Big Red Rundown: Anthony Colandrea talks national title and a recruiting battle with OU

Welcome to the Big Red Rundown, your daily stop for the latest Nebraska football news, recruiting buzz, transfer portal updates, and Huskers headlines. Here’s a quick look at the latest storylines surrounding Nebraska athletics.

The Nebraska football program has a problem with talking too much.

Matt Rhule is guilty of it. Players are, too, including projected starting quarterback Anthony Colandrea, who told Pete Nakos of On3.com this week that he wants to win a “national championship” with Nebraska.

“You’re not here to just not win a national championship. I’m not coming here to just win eight or nine games. I want to win a national championship; I want to go to the playoffs. I have high expectations, and we have high expectations as a team. When I first got here, it felt like the bar was eight or nine wins, and I was like, no — we want to win 11, 12 games. We’ve got to win. That’s the biggest thing,” Colandrea told On3. 

The full quote isn’t that dramatic. It still probably didn’t need to be said. Nebraska hasn’t won eight games in a season since 2016. So an eight or nine-win season would be significant, especially with the 2026 schedule, which makes getting 6-7 wins feel challenging with six teams on the slate that won at least nine games a year ago (3 CFP quarterfinalists).

Husker fans are also sick of the offseason hype. That has nothing to do with Colandrea, who is entering his first season as the starter in Lincoln, but you could feel the collective eye roll from Husker nation.

Nebraska football fans have heard that stuff for a decade with little to show for it. It’s time for the program to put up or shut up.

Oklahoma is making a push for Nebraska football lean

Four-star cornerback Bryce Williams has been considered a Nebraska lean. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound cornerback from Florida has visited the Huskers three times in the past year, including this spring. He’s got an official visit scheduled for June, too.

For a while, that was the only official visit on the schedule. However, Rivals reports that Oklahoma is making a strong push for Williams, with an official visit locked in. The Huskers still have a 94 percent chance to win the commitment of Williams, who is ranked No. 316 overall in the 2027 recruiting class via the Rivals Industry Rankings, but Nebraska football will have to fend off OU to make it happen.

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