrong with that, and here are some instant takeaways from the Nebraska spring game.

Colandrea looks the part

There was a turnover, which has been the issue (in the past) with the new Nebraska starting quarterback, but it’s clear that he’s the guy. The athleticism stands out. He made some really good throws, too. The touchdown pass to Quinn Clark was right on the money. He also had a dime to Barney.

More than anything, he just looked comfortable. The ball came out quickly. Not every ball was perfect, but it’s the spring game. This is still a work in progress.

Colandrea might not have the arm talent of Raiola, when everything is perfect, yet he will be much better off schedule and feels like an upgrade after the spring.

Jamal Rule is a dude

Jamal Rule is going to play this season. He was ranked in the 700-range, similar to Emmett Johnson, and it feels like the Huskers got a steal.

It’s one spring scrimmage. One lone run doesn’t make a career. But Rule has generated buzz all spring. Mekhi Nelson, Isaiah Mozee, and Kwinten Ives all ran well.

This running back room looks deeper than expected. With the emergence of Rule, you can see why Nebraska didn’t feel the need to add a portal running back.

There is enough talent in the room to win with. Nelson will be the starter for game one, but Rule might be the starter by season’s end.

We shall see. It’s a good problem either way.

The O-line looked good

Rob Aurich was very vanilla on defense, as expected. Dana Holgorsen was, too. It’s not like the Huskers opened up the playbook.

Still, the offensive line won the battle of the trenches. It wasn’t really live on the quarterback, so it’s hard to judge the pass rush, but it felt like there was a consistent push from the offensive line. Elijah Pritchett looked very good.

Both “starting” fives for each did. Geep Wade has been a good hire, and this offensive line will be better in 2026. Three new starters and two O-line coaches seem to have done the trick.

Defense did its job

There were a couple of touchdown receptions, although one of them was essentially a shovel pass; there weren’t a ton of open guys.

Andrew Marshall, Donovan Jones, and plenty of others stood out. Overall, I was pleased with what I saw from the secondary.

Nebraska’s man coverage was pretty good last season. The pass rush didn’t do it any favors because it was non-existent, but if those two things can be married up, this defense could be good.

The defensive depth chart was revealed, somewhat as the starting defense was Kade Pietrzak, Riley Van Poppel, Jashear Whittington, Cam Lenhardt, Owen Chambliss, Vincent Shavers Jr, Marshall, Jones, Dwayne McDougle, Jamir Conn, and Jeremiah Charles.

Both teams were held under 20, so I’d say the defense did its job.

Special teams were solid

It wasn’t a truly live environment for all of the special teams; however, Nebraska made all of its kicks. The punts seemed solid, as much as I can remember. There weren’t any big gaffes.

That doesn’t mean that the special teams will be as good this season as they were a year ago, but the spring game was a step in the right direction.

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